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The new Sheriff of Hernando County, Florida, is continuing in the ways of his predecessor. After Sheriff Nugent uncovered widespread neglect of maintenance at his county jail, which had been run for 22 years by CCA, he took over operations and estimated he could save more than $200,000 per year by operating it as part of the department (which should have been operating it all along).
New Sheriff Al Neinhuis went a step further. He is actually saving the county more than a million and a half dollars just this year, compared to what CCA would have charged to operate the facility. And he’ll do it better.
46 Comments
Your post is about CCA’s ineffectiveness; and you call youeself,
“whyIhateCCA”
Yes that’s actually a big part of why I hate CCA. they consistently demonstrate their inefficiency in living up to contractual obligations. Obligations which are paid for by taxpayers. Yet they spend so much money on campaign contributions, donations to political parties, lobbying, and helping draft legislation to increase our rates of incarceration that they continue to get millions of taxpayer dollars despite their failure to perform to the same standards as the government. So they’re the more expensive, and less efficient, option in this case and in many others
If one were to count self-promotion and the ability to survive and displace the public system (even the public system may be more efficient) in a truly Darwinian scene, the CCA may deserve to rule the day.
Some generic privatization info. The last one is particularly relevant.
http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/briefingpapers_bp112/
http://www.ilsr.org/columns/1996/30Jan96.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLfghLQE3F4
Well sure if you believe a simple “survival of the fittest” approach to life is not only ideal, but implicitly fair. I for one think it’s neither the best model for society nor a balanced equation, because there are huge disproportionalities in the access to resources and power in societies, whether they be local, state, national, or international.
wow! thanks for the great resources. The youtube video is hilarious, pretty much the perfect caricature of what I envision private industry (corrections in particular to be). The article from the Institute for Self-Reliance is also pretty common of what I know of the privatization of government services; it’s all about the bottom line, which comes at the expense of not only the workers employed by the private companies, but the ones employed by the govenrment who lose their jobs in the process as well.
Thanks again!
Great YouTube. I front paged the post & added.
As I like to say, government is the only solution to all the problems we created by treating government as the problem.
a TERRIFIC post and it makes the point;
corporate america has been able to promote a myth, that private enterprise is more efficient the government program
the reverse is true, the government program for services we need, (the commons) is always less expensive then private industry
always
this is because government service has a performance model and private industry has a profit model
yes there is waste in government program but that waste is dwarfed by the profit model
in addition, what the private companies want to call “waste” is simply well payed labor, they HATE well payed labor because that makes them compete for their staff against this well payed labor force
the commons MUST be provided by the government
I once asked a friend, who is all about privatizing, about the role of profit in public contracts.
“Do we agree that the private corps taking on public contracts have an obligation to their Board of Directors to turn a profit?”
“Yes.”
“Do we agree that the corps have an obligation to their Board of Directors and share holders to grow their profit annually?”
“Yes.”
“Then how do you explain “how” a private corp, holding a public contract, will continue to be a sustainable savings for tax payers when the private corp is obligated to share holder profit and not the public savings?”
No answer from my friend. His bright red face however, was telling and amusing.
Q: What’s worse than a government monopoly?
A: A private monopoly.
Anyone surprised?
exactly! it blows my mind that some people think government is this big evil vehicle designed to just take taxpayer money and do nothing with it. As we’ve simultaneously turned more to privatization of government services and decreased regulations and oversight, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in corporate excess and abuses. Government is not the problem. It’s a tool that we can utilize, if we use it properly and remain vigilant, to protect society from corporate interests. The primary concern of nearly every corporation is the bottom line, not helping society; our government’s purpose and primary concern should always be to safeguard our country.
It seems like such a simple calculation, doesn’t it? Eliminate the profit motive, and the temptation to cut corners will be eliminated along with it. So not only are public institutions more efficient, as you noted, they also tend to cost less. Private companies are incentivized to maximize the dollar amounts of their contracts, because they’re beholden to their shareholders and executives..
And excellent point about the labor force. In the private prison arena, the companies are famous for hiring underqualified staff and training them less. They pay less in salary and benefits than government prisons, and have exceptionally high rates of turnover and vacancies among staff. All this combines to create a very dangerous situation for staff and prisoners alike, because there are NEVER enough qualified guards in private prisons.
excellent post
This is the same sort of discussion I was having with folks surrounding the healthcare debate, and the Dems’ caving on the public option while retaining the individual mandate for coverage. It amounts to little more than a handout to insurance companies, forcing people to purchase “insurance” at prices they often can hardly afford. Without any reform of the industry or a public option (which I believe would be astronomically cheaper) to compete with the private industry, costs aren’t going to drop significantly. Insurance companies are among the most socially irresponsible corporations I can think of (aside from my favorite, private prisons, of course
)
You might want to learn something about economics before posting comments on it.
