The Pentagon estimates it spends about $150 million each year to operate the prison and military court system at the U.S. Naval Base in Cuba, which was set up 11 years ago to house foreign terrorism
suspects. With 166 inmates currently in custody, that amounts to an
annual cost of $903,614 per prisoner.
By
comparison, super-maximum security prisons in the United States spend
about $60,000 to $70,000 at most to house their inmates, analysts say.
And the average cost across all federal prisons is about $30,000, they
say.
I'd like to hear Republican Senators Mitch McConnell, John McCain, and Lindsey Graham, and Republican Representatives Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor, et al. huff and puff and justify the expense of maintaining the prison at Guantanamo in the name of protecting us from terrorism, even as the most vulnerable in our society, who were already suffering before the sequester cuts, suffer more pain. Oh, I have no doubt they'll find the words, but I am confident that their words will make no sense.
They can't stick home grown "liberals" in camps for thought crimes. erhaps this supplies a modicum of displacement satisfaction.
ReplyDeleteWhat's wrong with these people?
DeleteLapin,
DeleteYour post is missing the word "yet" after "thought crimes"...
Very good post, Mimi.
ReplyDeleteThanks, JCF. Not that the fiscal conservatives will get the message. If nothing else, calling attention to the hypocrisy relieves my pent up frustration.
DeleteConservatives are big on punishment too. They have no interest in rehab as that would provide more unemployed to get benefits. I don't understand their reasoning but I don't understand many Americans' thought processes. Especially certain "Christians".
ReplyDeleteWe have the largest number per capita of people incarcerated in the entire world. That says it all. Fiscal conservatives don't mind spending vast sums of money to keep people locked up.
Delete