More Out -of-control Republican Spending and General Lack of Empathy

Gov. Scott Walker has ended the early-release program in Wisconsin.  This comes at a time when Wisconsin prisons are at 120% capacity.

"This is one of those cases where we're keeping the worst of the worst in the state prisons," Eau Claire County Sheriff Ron Cramer said, the Leader-Telegram of Eau Claire reported.


Did the "worst of the worst" criminals qualify for the early-release program?  According to the bill signed in 2009, inmates who qualified were:

• Serving time for a misdemeanor or a Class F to I felony that is not a violent offense [as defined in s. 301.048 (2) (bm) 1.] may earn one day of positive adjustment time for each two days of good behavior. Disqualifying violent crimes include offenses such as homicide, sexual assault, and robbery. In addition, an inmate must not be a registered sex offender or have committed other specified serious crimes, and must not have been found ineligible for positive adjustment time
• Certain elderly and terminally ill inmates were previously allowed (2001 Wisconsin Act 109) to petition for early release. Act 28 expands eligibility to certain inmates serving life sentences, and inmates may now request early release based on an “extraordinary health condition,” defined as advanced age, infirmity, or disability or a need for medical treatment or services not available within the correctional institution. To be eligible due to age, an inmate must be at least 65 years old and have served at least 5 years in prison, or at least 60 years of age and completed at least 10 years. Another petition may not be filed within one year after ERRC denial.
• It was also possible to build up enough points for good behavior and earn early release

Total Inmate Population Projections: 2010-2020

The Department of Corrections is expected to experience an overall 16% increase in the incarcerated population over the next decade from the current population of 22,911 to the projected population of 26,675 in the year 2020 as seen in Table 1.

Table 1. Projected Inmate Populations: 2010 - 2020

Year As of July 1	Male Population	Female Population	Total Population	% Change From Prior Year
2010	22,211	1,434	23,645	1.4%
2011	22,553	1,434	23,987	1.4%
2012	22,893	1,436	24,329	1.4%
2013	23,224	1,454	24,678	1.4%
2014	23,540	1,471	25,011	1.3%
2015	23,841	1,487	25,328	1.3%
2016	24,128	1,504	25,632	1.2%
2017	24,403	1,521	25,924	1.1%
2018	24,657	1,539	26,196	1.0%
2019	24,891	1,555	26,446	1.0%
2020	25,105	1,570	26,675	.9%

Throughout history, the ability to predict human behavior, and certainly inmate populations, has presented significant challenges for correctional agencies across the country. To a significant extent, inmate population levels are influenced by unpredictable factors, including: legislative policies, such as Truth in Sentencing; crime rates; arrests and criminal prosecutions; public fears of increased victimization; and failure of offenders to successfully complete community based programs and supervision, to name a few. Conversely, once offenders enter the correctional system, whether as inmates or on probation supervision, it is realistic, in part, that prison diversion or population reduction programs, for appropriate offenders, will impact population management and the future demand for secure confinement capacity.

The human and fiscal impacts of incarceration have become staggering. In Wisconsin, incarceration is costly: the average annual incarceration cost in a maximum security facility in 2007 was $35,039 per prisoner; in a medium security facility was $26,508 per prisoner; and in a minimum security center was $30,794. The juvenile correctional institution daily rate in 2007 was $209, or $76,285 on an annual basis. These costs associated with operating institutional programs contribute to a Wisconsin Department of Corrections budget of more than $1 billion per year.

In the 1990s the Wisconsin prison population increased dramatically and had tripled by the year 2000. Drug and alcohol offenders accounted for a significant growth in the incarcerated population. In fact, drug offenders accounted for more than twenty percent of the growth from 1996 to 2006, and drug and operating while intoxicated offenders were responsible for more than sixty percent of the growth from 2001 to 2006. During that time, the state was building or opening a new prison on average, every two years. Just eight years ago, the state led the country in the number of inmates that were housed in out-of state facilities, peaking at almost 5000.

