LEGISLATORS CASH COW

Prison is big business, the reason I say this for the simple fact it costs $40,000 to house an inmate according to a Census Report of 2000. This number has skyrocketed since then I'm sure. Instead of resources going to housing and education, they typically go towards housing inmates. The stimulation of the economy comes from services rendered from housing prisoners. I remember being 19 yrs old being shipped off upstate to serve the remainder of my time. I didn't understand the dynamics nor the politics that I was clearly a pawn of. I was part of an experiment and a lucrative business idea as prisoners were shipped off like cattle to upstate prisons. The population would suffer had it not been for us occupying the space there. The benefits of having prisoners upstate is the fact that they're counted in the census as residents, but yet we don't have rights to vote. The census reported in 2000, 108,000 prisoners were Suspended In Time. Multiply that number by $40,000-you get $4,320,000,000 dollars of revenue from the government.
An article entitled "Imprisoned In New York", by Andrew Beveridge in February 2004 states: Criminals are among New York City’s most popular exports. According to a recent study, about 44,000 state prisoners, or two-thirds of the entire state prison population are from New York City. Yet only 3,000 of these inmates are in state-run jails that are actually located in New York City. The rest are trucked up to state-run prisons upstate. While inconvenient to their relatives, their relocation is a huge benefit, both economically and politically, to rural counties upstate – at the expense of New York City.
They reap the benefits while we're Suspended In Time! While the local population looks forward to people doing crime in the inner city to boost up their economy, there's also a grave consequence that arises. Overpopulation of prisons have also blossomed over the years compelling some wardens to double-bunk prisoners. Fortunately for me, I never experienced that but I remember when double-bunking was being implemented upstate. I witnessed it for seven years. Friends told me of the horrific conditions which they faced and subject to on a daily basis. Bad enough your in a 8 by 6 cell, now you have to share that with another individual. God forbid this person has poor hygiene. The people who come up with these ideas clearly have no compassion for prisoners because they're not the ones who have to smell the stench of a bunkie using the toilet. Legislators are driven by monetary gain. The more people they can clump into a cell, the more money they can bargain for from the government. The resources that are awarded to them are supposed to go towards mental health, medication, food, clothing, and whatever other neccessities a prisoner may need during his stay. Honestly speaking, do you really think those resources are being allocated to the right places? When some of the inmates needs are met, the surplus goes in greedy legislators pockets. Even the person in charge of regulating funds has his hands in the pie for his cut of the proceeds. A recent survey by the Vera Institute of Justice discovered 26 states slashed its funding for corrections this year. Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington have all cut back. Of course this does not come with strong opposition from prison unions. In Tennessee, plans of reducing the amount of resources spent on inmates include offering them less milk and meat in their daily meals. Kansas has proposed to rehabilate and is opposed to the idea of locking people up to earn a dollar. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) is also committed to a $1 billion dollar cost cutting plan which was announced a month ago. Governor Paterson has also been criticized for closing ten prisons and adding to the overpopulation in prison. Correctional officers have to deal with twice as many inmates, which exposes them to more danger and the possibility of riots erupting due to a lack of officers. This dilemna has prompted some states to cut prison funding by 10-22 percent from their previous budgets. In Oregon, a voter-approved plan to hand longer prison sentences to those who commit property crimes was delayed by state lawmakers who said they could not pay for it. Prison population has ballooned to 2.3 million people. One out of every 100 adults will be Suspended in Time! This harsh reality is forcing state lawmakers’ hand to cut programs. Greedy prison unions and legislators will have to find theirselves a new pie to eat from since their current opulent lifestyles have been altered. They are now literally Suspended In Time. Karma!