Sam Hill
2008-03-02 14:07:15 UTC
New Report: One in 100 American Adults Currently in Prison
by Chris Bowers, Open Left at 10:40 AM on February 28, 2008.
Military spending and incarceration rates are also both cornerstones
of the booming Republican public sector economy.
Back on Christmas, Matt wrote an article called Five Untouchable Symptoms
detailing five major problems facing the country that even leading Democrats
rarely, if ever, address. Four of those five problems actually revolved
around only two issues: America's extraordinarily high levels military
spending and incarceration rates. Just how bad is the incarceration rate in
America? According to a new study from Pew, 1 in 99 American adults are
currently in jail. From the New York Times article on the report:
For the first time in the nation's history, more than one in 100 American
adults is behind bars, according to a new report.
Nationwide, the prison population grew by 25,000 last year, bringing it to
almost 1.6 million. Another 723,000 people are in local jails. The number of
American adults is about 230 million, meaning that one in every 99.1 adults
is behind bars.
Incarceration rates are even higher for some groups. One in 36 Hispanic
adults is behind bars, based on Justice Department figures for 2006. One in
15 black adults is, too, as is one in nine black men between the ages of 20
and 34.
Military spending and incarceration rates are also both cornerstones of the
booming Republican public sector economy:
In 2007, according to the National Association of State Budgeting Officers,
states spent $44 billion in tax dollars on corrections. That is up from
$10.6 billion in 1987, a 127 increase once adjusted for inflation. With
money from bond issues and from the federal government included, total state
spending on corrections last year was $49 billion. By 2011, the report said,
states are on track to spend an additional $25 billion.
While this is only 2% of the public sector economy, like military spending
and corporate welfare, it is also not an area of spending that is ever
seriously questioned by any major politician. These areas of government
spending are also major reasons why government spending continues to
explode, even under the guidance of so-called fiscal conservatives and
libertarians. Invariably, these areas of spending also disproportionately
favor red areas of the country and pro-Republican demographics. It is a vast
economy of hypocrisy, where conservatives talk about the need for personal
responsibility and to cut government spending, but ultimately greatly
expand, and redirect, federal and statewide spending in order to fatten the
wallets of their strongest supporters.
Breaking and redirecting current government spending patterns away from
these industries is also a key to building a long-term progressive governing
majority. Not only would it shift the balance of economic power in America,
but it is also a key to de-funding the right. I'd love to see a study of how
much conservative directed government spending of this nature ends up in
Republican campaign coffers or in the bank accounts of the institutions that
keep the Republican Noise Machine working. That flow of money is truly the
circle of life untouchable political symptoms in this country.
by Chris Bowers, Open Left at 10:40 AM on February 28, 2008.
Military spending and incarceration rates are also both cornerstones
of the booming Republican public sector economy.
Back on Christmas, Matt wrote an article called Five Untouchable Symptoms
detailing five major problems facing the country that even leading Democrats
rarely, if ever, address. Four of those five problems actually revolved
around only two issues: America's extraordinarily high levels military
spending and incarceration rates. Just how bad is the incarceration rate in
America? According to a new study from Pew, 1 in 99 American adults are
currently in jail. From the New York Times article on the report:
For the first time in the nation's history, more than one in 100 American
adults is behind bars, according to a new report.
Nationwide, the prison population grew by 25,000 last year, bringing it to
almost 1.6 million. Another 723,000 people are in local jails. The number of
American adults is about 230 million, meaning that one in every 99.1 adults
is behind bars.
Incarceration rates are even higher for some groups. One in 36 Hispanic
adults is behind bars, based on Justice Department figures for 2006. One in
15 black adults is, too, as is one in nine black men between the ages of 20
and 34.
Military spending and incarceration rates are also both cornerstones of the
booming Republican public sector economy:
In 2007, according to the National Association of State Budgeting Officers,
states spent $44 billion in tax dollars on corrections. That is up from
$10.6 billion in 1987, a 127 increase once adjusted for inflation. With
money from bond issues and from the federal government included, total state
spending on corrections last year was $49 billion. By 2011, the report said,
states are on track to spend an additional $25 billion.
While this is only 2% of the public sector economy, like military spending
and corporate welfare, it is also not an area of spending that is ever
seriously questioned by any major politician. These areas of government
spending are also major reasons why government spending continues to
explode, even under the guidance of so-called fiscal conservatives and
libertarians. Invariably, these areas of spending also disproportionately
favor red areas of the country and pro-Republican demographics. It is a vast
economy of hypocrisy, where conservatives talk about the need for personal
responsibility and to cut government spending, but ultimately greatly
expand, and redirect, federal and statewide spending in order to fatten the
wallets of their strongest supporters.
Breaking and redirecting current government spending patterns away from
these industries is also a key to building a long-term progressive governing
majority. Not only would it shift the balance of economic power in America,
but it is also a key to de-funding the right. I'd love to see a study of how
much conservative directed government spending of this nature ends up in
Republican campaign coffers or in the bank accounts of the institutions that
keep the Republican Noise Machine working. That flow of money is truly the
circle of life untouchable political symptoms in this country.