America’s Violent Crime Rate Increasing
Thank you George W. Bush. Now we’re reaping still another benefit from our Iraqi quagmire and our crippling budget deficit. Last year, murders in the U.S. increased by almost five percent. Overall violent crime increased by 2.5%.
And yes, it IS Bush’s fault. Our infrastructure has crumbled and deteriorated more than ever because of our draining treasury. Conservatives don’t care about the infrastructure when it just means “social services.” For the Far Right, “social services” means everything from mass transit to job training programs.
But now the crumbling infrastructure is jeopardizing police protection and crime prevention. Let’s see how the ultra-conservatives will rationalize this. Undoubtedly they’ll find a way to keep supporting Bush’s quest for world domination at the expense of everything else.
America has been distracted by our overseas adventures. A criminologist from Northeastern University said “A lot of the resources devoted have been shifted over from hometown security to homeland security.”
The Mayor of Boston said “What happened is a lot of those community groups that we used to have don’t exist today because the funding is not there. We need to go back to the hard work of crime control, cops and crime prevention, youth programs. They work, but it takes time and money.”
A law enforcement analyst said “Either we pay for programs now or pay for victims later.”
OK, wingnuts, what’ll it be?
posted by Tom Harper @ 9:45 PM
6 Comments:
Say what you will about Bill Clinton, at least he kicked in some federal funds to keep cops on the job. Today, too many cities have been laying off police and firefighters due to lack of funding.
Isn't it ironic that the crew in Washington DC who claim to be tough on crime and are keeping us safe with their homeland security plans, are the same people helping keep cops off the streets and first-responders few and far between.
Reb 84: I remember in the '94 election when the Republicans took over the House, the first thing they did was make fun of Clinton's Midnight Basketball leagues. They deleted the funding, and made a bunch of clueless statements like "they should be home studying at night, not out playing basketball." And that was the beginning.
These law and order types think that a few tough-talking soundbites are the way to control crime. The rest of us know better.
I think the crazy righties' solution should be obvious, because one of their usual knee-jerk answers is always: PRIVATIZE!
So let's privatize things like all the local and state police departments so law enforcement can be turned into a money-making venture and so we won't have to pay for it out of our taxes! This way, when someone call 911 while a crime is in progress, the 911 operator can inform the caller as to how much a visit from the police will cost, and would the caller like to pay now with a credit card or be billed later? This way, law enforcment would be much more likely to serve only the rich, as it would cost too much for the poor. So what if a few more poor people are victimized or murdered? Whoever can pay for the service gets the service, and that's the way it should be. No more freebies! Those shiftless folks who live in poverty need to EARN the rights to police service, damn it!
Getting a traffic/speeding ticket would get spendier too, because part of the cost would be the commission for the officer citing the driver. And with a commission involved, you can bet there would be a LOT more speeding tickets issued. And with inflation, there would have to an annual COLA on the amounts charged for violations. And there would be more police around, because the police departments would all be making enough money that they could hire more workers to help them make MORE money! A cop on every corner... it could happen, but only if we privatize law enforcement!
There are plenty of good private hospitals around, and plenty of good private schools too... yet privatizing ALL SCHOOLS is something the foam-at-the-mouthers have been wanting to do for years and years. We have somehow held them off on that one, insuring equal access to education for all our kids, not just for the privileged... although college costs do seem to be getting way out of hand. Anyone else besides me think that college is quickly becoming something only affordable to people who are financially "well off"?
But back to privatization... Why not privatize the local fire department? That would not only make for less money we would lose to taxes, it would also create competition, which is always good for business: "Hey, never call 'Joe's Fire Department' when you have a fire. Fred's 'Smoke Out' does a much quicker job, and they don't leave as much mess afterward. Call Fred's instead!"
Reb, I think our crew in DC doesn't have enough money to pay for keeping us safe through the Department of Fatherland Security OR to put more cops on the streets, because the crew in DC is too busy trying to take over the rest of the world... and not only is that HARD WORK, it's expensive. Especially when taxes keep getting cut so the amount of incoming tax dollars steadily diminishes... by design, no less. There is no better way, I'm sure, to end Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, welfare, you name it... than to dry up the source of funding for those programs. Which of course leads to more privatization, by necessity. We shouldn't argue with this, especially now that "everything has changed after 9-11" and "now that we are at war!"
I'm sorry I'm so snarky and sarcastic this evening, I think I need to go to bed. The whole business is just getting too damned discouraging.
what's funny is that people will lap up the privitization thing like a fucking thirsty dog for some reason.
that's not free market, it's not competition, it's one guy making money off of the city.
just another way to siphon money from working people's pockets.
yes, it's Bush's fault...LOL
Snave: You're right, I think a lot of the Far Right would love to totally privatize everything. Hopefully they won't have enough clout to make this happen. Being asked if you'd like to pay by cash or credit card when you're calling 911 -- LOL. That would sure be a rightwing utopia for some people.
Police would be right there on every corner to bust you for speeding (or any number of victimless crimes), but if you need help -- pay up or fuck off.
And yeah, who needs public schools? If the parents aren't worthy enough to be able to afford a private school, their kids can get jobs. That's how it was in the good old days before that wussy nanny state came along.
Mike: Yeah, I don't know where people get off thinking a corporate monopoly is a "free market." When one company (or a cartel) controls the supply of something, it's not "free enterprise" or the "free market." People who breathe through their noses can understand this; wingnuts can't.
Opinionnation: Yes, it is Bush's fault, for the reasons I gave in the post (which were listed in the article that I linked).
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