As to your point about survival, you might also note that CCA did NOT survive.
I came across this article from InThePublicInterest.org the other day and found it particularly relevant to the private prison industry in particular, and (obviously) privatizing of government services in general
http://inthepublicinterest.org/article/ask-right-questions-privatizing
What privatizers (aka corrupters of the public purse) always omit is that the vaunted efficiency of the private economy takes place (if it even does) under conditions of competition. (Competition is a necessary condition, but not a sufficient condition.) When govt services are replaced by “private” enterprise, there is almost never any competition. There might be in the letting of the original contract (though plenty of corruption there too), but not thereafter.
There are some special skills that some private enterprises might possess that would override the lack of competition in terms of lowering costs, so it’s important to discuss pros & cons in each particular case. But managing jails is something the public sector has done for decades so they obviously have the required skills to do it.
If you can hire desperate people to work for dirt wages you can do things cheaper than fairly paid workers.
That’s the whole story. Eliminate the fairly paid and replace them with wage slaves.
Read wikileaks dispatches on Haiti minimum wage of 26 cents an hour attempt to be raised to about 60 cents and then the corps told our State Dept. to get the bill killed, amd it was. http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_63177.shtml
Nice to know how concerned the WH and their Hillary stooge care about people. No hope for change when the elite call in their chips.
And this is the main reason everybody wants to give Medicaid a “haircut” which Bush already did in spades.
The privateers take about 60% of the money; the doctors get angry at the patients and read articles abut how the disabled and poor are wrecking society and the patients get “in and out care”
I’ve watched this particular aspect of privatization for 20 years now and it’
s really awful the suffering it has caused and how ignorant everyone is about it.
When I first got on Medicaid at the tender age of 40, the government overhead was 3% and they paid the bills. the privateers don’t.
The other day I barely avoided getting into it with my neurologist when I mentioned how Botox went up nearly 100% after Obama’s deal with Big PHrMA.
You do NOT want to get into it with your neuro, believe me!
But when he said the cost of medicine was rising because of all the “new technology” it was hard to keep quiet. Botox has been around for 30 years and Allergen has kept the patent. they haven’t come up with some startling new “technology” in the last year or so. They’re just raping the government and the doctors….and the patients, of course.
And this is just one example of how privatizing has raised the cost of government all across the board.
Thank you, Grover Norquist… you mother fucker
Even dirt cheap wages does not mean that the private enterprise is lower cost. The cheaper labor costs could go into the profits of the private corp, not necessarily the public purse.
I wish I could fan you. excellent points, all around – see my post above about healthcare and how I feel about the 2009 legislation.
that’s an excellent point. In many instances, private prisons have been found to be as expensive, or in some cases even MORE expensive that government-run institutions. This comes despite the huge savings in staff costs and overhead, and even in light of the fact that private prisons cehrry-pick their prisoners, leaving the most expensive ones for the state. But they continue to successfully sell the myth that they somehow save money and improve services.
Yep. Had the same conversation during the healthcare debate.
Now, ask yourself the same questions irt defense and intel. And how on earth do we keep our classified info “classfied” if in hands “outside the wall” and who happen to do the same kind of contracts for other countries?
The thoughts of “how” such private companies maintain “profit” are not content that allows for a sound night of sleep.
Ah yes, cherry picking healthy, young prisoners convicted of petty crimes…
One of the main reasons why “private” schools perform better than public schools. They cherry pick the best students, leaving the difficult ones in the public system.
So many ways to game the system if you own the politicians.
But everyone recognizes a private monopoly is nothing more than an expression our “freedom” whereas a public monopoly is “tyranny.”
eCAHN,
Often, competition ends up a myth. Many companies will underbid to win and then come back with reserve adjustments throughout the contract year, resulting in more expensive outcomes.
It’s sad that so much money had to be wasted at the local level FOR 22 YEARS before someone recognized that so much money was being wasted – being turned into profit by CCA for doing badly what should have been done by local government – and did something to stop it.
I wonder how much money could be saved at the federal level by doing the same thing…
That’s definitely part of it, albeit these days when privatized work – that used to be handled by some govt entity or another – often unfairly pays low wages to workers… but the cost to the taxpayer is actually the same or *higher* than it was when the govt ran the operation with fairly paid citizens.
