Grants Pass, Oregon releases 40% of their prison population

[RHenriksen]

I saw a picture in the Wall Street Journal about this, and sent the image to a friend of mine who lives in Grants Pass. He had a very different take on the subject. The press are all reporting that the county was 'forced to' release prisoners due to budget constraints.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... d5c67e8dc1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My friend's take:

===========================

As a resident of Grants Pass, OR, I’d like to offer some history behind the photo printed in the WSJ 5/31/12, regarding the Grants Pass jail releasing 40% of the prison population due to budget cuts.

Rewind to 5 years ago for some perspective: We have very low tax rates, no city tax, no sales tax, property tax is approximately $175 per acre per year... It drives the democrats absolutely crazy. They try, every election year to pass a law to raise property taxes, so that we'll have a balanced budget. The voters don't want that, the voters want lower spending to balance the budget.

So the democrats try a new tactic: holding the people hostage to raise taxes. They balanced the budget, but there's no money for parks or libraries (we have a lot of parks), so unless the voters vote for a tax increase to balance the budget, then they're going to close all the parks and the libraries. The democrats actually spent more money to fence off the parks so no one could get in, and they shuttered the library. They did this a few weeks before the election, several months before the budget actually ran out of money... The voters refused to vote for higher taxes, and within a few weeks, a bunch of people volunteered to work at the libraries, and they were forced to re-open them. A few weeks later, a similar plan was put into place to have volunteers take care of the parks. Turns out there were a lot of government employees just standing around wasting time and money. Then the voters filed a referendum to recall all those on the city council who engineered this mess.

So the democrats know that the libraries and parks closing wasn't enough to raise taxes, so this time they go for the throat: they laid off a bunch of cops, and turn the prisoners loose. But here's where The Law of Unintended Consequences comes into play: The People are not panicked, but the democrats sure are. :) The democrats are wailing and moaning about, "Now I'm going to have to buy a gun!!!". But The People already have guns, and they aren't worried.

The democrats think of the cops as protectors: the ultimate nanny to take care of you. The People think of the cops more akin to trash collectors. Trash collectors don't show up with sirens blaring just in time to prevent litter, they show up after the fact, and haul the trash off to the dump. It's nice to have them, but without them, The People will either take the trash to the dump themselves, or they'll burn the trash. The cops don't prevent crime. They show up afterward and write reports, and if you've collected any trash, the cops will take them to jail for you.

So, the next (and best) unintended consequence is that everyone now wants a concealed handgun permit. They've got three times as many classes going now as they've had in the past, and they're booked solid until the end of July already. At my son’s preschool, all the moms were talking about getting their carry permits. They're not talking about "Now I'm going to need to buy a gun!!!" in a panic, no, they've already got guns. Now they're saying, "I'm going to protect myself with it, and do it legally".

This is real democracy in action.

[sjfcontrol]

In 1991, the county saw a sharp drop in its share of federal timber revenues due to logging cutbacks on national forests to protect the northern spotted owl and salmon, resulting in similar cuts.

[psijac]

For once I am left speechless

[bizarrenormality]

So the democrats know that the libraries and parks closing wasn't enough to raise taxes, so this time they go for the throat: they laid off a bunch of cops, and turn the prisoners loose. But here's where The Law of Unintended Consequences comes into play: The People are not panicked, but the democrats sure are. :) The democrats are wailing and moaning about, "Now I'm going to have to buy a gun!!!". But The People already have guns, and they aren't worried.

[C-dub]

Before reading the background my first thought was, okay everyone, let's make sure all the shotguns are loaded and ready to go.

[The Annoyed Man]

Before reading the background my first thought was, okay everyone, let's make sure all the shotguns are loaded and ready to go.

It appears that, in Oregon at least, they already are.