The countdown to the recall election in Wisconsin is down to 27 days. Tom Barrett made the case against Scott Walker in his victory speech, and Lena Taylor joins Ed to talk about how Democrats are uniting behind Barrett. Watch it.
I should have mentioned that the Canadian prison system has work programs, or used to have work programs, that pay prisoners for work performed.These programs gave the inmates something to do and provided them with valuable work experience. The conservative Harper government has cut the budget for these types of programs all across Canada. One of these types of programs was called "Lifeline" where former inmates were lined up with potential employers and training programs that helped them find a new career other than returning to a life of crime. Counseling was provided all along the way to make sure the inmates stayed straight and reported to work, helping them adjust to a new role in society. These programs helped reduce the recidivism rate. Now these budget cuts have left prisoners with nothing to do so in one Manitoba prison the inmates sit and watch hardcore porn all day long instead of having a job to go to. The conservatives in Canada complain about the inmates watching hardcore porn but at the same time cut the programs that paid inmates to work in useful jobs. So much for rehabilitation huh?
It's not just in Europe where we see that austerity does not work. We need to scan CBC News headlines from Canada to see the stress that austerity causes state institutions that serve the public. The conservative government of Prime Minister Steven Harper have been pushing large budget cuts and more austerity. Canada is a country known for its civility with highly efficient and orderly government. The ripples are seen all across Canadian society from the national to the provincial level. Here are some stories to illustrate this point:
The Canadian government is rapidly losing its scientists and engineers associated with a radar satellite program that allows law enforcement and the military to watch bad guys more closely. The government after two years have not funded nor provided firms with contracts. The program has cost $250 million so far and the results are appear to be for naught.
Inmates in Canadian prisons have seen big reductions in social programs that help them integrate back into society successfully taking up the roles of worker. Inmates are not being paid seeing reductions in the number of pardons that are critical for a paroled inmate to apply for a job. Even inmates who have committed relatively minor offenses are waiting longer for pardons up to five more years under provisions of Steven Harper's "get tough on crime" policies. Many inmates have been moved to different facilities sometimes long distances away from family members reducing visits. All of these changes of Canadian correction concerned about riots, fights, and violence that endangers overstressed prison staff and threatens inmates lives and the lives of overworked staff who have seen cuts in their budgets making Canadian prisons potential powder kegs.
Here is an article that talks about closing three prison facilities in Ontario and one in Quebec for a savings of $120 million annually. Prison officials say such action can lead to violence when prisoners get moved away from nearby family. A 1971 prison riot in Kingston, Ontario caused 2 killed and eleven wounded. Prison officials are deeply concerned about similar violence as the Kingston facility is closed down today.
Smoke bomb attacks on the Montreal metro commuter train caused delays of about one-half hour today stranding thousands of commuters. Police suspect student protesters as suspects. There has been a long period of discontent in cuts for colleges making many students upset because of increasing financial hardships on them.
Many environmentalists are concerned about the tar sands in Alberta. The conservative government has been pushing tar sands development with a sort of Admiral Farragut/battle of Mobile Bay, attitude of "damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead" approach to public policy towards tar sands in Alberta. Environmentalists point out the highly toxic water that results from tar sand development. These poisonous ponds are called "tailings ponds" and are highly lethal to human and animals. Huge amounts of this highly toxic water are stored in open reservoirs which some environmentalists fear could leach into the fresh water table. These lakes are highly poisonous and some say are catastrophes waiting to happen in Alberta. The CO2 pollution from tar sands are at least three times as much from regular oil development.
Here is a story about the tailing's ponds in Alberta. This stuff is really scary to read about and sends a chill up my spine. The Tennessee Valley Authority had coal ash that leaked into ponds contaminating a river causing a large environmental clean up disaster. The Summitville mine disaster in Colorado in the 1990's saw arsenic leaching from a holding pond that leached the arsenic into local creeks and rivers killing fish and forcing the Colorado state and county governments to prohibit drinking of water by nearby residents. The price tag for both of these American environmental disasters ran into the hundreds of millions of dollars with the total bill approaching a billion dollars plus once all of the costs are totaled. Once Colorado and federal officials went to sue the Canadian mining company for damages it was found they had conveniently filed for bankruptcy. The tax payer got caught for both the TVA coal ash and the Colorado Summitvile mine disaster. Will Canadian and American taxpayers be on the hook for a potential Alberta tar sands disaster? You tell me.
Here is a story about 500 ducks that died from landing in a pond from the toxic tailings in Alberta back in 2008. Environmentalists say that despite new proposed government regulations these toxic tailings ponds in Alberta have gotten worse with time.
Oil companies assure the public that all is fine with the environment. Any of this sound like BP in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010? In North Dakota we have scene a similar "damn the torpedoes and full speed approach to hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" in the Bakken oil field development. Be damned if those oil companies want the chemicals made public that they are putting into those hundreds of oil wells that have been drilled using "fracking". Will there be future environmental disasters caused by oil companies in the Bakkan oil field or another Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico? The GOP controlled House has yet to pass a major bill to update the laws that control offshore drilling.
A couple of thoughts in closing. We have to remember that human civilization is a fragile thing that requires sustained maintenance in order for a highly complex civilization to function. Austerity budget cuts into complex human institutions and government create terrible messes and havoc across all segments of society that threaten to undermine the principle of sustained societal maintenance. Frequently the SHORT TERM GAIN IN AUSTERITY CUTS ARE MORE THAN LOST IN THE COST OF CLEANING UP DISASTERS FROM LONG TERM NEGLECT.
These are the brutal lessons of history that conservatives fail to learn in most countries across the Europe, Canada, and the U.S. We have seen that austerity cuts do not work in Greece, France, and all across Canada by conservative governments. Ed Schultz laid out the case against the GOP governor in Pennsylvania who has tried to cut one billion dollars in public education. Large oil companies have to be highly regulated or else expensive disasters happen. If the public school budget is cut by one billion dollars in Pennsylvania and similarly in Wisconsin, we can expect a deteriorating economy with more costs in lost businesses, incarceration, crime, and economic stagnation while all the good jobs and good companies go to Asia. When will we ever learn that history teaches that severe austerity cuts to budgets creates more expensive disasters later on that WE ALL HAVE TO PAY FOR LATER ON.
ron mariposa
5/10/2012 9:38:02 AM
dont walk mr walker you better follow forest and run walker run. If the dems and independents allow this man to stay in office it is a slap in the face to all the men and women who walked the picket lines and walked around with clip boards getting the people to sign up for the recall. If the scum bag walker wins it will be a sad day for wisconsin and all working men and women in this country.
