Liberal Democrat

Liberal Democrat
Individual Freedom For Everyone

Friday, September 30, 2011

Thom Hartmann: Len Gilroy- 'Should Prisons Be Run For Profit?'

Source:Thom Hartmann- to answer Thom Hartmann's question: hell no!

"Thom Hartmann hosts Len Gilroy, Director of Government Reform at Reason Foundation. They debate the idea of making U.S. Prisons into private businesses.
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I agree with Thom Hartmann's first point about private prisons and that they shouldn't be allowed to exist in the first place. But then he goes into this Far-Left propaganda about Ronald Reagan and Reaganomics, which has nothing to do with private prisons and loses me like a Ford Pinto driver competing with NACAR drivers at the Indianapolis 500, or some race. And perhaps leaving his guest to wonder if he was ever going to be able to talk about what he originally was on the show, for which was private prisons. 

When I think of what government should be doing and I'l admit my list is not very long, but the main role of government is to protect and to serve, as well as defend and regulate how people interact with each other. So of course I believe government should be running our corrections system. 

Our corrections system should not have incentive to have as many inmates as possible, or leave inmates in prison as long as possible, thats what leads to overcrowded prisons. As well as sending non-violent offenders to prison who aren't a threat to anyone. And I'm thinking of drug addicts and other offenders who we and them would be better off with a short-term Jail Sentence. Or doing their time in halfway houses doing community service and help finding work. 

The biggest issue with privatization of corrections, is the fact that their main job is to make money. And the longer their inmates serve and the more inmates they have, the more money they make. Not at the expense of their inmates who live there, but at taxpayer expense, being paid for by people who are struggling to pay their current taxes. So hell no to private prisons, but hell yes to reducing our overcrowded public prisons, but getting most of our non-violent offenders, who aren't white-collar, economic offenders.