To whit, there’s a very good investigative article in a recent New Yorker about the privatizing of much of the “support” work to run our Wars, Inc (such as the commissary, food prep/serving, cleaners of all sorts, construction workers, etc). These jobs in the past were mostly done by enlisted personnel at the lower ranks, who don’t make a lot of money either (but get benefits, etc).
Nowadays – via Zombie Cheney, et al – this work has privatized in the name of “saving money.” But it hasn’t. Private companies have taken on the contracts; use wage slaves from third world countries who become little more than indentured servants (paid for by YOU and ME); and the MOTU at the top of company makes a boatload of $$$ (YOUR tax dollars) for him/herself.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/06/06/110606fa_fact_stillman
This article is worth reading to educate yourself on how YOUR tax dollars are being *wasted* supporting War, Inc, while also putting third worlders in harms way working in unsafe and draconian conditions as wage slaves to the MOTU. And the kingpins are the top basically have NO oversight & are quite free to rip off as much as possible for their own greedy selves.
It’s crap to say that privatizing, a priori, results in either a better run organization or in running it cheaper. That *may* happen in some cases, but more often it doesn’t.
The libertarian-y/conservative “argument” is always that the private sector is so much “better” than dreaded govt. Why? Because some citizen is better able to RIP OFF the system & rake in YOUR tax dollars for him/herself in a greedy grab for whatever s/he can get.
IF privatizing *some* govt services can be done with careful oversight: maybe. But all too often, there is simply no oversight, and the private company is left too “free” to be as rapacious as possible.
Probably quite a LOT could be saved at the federal level by doing the same thing, but my assertion at this point is just a gut feeling and I cannot provide a link.
As eCAHN stated above, though, a lot of the privatized charter schools end up looking “better” than the public schools in their area, but it’s bc the charter schools cherry-pick the best students, who naturally do better on the tests, grades, etc.
Also it’s worth noting – since I’m on the tangent of public v. private schools – to my knowledge, most/all charter schools do not provide services for special needs kids. These kids *have* to go to public schools, and that may be another issue that contributes to the perception that the public school isn’t doing as well … bc the special needs kids’ scores, grades, etc, will not be that great.
Profit, profit, profit. This is the true agenda of most elected Republicans and Democrats. It’s what Neo-Liberalism turns into in practice. We elected ‘em. They sell out. The profiteers privatize everything that isn’t nailed down – military, schools, prisons – with the help of politicians, who help screw taxpayers in order to increase their friends’ profits. Then they all tell us we have to lose the remaining government services because of the debts they created.
Excellent post, thanks. Very important. And great video. That’s Hugh Laurie!
speaking of defense/intel. I recall seeing at one point less than a year ago, some under-secretary of defense state before Congress that we did not know how many private intelligence companies we contracted with, how many amployees they had, or how much money we even spent on it. When it comes to defense, our legislators just hand a blank check to corporations and have very little effective oversight, much like the private prison industry
I hear the argument from some that YOU have to pay more for botox, even tho Allergen has had the patent for over 22 years, in order to pay for other “new technologies” that Allergen is presently developing.
There may be some *room* for this argument, but doubling the cost of Botox (or similar meds that have been around for decades) is unfair and b.s. Plus we get back to my usual “whipping boy”: the cost of the CEO salaries, which are out of control across the board (and globally) in this nation.
The out of sight skyrocketing of Corp CEO salaries & packages is insane and contributes – in no small measure – to skyrocketing prices all around. The typical libertarian-y “argument” that these CEOs “work so hard” that they deserve these multi-million dollar annual salaries (not including all of their stock options, gold-plated benefits, plus giant golden handshakes when they leave, even if they did a crummy job) simply doesn’t cut the mustard. It’s crap.
NO ONE – and I mean NO ONE – “works so hard” that they *deserve* millions upon millions annually.
These corp. CEOs all sit on each others’ boards, and they all *colluded* with one another – plus *buying off* whomever it takes, inlcuding politicians – to enable these outrageous corporate theivery.
Libertarians & conservatives actively promote and endorse this venality based on brain-dead “libertarian” notions of the “free market” and alledgely “how hard” these greedheads work. And if someone steps up to point out how fallacious this all is, then we’re hostilely attacked as simply being “jealous.”
It’s a crock. Yes, it does take a lot of time, money, labor and effort to bring new medications to the market. That is true, and someone has to pay for that. But my contention is that if CEOs and others at the top of pyramid were paid MUCH MUCH LESS (but would still make a huge salary), a whole LOT of costs could be better controlled.
