Govenor Gary Johnson Questioned on Private Prison System

[LogicalFlawDetector]

Saying the drug war should be ended before privatizing prisons is tantamount to saying the U.S. should end all wars overseas and until then all defense contractors should be nationalized.

[schulwitz]

When you adopt the minarchist position, you are advocating for a government which has a monopoly on regulated violence. If you allow the government to demonopolize and outsource that violence to private corporations or individuals, you abdicate the foundational principle of minarchism in favor of fascistic opportunism and efficiency.

.

Does anyone know where I can find Ron Paul's position on this issue?

[theUSER101]

I'm confused if the person commenting is against Gary or not. Gary is a libertarian so he wants to end the war on drugs.

[stuetrory]

do you think your point would be better made if someone literate wrote the captions ?

[john639]

wow a propaganda video with a bunch of brain dead drones to go with it. To claim its danderous to have private prisons because they are for profit is not based in reality. Private business has an incentive to provide the best product or sevice at the lowest cost to consumer. gov just makes productive people pay more taxs to pay for their poor services.

[IcyScythe]

@john639 explain please. Seems to me since companies that run private prisons get paid more to have more prisoners (since they need to expand) it would be in their interest to lobby for harsher sentencing across the board.

I like Gary but I don't see how private prisons could possibly be a good idea when they profit of off having more people in the system (more "customers").

[LogicalFlawDetector]

@IcyScythe

Defense contractors, automobile manufacturers, pharmaceutical firms, energy firms, etc.,--all want the government to purchase their services and have an incentive to lobby. Are you calling for the complete nationalization of the commanding heights of the economy?

[IcyScythe]

@LogicalFlawDetector What? I only was talking about the prison system which is not really part of the free market since the "customers" don't have a choice about it and don't benefit from competition.

[chrlpolk]

@john639 Prisons don't have "consumers".  They have prisoners. The prisoners are not given the choice of a competing prison. Government alone makes law and government alone carries out law; there is no free market for penal systems.

[LogicalFlawDetector]

@chrlpolk

Your analogy is as much of a failure as your ability to grasp Johnson's argument. Prisoners aren't the analogue to consumers in the market for private prisoners. The consumer of the service is the state government in this case. The government is the sole monopsony.

[chrlpolk]

@LogicalFlawDetector However you want to spin it, where is the competition factor in the scenario? How are private prisons comparable to the free market when there is one customer and no competition?

Your failure to grasp common sense is, well, pretty typical for someone who would arrogantly use the monicker of "logical flaw detector" to lob insults at strangers on Youtube.

[LawrenceAugust]

@john639 Watch this video, here on YouTube-- "DRUG WAR PROFITEERING 101"

[mjones07]

For profit prisons...how on earth did this idea hatch. Made in america.

[MrJeremiahxlewis]

Johnson was pro Cannabis legalization while he was NM gov for 8 yrs from 1995 to 2003. Medical Marijuana was not legalized in New Mexico until July 2007 and New Mexico remains a prohibition state to this day where recreational use is concerned. It is not even decriminalized in New Mexico with the penalty for <1 oz punishable by up to 15 days in jail and a $100 fine. If he couldn't accomplish this at the state level, why would you be so sure he can at the federal level?

[jsnsoc8]

Gary Johnson is running for President. He will have a much larger impact on the War on Drugs if elected in 2012.

[MrJeremiahxlewis]

@jsnsoc8 I wouldn't jump on the bandwagon just yet if I were u. If u like his policies on privatizing prisons go ahead and vote for him, but don't fall for the guise of Cannabis legalization. It makes more sense to participate in local, state, and federal congressional elections to effect the "War on Drugs". The president only has control over implementaion of the law, not the ability to repeal the law.

[grawss]

@MrJeremiahxlewis The president can indeed repeal the War on Drugs. The Attorney General is part of the executive branch and can remove or add substances to the controlled substances list without needing to go through congress.

[Steusar]

Common sense says that the New Mexico governor would have to bribe 535 (minus 1, or maybe a few) Congress people + the president to end the war on drugs. Common says that as a New Mexico Governor, he could only do so much in his state let alone changing the United States law.