By 2005, all of the inmates had been returned to occupy newly created prison capacity and county jails in Wisconsin. In 1990, the Wisconsin year end prison population numbered 7,554; at the conclusion of 2007, the number had increased to 22,690 incarcerated adults. The inclusion of offenders on probation and parole supervision and juveniles being served in the institutions and community represented in excess of 95,000 individuals under the custody or supervision of the Department of Corrections; a trend that appears to be continuing. The sheer volume of offenders underscores the challenges facing the Department of Corrections in the next decade.

Gov. Walker and those that support this decision are wrong on incarceration.  Locking up non-violent offenders with violent offenders only exacerbates criminal behaviors hence the high recidivism rates.  Another reason for high recidivism is that when prisoners are released they have to deal with egomaniacs like Walker. 

Voter apathy - why don't we care?

It was a cool late Friday night in early spring.  A group of volunteers was busy labeling fliers for the final targeted literature drops before the Tuesday election.  For the most part the volunteers and paid employees were enthusiastic about the race.  The overall feeling was that voter turnout would be high and that fact would work in favor of their candidate.  "I definitely think we have the momentum," explained the campaign coordinator, "You know the whole thing with Walker is giving us a huge boost."  The fliers showed a picture of Jeff Stone standing seductively near a lecturing Scott Walker.  It had a simple equation "Stone = Walker".

The first Tuesday of April was fast approaching and volunteers were clamoring to get organized.  The polls were gearing up for what had the looks of possible record turnouts.  On Wednesday, the headlines reported those record turnouts at the polls. "Tuesday's Supreme Court turnout in Wisconsin was off the charts", "Huge voter turnout in Spring election," etc.

33% of eligible voters got out the vote on April 5th.  The ecstatic media proudly reported that 1 in 3 eligible voters showed up at a polling station to cast his/her ballot.  While on the surface it may not seem to be a large percentage of eligible voters, bear in mind that the average turnout for a spring election is around 18-20%.  “It was uncommon, it was an extraordinary event,” said Maurice Sheppard, a political science instructor at MATC.

How were so many voters primed to get to the polls? Wisconsin was in the midst of huge protests against a divisive Governor and republican run legislature that had already passed a controversial tort reform bill and had recently passed a bill stripping public employees of most of their collective bargaining rights.  On the ballot were candidates in a very heated Supreme court race fueled by outside groups linking David Prosser to the controversial Governor.  It seemed that the arena was ripe for massive crowds, which in a way is what showed up.  But massive is a relative concept.

In the winter of 2010, the congressional midterm elections triggered turnouts nearing 50% (48.51% to be more accurate).  Again, the press and many pollsters praised the high turnouts for a non-presidential election.  But "high", "huge", "massive", or any other adjectives are relative quantifiers.

While voter turnout raged in Wisconsin, in parts of Missouri Kristin Hoppa reported that voter turnout spiked at about 10%.  Gary Colvin, supervisory Republican election judge at Ashland, said he expected more voters. He said at the last election, the church averaged about 100 voters an hour.

"We are averaging about 20 an hour," Mr. Colvin said about noon. "It's voter apathy.

In comparison with the US turnout, keeping our focus in the Americas, Anguilla held elections for 7 parliamentary seats in 2010; over 80% of eligible voters voted.  In Bolivia, in 2009, 90% turned out to vote on a referendum on the size of the constitutional limit on individual private landholdings, to be included in the new constitution, if ratified.  Suddenly the high turnout in the US elections becomes puny.  And while many voices applauded the "high" percentage of  votes cast, not many voices decried the actually quite abysmally low numbers. 

In Canada, turnout has hovered around 60% for the last five elections and then dropped to 58% in 2008.  The percentage drop has raised serious concerns regarding the perceived level of voter apathy and has caused the government to create a comprehensive website designed to encourage university students to vote in the upcoming federal election. (see itsyourvote.ca)

After comparing international voter turnouts, statistics rank the US as one of the lowest of industrial nations (see International Foundation for Electoral Systems).  Whereas many in the US would not be surprised by these conclusions, it should be surprising that not much is being done to try to elevate the numbers of participants.

