In the years from 1980 to 2008, individuals paroled from prison and living amongst us rose from 1 million to over 4 million. Think about that for a moment. Four million people who have commited a crime, living with us. Scary, yes? Have you done a crime? Have you broken the law and came out of prison? Most of us have not. This is not to say those who have a criminal past are all bad. But, we have to remember, their "goodness" didn't get them into prison. Somewhere, in the past, they saw, as a way to acquire a property, or to acquire a pleasure, or to settle a fight, or to make some money, that breaking the law was something that was acceptable to their conscience.
In the year 2009, there were 1,613,656 prisoners in state and federal prisons
. Think about it. That's nearly two million humans living in a very controlled environment, some of them too violent to be loosed on the public. But, some of them will be loosed on us. Indeed, they are being loosed upon us every day. The "bad guys" are becoming our neighbors. From 1980 to 2008, individuals living amongst us who are on parole rose from just over 1 million to over 4 million people.In 2008, around 2,737,166 people entered prison in the United States, and 2,701,561 exited. Over 5,095,181 people were reported as being under community supervision, which includes parole. So, that means that every year, we're getting a few million criminals sliding into our communities. Does anyone seriously wonder about the rising rate of crime?
In 1982, we spent annually, around $10 billion dollars on corrections, that is, the prison system. By 2006, we were spending over $60 billion dollars (an increase of over 660%). We spent, in 1982, around $20 billion on law enforcement. Today, that number is over $100 billion dollars. That is a staggering sum of money to spend on anything. But to spend it on crime? Like it or not, crime is a major part of our economic system. Lawyers make millions of dollars. Security companies make many more millions of dollars. Private prisons make employ thousands and rake in millions of dollars. (And some say, crime doesn't pay.)
According to FBI
statistics, in the year 1994, around 544,880 offenses took place in the United States in which someone loved by some of us was murdered, robbed, or assaulted with firearms. In other words, nearly 1 out of 3 (31%) murders
, robberies, and aggravated assaults collectively involved firearms as the weapons used. Keep in mind, these criminals had guns and there are those in high office who do not want us, the law abiding citizens, to have guns. Somehow, the logic of the liberal has never made its way through my simple mind. Criminals will get guns, regardless of what the law says. They have demonstrated that. So, we are to be denied guns because? Fortunately, our Supreme Court
has not caved...yet, and the recent case overturning Chicago's Democratic Myoptic Gun Control Law pointed out that the Constitution trumps even the Chicago Machine.We suffered losses from robbery totaling over $17 billion dollars in 2008. That's not millions. That's billions, with a GIANT B. And that's just one year.
It gets worse. In 2008, around 89,000 women were raped and only 22,584 persons were arrested. Most of them were not convicted. In the same year, 441,855 of us were robbed, while only 129,402 persons were arrested. That year saw 834,885 of us violently assaulted and 16,272 of us were slain or murdered. In total, the year 2008 saw 1,382,012 of us as victims of violent crime.
You tell me. Are we at war? Think about it. Do you hear a loud cry from Congress about crime? Do you see any help on the way? Or, do you hear, as I do, more "easy speak" and political meandering through the thicket of words, with most of the Congress playing a game similar to dodge-ball (translate: dodge the issue)?
The Democratic administration
has geared up rhetorically with a war of words against Arizona, and with its legal muscle. They've completely ignored the statistics that show the greater part of the nation is FOR the stand Arizona has taken. The Obama administration
has also ignored the fact that a staggering portion of the Arizona crimebudget (translate Arizona tax payer dollars) is spent on fighting crime committed by illegal immigrants. Those immigrants are importing crime into Arizona as though we were their most important trading partner.Maybe we are.
Personally, I will never vote for anyone running for Congress who does not take a strong stand against crime. Unless and until we have a Congress that takes a view of criminals akin to that taken by the well known Sheriff of Maricopa County, "Joe" Arpaio, we will not act, as a nation, like we're in a war. It's a fight for survival, and we're losing.
Some amongst us are just too stupid to know it.
I've got pretty good survival instincts. I don't "think" we're in serious trouble. I know it. Millions of Americans know it, too. They also know that unless there are some serious steps (translate: all-out-no-holds-barred-war) taken by our government, by our congressional leaders, against crime, against the gangs, and against the hordes of illegal immigrants swallowing our dollars, devouring our jobs, and smothering our social services systems, we are doomed.
I say we start by dooming the careers of ALL political leaders who do not demonstrate an unwavering, aggressive stand against crime and criminals.
Joe, if you run for Prez, you got my vote, bro.
