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Mukasey and Bush : Fear Mongering

Attorney General Michael Mukasey has announced the Bush Administration will give $200 million to state and local governments to fight crime. Among his reasons:

Mukasey also rapped U.S. Sentencing Commission plans to allow some 19,500 federal prison inmates, most of them black, to seek reductions in their crack cocaine sentences. The attorney general described many of the inmates as violent gang members who could threaten public safety if released sooner than initially expected.

"A sudden influx of criminals from federal prison into your communities could lead to a surge in new victims as a tragic but predictable result," Mukasey told the mayors.

Only a small percentage of those 19,500 inmates will get any benefit from the change. For those that do, in most cases, the average sentence reduction is expected to be about 16 months. Many of those serving these draconian sentences are not violent criminals but drug offenders unlucky enough to have been caught possessing or selling the wrong drug.

Bush and Mukasey should have put the $200 million into drug treatment and offender re-entry programs. It would be far better spent and of greater ultimate benefit both to the inmates being released and the communities that receive them.

I guess this shows Mukasey, like Bush, intends to continue to be tough rather than smart about crime. [More....]

The department also is pressing Congress for tougher laws to give federal prosecutors more power to crack down on crime. "Every criminal taken off the streets is one less who's committing new crimes," Mukasey said.
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  • Display: Sort:
    I don't know that I want a GOP Administration (5.00 / 1) (#4)
    by Molly Bloom on Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 11:57:10 AM EST
    putting $200 million into drug treatment and offender re-entry programs. First they would give it to Haliburton on a no bid cost plus contract. Haliburton would then sub contract it out (to a subsidary corporation all of whose shares are owned by Haliburton and Dick Cheney) and then request more money to cover "their costs".

    The subcontractor would then spend money to building a printing plant that would printout AA, NA and CA schedules and maps to the meetings and pay yet a third subcontractor (another subsidary corporation all of whose shares are owned by Haliburton and Lynn Cheney) who would hire undocumented aliens to pass out the AA, NA and CA schedules and maps to people on the local skid rows.

    Lou Dobbs and Bill O'Reilly and Rush would then complain about illegal aliens taking all of these jobs from Americans.

    Then JimakaPPJ and company would then post on this thread and join in the chorus.

    No, I just don't think I want this or any other GOP administration passing out any more money to private contractors because Ayn Rand and Milton Freedoman said it was better and no-one looked at the history. Better to wait for a change in administrations. Unfortunately those in need will have to wait, but they weren't going to get help by this administration anyway.


    That Sums It Up (none / 0) (#5)
    by squeaky on Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 11:59:17 AM EST
    Rather succinctly.

    Parent
    In defense of Rand and Friedman.... (none / 0) (#7)
    by kdog on Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 12:42:12 PM EST
    the 19,500 federal prisoners up on crack charges would not even be considered criminals if Rand and Friedman had their way. They would be free to sell their product to willing customers.

    On that, I agree with them.

    Parent

    Debate--American Style (none / 0) (#1)
    by SFHawkguy on Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 10:56:16 AM EST
    It's sickening really.  We seem incapable of even discussing these issues in a rational manner.  

    Does Mukasey even try to factually back up his stereotype that Black drug users/peddlers are automatically violent gang members and will come to kill you if you let them out of prison?  It's in black people's nature--I guess.  Meanwhile, a young 20-something well-to-do white guy that likes to party with a little cocaine, and also has a propensity for violence and owns a gun, gets another chance (this is George Bush I'm talking about).

    White boy gets another chance and gets to be President.  Black boy get slammed and then disenfranchised.

    What (none / 0) (#2)
    by Wile ECoyote on Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 11:10:57 AM EST
    are the chances any democrat candidate will complain about this?

    It will be interesting to hear what they (none / 0) (#3)
    by JSN on Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 11:35:50 AM EST
    say if anything.

    I wish someone would ask them how they plan to end the "War on (some) Drugs". The Republican used to demand an exit strategy for wars when Bill Clinton was in office.

    Parent

    I should add that this privatized program (none / 0) (#6)
    by Molly Bloom on Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 12:03:15 PM EST
    would fail because by only passing out the schedules and info on the local skid row would miss the majority of people who need help. Then the National Review would tell me how government is the enemy just as Ronald Reagan told us and can't do anything right and this just proves it- therefore we should privatize social security.

    The amend chorus of Rush, Bill and co. would heartily agree.

    I'd be interested in reading exactly what (none / 0) (#8)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 02:48:47 PM EST
    his statements were, but I don't have a subscription to the Federal News Service. I wonder if TL has a subscription?

    Also, I think just about any statement made by the country's top prosecutor will be antithetical to this defense lawyer site, no?

    real prosecutors (none / 0) (#9)
    by diogenes on Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 07:35:41 PM EST
    Real prosecutors don't pursue violent, bad news crooks on violent crimes that are hard to prove when they can put them away for ten years for easy-to-prove possession charges.  
    Very few Sunday School teachers got ten years in federal prison for their first offense for possession of crack for personal use.  Those who exist should have been pardoned by Bill Clinton if their cases were deserving.