Voter apathy occurs when citizens believe their votes don't count, it won't matter anyway, nothing will change so there is no reason to vote.  Why is there such a high level of voter apathy in the US and such little concern about raising the numbers of participants and relieving disbelief in our democratic process?

In 2008, Tony Dokoupil was interested in discovering why so few male voters turned out.  The Case of the Vanishing Male Voter explores why male voters have been turning out in fewer numbers in elections recent to 2008.  Dokoupil reported that since 1964, the percentage of men voting has dropped from 72% to 56%.  The article claims that high female voter turnout and low male turnout helped to elect former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Reasons cited include the fact that men tend to be more isolated, a shift in which educated women outnumber educated men, and a higher rate of male criminals who are barred from voting.  Of the 5.3 million convicted felons in the US, more than 80% are males. 

The article illustrated reasons for lower male turnouts and higher frustration with voting policy. These conditions could lead to higher voter apathy. While higher incarceration rates accounts for smaller numbers of voters, is it directly related to voter apathy?  Much like the stock market, voting apathy can be affected by seemingly insignificant factors.  Losing a parent or spouse to the prison system can cause depression and condemnation of the entire system as being unfair. 

In An Exploration of the Effects of Negative Political Advertising on Political Decision Making, Bruce E. Pinkleton, Nam-Hyun Um, and Erica Weintraub Austin conducted a study with 236 students who were exposed to different types of advertising.  "Participants exposed to negative advertising found it less useful for political decision making and were more negative toward political campaigns than were participants exposed to positive advertising."  Although the study showed a correlation between negative advertising and levels of disgust with political campaigning, the study did not conclude that negative advertising would lead directly to "citizen apathy."

So, what causes someone to consciously choose not to exercise his/her right to vote?  Why do so many who can vote choose not to?  It has been argued by many that people are only motivated by their own welfare and comfort.  Chris Hayes has argued that greed, envy, and corruption shattered our financial system.  Could this possibly be a cause of such rampant voter apathy as well?

When the tort reform bill passed in Wisconsin very few eyebrows were raised by liberals, progressives, or centrists or any Wisconsinites.  When collective bargaining was put on the chopping block, protests erupted.  The tort reform is far more reaching and may prove to be far more detrimental in the future to employees and citizens than the budget repair bill.  The tort reform affects everyone but not immediately - cases will arise.  The budget repair bill affects people immediately.  As soon as people felt their interests threatened, people became motivated to act.

Is there a way to clearly align voter's interests with election results and voting whenever an election is held?  What's mildly surprising is that there is not a lot written about voter apathy's causes.  Maybe journalists and politicians don't care if more people are involved in the process; if so, this would more than likely be due to electoral bias and apathy.  What's also interesting is that the US gets high numbers of voters for presidential elections but very low turnout for local elections - the local elections carry a greater impact on our daily lives but are not as sensationalized.

My hypothesis is that there is a connection between voter apathy and television.  So much of the information spreading through the glowing box is designed to numb our senses, sell sensationalized bits of data, and make us feel like inadequate consumers unless we buy something.  There must be some consequences to the abundance of entertainment we are exposed to.  One repercussion is a general sense of apathy.  News broadcasts inform us that polls reveal the race to be close or not close at all.  Either way one vote, goes the reasoning, won't matter.  In broad national elections, it's hard to pinpoint one vote.  But, in local elections, one vote can determine the outcome.  And most of us know this and can walk through this chain of reasoning, but television provides an easy excuse to recline and let our minds wander effortlessly.  The idea of going to a polling station becomes an overwhelming burden.

There are also indications that Americans don't know enough about candidates to feel reasonably comfortable enough to vote.  In the US television is the news source for most of the people.  But news programming is not designed to provide informative, in-depth candidate coverage on the issues.  PBS handles in-depth coverage better than any other channel but is still lacking.  In the last gubernatorial election, many Wisconsinites felt they had no idea what each candidate stood for.   

