new prospects for Milo? (land, top 10, cash)

[bwap_bonk]

this is what happens when you have private prisons- Pennsylvania rocked by 'jailing kids for cash' scandal - CNN

[elston]

Originally Posted by Maineah

You must have the feed back from MSNBC because the rest of us heard it. A majority of the people do not like this President or any of his policies. He will go down in a land slide of epic proportions next year. You can choose to follow his ultra liberal agenda or move with the rest of the country towards common sense conservative solutions to the nations problems. Should you choose the former you will be in an isolated minority with no voice.

I would rather stand with a few or alone than go along with the herd who are wrong. That is the way I was brought up.....to stand for that which is right; to defend the vulnerable....and to live and vote my values.

When I have done this I have not found it to be true that I "have no voice". I know that it is possible to be heard and to make a difference.....even when standing against tremendous odds. I would not have stood in the mob and shouted for Barabas just to be in the majority.

You are free to choose your newsources and I will choose mine....among many sources I do like MSNBC.....its hard to beat their evening line up for thoughtful commentary...I certainly don't listen to faux news.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by elston

I would rather stand with a few or alone than go along with the herd who are wrong. That is the way I was brought up.....to stand for that which is right; to defend the vulnerable....and to live and vote my values.

When I have done this I have not found it to be true that I "have no voice". I know that it is possible to be heard and to make a difference.....even when standing against tremendous odds. I would not have stood in the mob and shouted for Barabas just to be in the majority.

You are free to choose your newsources and I will choose mine....among many sources I do like MSNBC.....its hard to beat their evening line up for thoughtful commentary...I certainly don't listen to faux news.

Again you find yourself among the minority. You may not listen to Fox or watch their shows but millions of others do. Many many millions making them the most watched news network by a factor of three. How did your buddy Keith Olbermann make out?...great commentator that he is....
The majority of the people in this country do not like the left leaning ways of this administration nor do they like the left leaning bias of the "mainstream" networks and press. That is why they have boosted Fox to the number one network and elected a republican Congress against all odds. This is just the beginning. The Tea Party people and Republicans are not the heartless monsters the left makes them out to be. But they are also not door mats and apologists to the rest of the world. They will help the vulnerable get back on their feet but they are not willing to provide them with a sole means of support forever. They want immigration though it must be done legally with a secure border. Are they perfect???? No no party is but at this time with the government taking over health care despite the overwhelming majority of people against it, bailouts by the dozen, wide open borders, welfare for all, unemployment passing 99 weeks, unions shaking down the public sector and bankrupting states, something has to be done as it is obvious to anyone with eyes that LIBERAL POLICIES DO NOT WORK. The experiment is over and we will soon move into an era of common sense not emotionalism.

[maineguy8888]

Originally Posted by elston

I follow the news closely and listen closely to the President of the United States. I never heard him say the above. It not really worth responding but when misinformation isnt challeged...it takes on a life of its own.

For example....I never heard anyone suggest death panels other than tea party representatives but then the governor and legislature of the state of Arizona did decide the government should get between the doctor and patient and rationed money for transplants based on income status of the patient....not medical recommendations.

He absolutely did say this. It was one of many baseless, scurrilous charges made to get Obamacare through.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by OutDoorNut

Good idea, and we could put the convicts to work on the pot farms.

Very few states allow prisoners to be put to work.

Only non-felons are expected to work.

[Maineac]

You must have the feed back from Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly and all the other right leaning "journalists." I think you'll find "the rest of the Country" isn't as far too far to the right as you seem to surmise. I don't believe the average American wants to go down the ultra right agenda path, either. Common sense is in the middle, as proven by a lot of the tea party propaganda, some of which I agree with, but can't bring myself to the overall platform. A thoroughly misled, possibly well meaning agenda. Should you choose the latter, you will be an isolated minority with a highly questionable, often irrational voice.

For a right leaning god, guns, guts and Constitution crowd, it amazes me that the basic understanding of the Constitution, unless the rant serves a particular purpose (as with the unconstitutional portion of the healthcare bill, which probably IS unconstitutional), is completely lacking in the right. Selective application and hearing. These "private prisons" present huge Constitutional issues. Say you get locked up for 3 years for multiple DUI's where nobody was hurt, you were just finally caught and rightly prosecuted. Then you go into the "private" system. Something happens. You die a wrongful death. I question whether any portion of the Constitution could be applied directly to a PRIVATE entity when the section is relevant to Government action only. Problems, billions in lawsuits and still, probably highly unconstitutional. See, the Constitution applies to all Americans AND, to an extent, people from abroad, legal or illegal, as the foundation of justice for our Country. Study up on these private prisons. Try reading the Constitution and some of the key caselaw arising from the 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and 14th Amendments. Be informed.

[Submariner]

I do not wish to belittle anyone's torture nor abuse. I have no doubt that private prisons have been sued for abuses. However I find it hard to imagine that a private facility could ever approach the level of abuse and civil-rights violations that Federal facilities are known for.

[Submariner]

Wow, growl, hiss, snarl, growl....

Must we truly go down this path?

I hold to a vision where it is okay to express opposing views while remaining calm, respectful and polite.

[Maineac]

Woof. I have the same vision, but have a streak of fightback in me when conclusory untruths are expressed, as with the Constitution. Us true Libertarians take a lot of heat from both sides on regulatory, environmental, entitlement, government, constitutional and other matters near and dear to the partisan hearts. I just like to call 'em all out when they're wrong or simply following the (misinformation) party line.

The problem with the private facility, is going to be the lawsuits right up front. The questions is, can a private facility be held Constitutionally accountable for the 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and 14th Amendments? Few other private organizations can. These rights are held by citizens against the Government. I can't violate your 4th Amendment rights. Only the Government can. All it will take is an off the wall ruling that the private operations can't be held for any of these and America goes down a very dark path.

[cebdark]

I'll say this and then be done with it.

We must be very careful what we wish for when human services (to include jails) become a 'for profit' deal. Anytime money is dangled in front of a profit-making entity in terms of health and welfare, and we're dealing with people who may never be fixed we run the risk of paying through the nose albeit quietly (not to mention how much of that 'profit' may be shipped out to another state that provides a humdinger of a corporate tax break which we will have no benefit of). We can snort, bark, yell, or listen to endless misinformed "opinion" on either side, but the quiet reality is, that SOMEONE will need to actually DEAL with it.

When Angus King and Melody Peet (sp) decided it would be a fine thing to empty out the mental institutions and put them "into community-based" group homes, IMHO, it did little to truly save money - in fact, given the number of indisputably mentally ill patients who are in and out of ERs and jails on any given day, it's a sad joke to me, and while it may look good on the states books, it's not so swell on the caregiver books.

Additionally, the services which were supposed to be in place, never really came to full fruition.

Furthermore, there are indeed patients who end up getting chisled out of snowbanks and dragged back into the ERs to spend upwards of 2 days tying up a room until they find someone, somewhere, who has an open mental health bed. In what I would hope would be needless to say, that ain't cheap.

Likewise, the training required of jail guards who often deal with mentally ill patients, surely exceeds that of any perceived and so-called 'savings' realized to the state. Again, it just looks good on one side of the state books, while they either don't pay close to what they owe in MaineCare bills to the providers, or they don't pay until several years later.

So I guess I'd need to see the fine print of shuffling jails off to private, for-profit companies (with FULL disclosure of profit margin) before I'd be willing to sign on.

If, in fact, it won't end up costing 10x more on the other end, I'd might be willing to support it.