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California bans private prisons

theguardian.com

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Re: California bans private prisons

#311

Post by x86_64Ubuntu »

jvm wrote: post #200
coryrc wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The public sector isn't any better. The Price of Prison Guard Unions https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-price-of-prison-guar... PORAC's contribution to California's prison crisis http://www.cjcj.org/news/5423

Classic to see the correct take get downvoted. If anyone's interested in actually learning about the causes of mass incarceration, I'd strongly recommend John Pfaff's _Locked In_: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01L6SLKK8/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?... In short: a) It's not the war on drugs. b) It's not private prisons. c) It's not sentencing laws. You could get rid of all of those and America would still lead the "free" worl…

The War On Drugs is a mechanism prosecutors use to get people into the system. We can't dismiss the changes in law brought about from a moral panic and how that affects who and how people are taken in.

Re: California bans private prisons

#312

Post by archie2 »

tim333 wrote: post #303
archie2 wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a step 4: pay exorbitant tax rates.

Ok you have to pay tax but the cost is usually far less than the US system.

I prefer not to have beaureaucrats decide how I spend my money.

I've had a relative with a treatable condition wait so long for a surgery that her condition worsened and it couldn't be fixed and now she is permanently physically disabled.

Re: California bans private prisons

#313

Post by tim333 »

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #276
jorblumesea wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why Americans continue to willingly subject themselves to these torturous systems They've been told socialized medicine is evil communist plot to steal their hard earned money. Many Americans have not been outside of the states and have no concept of what life in other countries might be like. There's a good percentage of Americans that are completely ignorant of how the rest of the world does things, and also dism…

Your comment seems flatly accurate and yet you get downvoted. I still can’t understand this phenomenon.

He implies the reason is that US voters are ignorant. As well as being a bit impolite I'm not sure that's case. The strange US system started I think as a stitch up between US insurance companies and Richard Nixon and there are ongoing vested interests making it very hard to change.

Here's a survey result:

>Even Republican voters seemed to disagree with certain conservative ideology on health care. The Hill-HarrisX survey found that 26 percent of GOP voters said they wanted the government to stop paying for health care, while a total of 53 percent favored some form of universal government-provided insurance. Twenty-one percent said they want to keep the current health care system in place.

So it seems more like the public would prefer universal government-provided insurance but the political system is not good at following their wishes rather than those of the various lobbyists etc.

Re: California bans private prisons

#314

Post by jjeaff »

FoxPaw wrote: post #291
lacampbell wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How expensive is health care in the US? IE, in my country dentistry is fully private, and it costs about 100 USD for a teeth cleaning. How much is that in America?

Just a cleaning without x-rays? About $100-300. Dental isn't really indicative of "how expensive health care is" though. Lots of U.S. dental and vision "insurance" plans are really just mandatory subscription plans since their bills are pretty consistent, and anything that might cost more gets you a referral to a hospital. It's when you visit a hospital (voluntarily or via emergency ambulance) that you'll start getti…

I would wager just a cleaning without x-rays would rarely exceed $100.

I live in a very expensive California city and it's about $160 for a cleaning with x-rays. And it's not a discount dental shop.

Re: California bans private prisons

#315

Post by x86_64Ubuntu »

55orolder wrote: post #185

I find it fascinating that private prisons draw such ire while the prison guard union draws so little, when the prison guard union has all the exact same incentives and is drastically more powerful. California would have had legal marijuana a decade sooner except for lobbing by the union, they're a major force for mandatory minimum sentences and tougher sentencing in general. This seems like a trivial easy-PR win for…

With private prisons, you can grift of off anti-private sentiment. But with prison guard unions, you just run into people's authoritarian streaks. There is a reason why Law Enforcement Officer's Bill Of Rights are sometimes expanded to include corrections officers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_Enforcement_Officers%27_Bi...

Re: California bans private prisons

#316

Post by readhn »

kenhwang wrote: post #285
arcticbull wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I'm also in favor of socialized medicine for basically exactly these reasons. Shocker, I know. The system works! I grew up in socialized medicine, and you get sick, you go to the hospital, they treat you and you leave. There's no step 4. Why Americans continue to willingly subject themselves to these torturous systems is beyond me. It's all in y'alls control.

There's a choice component to health. Sure, you can lose the genetic or environmental lottery and just be unhealthy. Or you can choose to be unhealthy. Smoking, drinking, drugs, poor diet, lack of exercise. These are by far the biggest contributors to healthcare cost and they cost absolutely nothing to prevent. Many people just don't take responsibility for their health, and many others in the US don't like the idea…

In the USA there are plenty of perfectly normal, educated people, taking care of themselves, eating right, jogging every morning and doing the "right thing" entire life who get literally financially destroyed, savings wiped out, and go bankrupt because of "complicated" illness that is perfectly solvable but "costs a lot" due to the state of medicine in this country.

Why "educated" people in this country still keep voting in the same crooks (dems & reps) is beyond me.

This election cycle is going to be the same thing - this crook or that crook. Pick one that will do less damage. There is no difference anymore. This two party system BS has to go.

Re: California bans private prisons

#317

Post by droithomme »

Banning private prisons is good.

Public prisons though are not necessarily good.

I remember when a good friend was forcibly sterilized without consent by California state official directed medical staff. Eugenics and genocide has been a fundamental part of the Golden State's agenda for over a century.

Re: California bans private prisons

#318

Post by archie2 »

gerbilly wrote: post #304
archie2 wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a step 4: pay exorbitant tax rates.

Yeah sure. I once worked in the US and in Canada (Connecticut) in the same year. My tax rate was lower in Canada for the same salary.

I paid 45% of my income in taxes last year alone.

For comparison in my income bracket:

Ontario income tax rate: 12.16% Canada federal tax rate: 26% Employment Insurance and Social Security are deducted seperately and made up the rest of my deductions.

Connecticut state income tax rate: 5.50% US federal tax: 22%

Unless social security rates are worse than Canada, I don't see how your situation is possible.

Re: California bans private prisons

#319

Post by hndamien »

etaty wrote: post #179

Just for fun, same sentence on health care. > I'm so happy about this. Private health care insure are the scum of the earth. They're totally antithetical to a free society that values human life. They often lobby for minimum health care coverage in law (effectively requiring by law a certain percentage of citizens to be marked as clients). Any profit they skim off the top is money that should be spent on research and…

I just realised I am in a private prison.

Re: California bans private prisons

#320

Post by archie2 »

DanBC wrote: post #296
archie2 wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a step 4: pay exorbitant tax rates.

When you remove all private insurance payments for health the US still spends more than other countries. The US government pays huge amounts for healthcare for lousy outcomes.

The problem is that the government is paying for healthcare in the first place.
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