What do you think? Are you an apathetic citizen who chooses not to vote? Or do you have any suggestions on the causes of voter apathy?  How can we get more citizens to vote or be more involved?

_________________________________________________

Read more about voter apathy and voter turnout:
http://firestone.princeton.edu/politics/guides/intl_elect.html

Case of the Vanishing Male Voter Dokoupil, Tony, Newsweek; 10/27/2008, Vol. 152 Issue 17, p14-14, 3/5p, 2 Color Photographs, 1 Graph

An Exploration of the Effects of Negative Political Advertising on Political Decision Making, Bruce E. Pinkleton, Nam-Hyun Um, and Erica Weintraub Austin Journal of Advertising Spring 2002

http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/tv.htm

http://stanfordreview.org/old_archives/Archive/Volume_XXXIII/Issue_3/News/news1.shtml

System Failure: It's Not Just the Media -- the Whole Political System Has Failed; David Miller

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/july-dec00/brokensystem.html

Incarceration Rates, Poverty Gap, Socioeconomics, Education, and the Capitalist Effect

I was driving to work today on the highway when traffic came to a near stand still.  I couldn't see what had happened to cause the slow down, so I crept along in the same lane.  Eventually I realized there had been an accident.  A fire truck was coming up and cars were jockeying for position.  I realized that this scenario was a perfect example of how capitalism works.

As good little capitalists, we are told to watch for deals, buy low, sell high.  What we aren't told is that when you buy low, someone else is probably losing.  For the clearest example of this, we need not look any farther than real property.  At this time there are a lot of properties selling at a fraction of what they cost two years ago.  That's great for making a profit, but it also means someone else is losing.  

As the capitalist system chugs along, research indicates that it very clearly is an economic system that works for the few.  As Michael Parenti points out in Democracy for the Few, capitalism and democracy are mutually exclusive.  The principles of democracy are undermined and trumped time and time again by the needs of capitalism.

Whereas democracy advocates equality, capitalism adheres to elitism.  While the democratic dream is of shared values, the capitalist dream is more ownership for fewer individuals.  The entire American system, and this is borne out in England and Canada as well, has been infiltrated by the capitalist mentality that puts profit margins ahead of human interest.  The system is designed for people to fail and for others to take advantage of failure.  And, oh my, have people taken advantage.

As the wealthiest top 10% earn more, and the bottom 50% remain relatively stagnant, the poverty gap increases.  As the number of people living in poverty increases, the wealth of the top earners increases.  This is capitalism.  The fortunate take advantage of the less fortunate.

What keeps most workers from revolting against the system?  The dream that one day they too will be wealthy.  However, chances of you getting into the top wage earners' group are startlingly low for a few reasons.  Most of the wealth is inherited, some is gained through crime, some married into.  There are a few cases, like Tim Blixseth, who have joined the upper echelon after growing up in poverty.  But the likelihood of that happening to you is slim. 

The dream of becoming wealthy in the United States is not a dream at all but a fantasy.  The longer we continue to live in this system the less likely it will be that you become wealthy.

Mobility in the socioeconomic strata is possible, not probable, and most of the movement is confined to between classes not across them.  A child born into poverty may as an adult join the middle class, in fact this entirely possible.  However, it is extremely rare to see an impoverished child grow up and enter into the upper class.  Additionally, a growing gap between education levels and attainment indicates that movement between classes will be limited in the future.

The Economic Mobility Project studies various factors of movement between classes.  The best indicator for hope in the economic mobility reports is that higher education degrees can still open doors of opportunities across economic classes. The reports can be found at economicmobility.org.  Tuition today is at universities is at an all time high and they keep climbing.  It's nearly unheard of today to find a recent graduate without student debt, some owe hundreds of thousands of dollars and will never be able to pay it off.

