Economic Impacts of Prison Growth, and More from CRS
“The historic, sustained rise in [the U.S. prison population] has broad implications, not just for the criminal justice system, but for the larger economy. About 770,000 people worked in the corrections sector in 2008 [and this number is expected to grow]…. By comparison, in 2008 there were 880,000 workers in the entire U.S. auto manufacturing sector.” See “Economic Impacts of Prison Growth” (pdf), April 13, 2010.
Other noteworthy new CRS reports obtained by Secrecy News that Congress has not made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf).
“The Role of the Senate in Judicial Impeachment Proceedings: Procedure, Practice, and Data,” April 9, 2010.
“Military Personnel and Freedom of Religious Expression: Selected Legal Issues,” April 8, 2010.
“Multilateral Development Banks: Overview and Issues for Congress,” April 9, 2010.
“Foreign Aid Reform, National Strategy, and the Quadrennial Review,” April 12, 2010.
“Supreme Court Appointment Process: Roles of the President, Judiciary Committee, and Senate,” February 19, 2010.
A lack of sustained federal funding, deteriorating research infrastructure and networks, restrictive immigration policies, and waning international collaboration are driving this erosion into a full-scale “American Brain Drain.”
With 2000 nuclear weapons on alert, far more powerful than the first bomb tested in the Jornada Del Muerto during the Trinity Test 80 years ago, our world has been fundamentally altered.
As the United States continues nuclear modernization on all legs of its nuclear triad through the creation of new variants of warheads, missiles, and delivery platforms, examining the effects of nuclear weapons production on the public is ever more pressing.
“The first rule of government transformation is: there are a lot of rules. And there should be-ish. But we don’t need to wait for permission to rewrite them. Let’s go fix and build some things and show how it’s done.”