A question...

[GTurck]

I've long wanted to ask: Is it legal to take money from citizens in the form of taxes and give it to for profit businesses? Can libraries, prisons, roadways, et al be paid for by tax payers and still be administered by private companies? That seems an illegal taking to me. I want my taxes to go for "socialist" (i.e. government) maintenance.
What is your opinion?

[Scuba]

1. The government spends money. End of discussion.

[GTurck]

4. Of course it does...

But what it is spend on and who is able to control that spending makes all the difference.
We have several layers of government in this country which is not the norm in most other countries, even in Europe. To complain about government here means to be precise as to which level (local, state, national) is not doing its job of holding the reins of power it has been given.

[littlewolf]

2. as far as prisons go ...

in NC there are private prisons ... but the company built them and and contracts with the state
to house the inmates ..... it saves the state alot of money and liability ....

[GTurck]

3. But....

doesn't the state pay for housing the inmates with tax money?
Since it is a for-profit business don't they have to keep expanding in order to satisfy their mandate to return a profit for the investors? What does that expansion mean? How, really, is state money saved especially when there is no possible oversight of conditions and fiscal usage?
I don't buy privatization of ANY government function. There should be a wall of separation between what needs to be done for the public good and what needs to be done to earn money.

[bherrera]

5. it is legal

legality is defined by law. Laws are either constitutional or not. This law which allows them to tax you to pay for things is constitutional. In all countries, governments tax and then spend. If you want government to perform everything, then you are a communist. And communism has been shown, using both theory and practice, to be a completely failed system. This is my opinion.