The conclusion that can be drawn from the mobility studies is that the best way to try to climb the economic ladder is to try to be born into a wealthy family with highly educated parents who own a home and have health coverage.  The reason for this is that let's just say you were born into poverty.  But you attend a local university and earn a degree.  You'll more than likely have accumulated a substantial debt that you'll have to start paying off immediately after graduation.  There won't be any jobs available in the city and if there are you may have a hard time getting there because there won't be any public transportation.  All in all there may not be a silver lining to this cloud.

Another lesson that can be culled from the mobility studies is that significant loss for lower income families is far more challenging to recover than significant loss for upper class families. This may seem obvious at first but what republicans have been pushing for is reducing contributions to Social Security and allowing consumers to invest in individual savings accounts (stocks).  Unfortunately there is no guarantee that betting on stocks will pay off.  And, all of the working class families that lose money, aren't really losing money they can afford to lose for the very reason that it will be incredibly more difficult for them to earn it back.

The economic layout of capitalism effects everything in the system including the fabric of society.  This is the Capitalist Effect.  The Capitalist Effect infiltrates our relationships with others, the way people argue - waiting for a weakness and then pouncing.  It can be found in politics and schools.  The Capitalist Effect can reward those who are smart and stealthy, those who are opportunistic and ambitious, and punish those who are meek and timid.  As political leadership pushes for more competition in free (deregulated) markets, and more "rugged individualism", a majority of people suffer and wealth gets more concentrated.  As wealth gets more concentrated, the entire system begins to feel a tremendous burden that it cannot sustain. The budget cuts currently being touted in state capitals and in D.C., are indicative of the negative results.  The social burden has now been placed on the working class where the populace survive.

As the incomes of the wealthy increased and incomes for the working class stagnated, incarceration rates oddly mirrored the rise of the wealthiest incomes.  Incarceration rates have risen astronomically as the income gap (poverty gap) has widened. 

As the poverty gap widens, the incarceration rate has increased from under two million prisoners in 1980 to over seven million in 2008.  That's a three hundred percent increase.  As has been widely reported, the US houses the highest number if inmates in the world.  Now, this ranking may be influenced by the amount of Chinese "criminals" that are put to death, but nonetheless the numbers are startling and are a direct result of the Capitalist Effect as well as a stricter approach to drug possession and non-violent offenders.  

The most remarkable correlation, however, is the increase of prisoners as the top 10% of the population earns more.  Although these two facts are not directly linked, there is a correlation.  Capitalism is an amoral system.  There is no inherent right or wrong in earning money, and the prison industry brings in billions of dollars in earnings every year.  The more prisoners, the higher the profits. 

If this were more than speculative, we would think that these indicators may exist in other sectors.  Just as the prison population has risen along with massive profits for the wealthy, educational statistics for low socioeconomic groups have wilted.  The achievement gap is evidently clear between racial groups and it is also clear within the socioeconomic strata.  Socioeconomic achievement gaps have grown sharply in recent decades.

Further discrepancies support the income-based achievement gap as well as the results of NAEP assessments.

Average scale scores in NAEP mathematics for eighth-grade students, by eligibility for the National School Lunch Program and race/ethnicity: 2007

Race/ethnicity	Eligible	Not eligible	Information not available
White	275	295	296
Black	255	268	269
Hispanic	261	273	270
Asian/Pacific Islander	283	304	303
American Indian/Alaska Native	255	277	‡
‡ Reporting standards not met. Sample size is insufficient to permit a reliable estimate.
NOTE: Black includes African American, Hispanic includes Latino, and Pacific Islander includes Native Hawaiian. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin. A student's eligibility for the National School Lunch Program, which offers free or reduced-price lunch to students from lower-income families, is used as an indicator of poverty. View complete data with standard errors.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2007 Mathematics Assessment.

Additionally, Dahl and Lochner (The impact of family income on child achievement, 2005) found that an income increase of $1,000 was associated with an increase in mathematics test scores of 2.1% of a standard deviation and in reading test scores of 3.6% of a standard deviation. Results of increased income are even stronger for children from families most impacted by the Earned Income Tax Credit.  Of course, the Earned Income Tax Credit is being cut by Scott Walker's budget.