Plus then there’s the issue of how freakin’ much money is totally WASTED on lobbying, but that’s another story for another day.
Sorry for your trevails, Kassandra, but I’ve heard others in similar positions express similar outrage at how the system “operates” these days. And it’s not the “fault” of “lazy liberals” or slacker citizens expecting a hand-out or whatever other dumb junk the conservative pump out. The main people getting “welfare” and “hand outs” are those at the top of the pyramid – the upper 2% – who get absurdly obscene salaries.
well it helps when the former VP is heavily invested in companies that make huge profits from war mongering (blackwater), natural gas drilling (halliburton) and even private prisons (GEO), and he was able to influence policy that directly impacts the bottom lines of these companies
abso-frickin’-lutely. Which is why I get so angry when some libertarian starts lecturing to me about the so-called “free market” and the super wealthy “working so hard” and all that crapola.
It’s a load of hogwash. Those at the top of the pyramid are theiving crooks who should be in jail, not venerated.
Dick Cheney is the Poster Boy for “how to rip off US taxpayers” without breaking a sweat. The fact that so many conservatives *venerate* this thief is telling.
you really hit that nail on the head. it’s so frustrating to hear cons complain of how libs are envious of the wealth the elite has, based on some assumption that they somehow worked harder for it. in my experience, people at the lowest levels of income work circles around the wealthy; rich people don’t know the meaning of earning an honest dollar. there’s very little social mobility, which permits for very little sympathy across socioeconomic lines, but the pernicious myth that libs and/or the poor are lazy or jealous is just infuriating bullshit
or, as in the case of private prisons, they just lie about the “cost-savings” they can provide, basing it on industry-funded bogus accounting reports
been doing it since his very young years
musta been taught by the mafia
Some libertarian sock puppet lobbed that b.s. attack on me yesterday. I was just “upset” with the Banksters bc I was “jealous” of their salaries.
It’s the last refuge of a libertarian when they bark that crap out at you. It’s means that their “arguments” have no where else to go other than a scurrilous attack on the “leftie,” who so clearly is only “just jealous” of someone who “makes more money.”
Well I confess that I’m certainly not making money like the top CEOs, but my income is fine, thanks very much.
No I’m not jealous, I’m mad as hell and for a very good reason. These crooks are ripping us off. Why should I not be angry about being ripped off? Jealousy has nothing to do with it.
I see that spurious “logic” often with libertarians and some conservatives who, when pushed into the corner, lash out that b.s. as if it’s the “answer.” Load of crap.
Most people I know – at a huge range of income levels – are all working very hard; are all very proud of their work ethics; and not “jealous” of anyone. But we want to get decent pay for our work and we tired of being ripped off by the elites.
It’s pretty simple, really.
Thank you for sharing. great post. Privatization is one of the cornerstones of the broken economic ideology of Milton Friedman that has been supported by the leadership of BOTH parties for the past 50+ years.
Privatization of public institutions will ALWAYS be more expensive than their civil service counterparts for one simple reason: privatized institutions always have a middle man–the wealthy investor–who must take his big chunk out of the middle. Public institutions that are managed by civil servants have no middle man.
“Eliminate the profit motive,”
I think communisim tired that. It failed. USSR, gone. China, while communist, is using Capitalism as its economic model.
I think what is really needed, at this point, is much heavier curbs on greed. Eisenhower tax rates would be useful, for starters.
I’m not necessarily advocating eliminating the profit motive from our market entirely. I guess it’d be more accurate to say, remove the profit motive from social/government services. I think that Capitalism has, and can continue to be, a strong engine of economic growth. But it must be regulated properly, and we must not use that model in designing our government agencies and responsibilities
Thank you for a good post.
You are right, doing the maintenance saves money in the long run, having government techs doing the maintenance saves money – no cost overruns, no profit in overruns. You get a budget, you make it work to the best of your abilities. The workers take pride in their work and do it well. I’ve see what “private” prisons do at many times the price of gov management. I spent 32 years in gov maintenance programs, USAF and DOJ/Fed Prisons (22 yrs).
Capitialism is not a useful economic system if the human race is to survive and advance.
The real issue is too much welath concentrated in too few hands. We ned to find a way to reward individual effort and ability, while creating a baseline for not just survivial, but liviing, and regulating/dscouraging greed as much as possible.
I am not sure how it will happen, but heavy socialism or, even better, ParEcon Economics may be a key for the future.
There are books about this, and papers, wiki, etc.. Here is a imginary and simplistic, but useful explanation about it: http://vanparecon.resist.ca/StarTrekEcon/
.