In general, the evidence is mounting in regards to the whole picture of the capitalist effect.  The Capitalist Effect results in huge disparity between the top and bottom wage earners, large incarceration rates, poor educational outcomes, and in general a poor outlay for the average human.   The Capitalist Effect actaully inhibits the growth of a middle class and promotes the rising misfortunes of the populace.  The most dramatic aspect of the Capitalist Effect is that while the lower and working class suffer, the wealthy prosper.  When thousands of people lose their jobs, CEOs can turn record incomes and corporations turn record profits.

Is this a recipe for ultimate failure?  Is it moral for us to allow the Capitalist Effect to continue?

_____________________________________

Read more about incarceration in the US:  http://www.sashaabramsky.com/index.php/american-furies/
Read more about education policy: http://www.ed.gov/
Read more about education statistics:  http://nces.ed.gov/
Read more about capitalism:  http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GLOSSARY/CAPITAL.HTM

Tennessee's Governor Finds Money For Private Prison Amid Cuts

TennCare, Higher Education To See Deep Cuts

POSTED: 12:00 pm CDT March 21, 2011

UPDATED: 2:44 pm CDT March 21, 2011

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Republican Gov. Bill Haslam has found nearly $31 million in recurring money to keep open a privately run prison in West Tennessee while making deep cuts to other areas such as TennCare and higher education.  Former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen sought to close the Hardeman County Correctional Facility at Whiteville by December.  

But lawmakers added the money needed to run the prison through June, and Haslam in his budget address last week announced plans to restore permanent funding for the facility operated by the Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America.  "We went back and weren't certain that we would adequately be able to take care of the prison population that we needed to and do it at a cost that would make sense," Haslam told reporters after a tour of a community college in Nashville last week. "We could have saved some money by closing that, but in the end we didn't think it was the right thing to do for the corrections system." 

Haslam's conclusions stand in contrast to Bredesen's view expressed last year that keeping the prison open was "not really justified."Bredesen considered -- but ultimately decided against -- using his line-item veto power to eliminate the extra $15 million for the facility included in the current year's budget to keep it open through July. Bredesen said Republican-controlled Legislature's decision to overrule him on the prison was "a case of everybody wants to run government like a business until you actually run government like a business."  Haslam said he agrees with Bredesen's businesslike approach to governing, but that spending cuts were found in other areas. 

"We did make a lot of those hard decisions," Haslam said. "In the end you have to evaluate one versus the other and make the one you think are right when you're the governor."  

Haslam has noted that the state is having to make do without $2 billion in federal stimulus money that has flowed to the state in recent years. His budget proposal includes a $133 million in recurring expenses, topped by $40 million in cuts at the state's expanded Medicaid program and $20 million at public colleges and universities. 

CCA President and CEO Damon Hininger in a conference call with Wall Street analysts last year took a wait-and-see approach to term-limited Bredesen's decision on the Whiteville prison.  "Obviously there's going to be a new governor in the governor's mansion in January of next year," he said. "The Legislature will take it up and determine if that's appropriate to not fund those beds."  Hininger gave $2,000 to Haslam's gubernatorial campaign and inauguration, while CCA gave the maximum $7,500 corporate contribution to swearing-in festivities, according to campaign finance reports.

Company officials met with the governor at his Capitol office the week before his budget address, according to Haslam's official schedule.A CCA spokesman did not immediately return a message seeking comment.Sen. Dolores Gresham and Rep. Barrett Rich, both R-Somerville, said they were pleased that the governor has included the funding in his budget.  "There's a need, unfortunately, for that kind of institution," said Gresham, who is the chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee. "And we happen to have one in Whiteville, so let's not waste what we have."

Rich said closing the prison could lead to shorter prison sentences among inmates and would have a negative impact."Keeping people in prison for the specified period of time is essential -- I believe it curbs crime and protects the people of Tennessee," he said. "Also, there's a lot of jobs in my district and in Hardeman County and southwest Tennessee that would be affected."