From: Jerry Brito <jbrito@cato.org>
To: <dailydispatch-list@free-market.net>
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 15:32:52 -0600
Subject: Cato Daily Dispatch
Message-ID: <200102202132.PAA18720@zephyr.imagiware.com>
Sender: owner-dailydispatch-list@free-market.net

Cato Daily Dispatch
February 20, 2001
http://www.cato.org/
http://www.cato.org/dispatch/02-20-01d.html

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* Incarcerations Swell Under Clinton
* Texas "Hate-Crimes" Law Rides Emotional Wave
* Corporations to be Weaned from Government Nurture
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INCARCERATIONS SWELL UNDER CLINTON

More people were incarcerated in state and federal prisons during President
Clinton's eight years in office than during the term of any other U.S.
president, according to Reuters. (
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010218/pl/clinton_prisons_dc_1.html )

Between 1992 and 2001, 673,000 inmates were added to state and federal
prisons and jails, according to a new study commissioned by the Justice
Policy Institute, a liberal criminal-justice think tank. In the eight years
that Ronald Reagan was in office, 448,000 inmates were added. At the end of
Clinton's term, 476 out of every 100,000 citizens were incarcerated -- 92
percent higher than the Reagan-era rate of 247 per 100,000, the report
found.

In "All Locked Up," ( http://www.cato.org/dailys/02-23-00.html ) Director of
the Project on Criminal Justice Tim Lynch comments that the number of
incarcerated people surpassed 2 million for the first time last year. Lynch
writes that it took more than 200 years for America to hold its first 1
million prisoners, but managed to incarcerate the second million in only the
past 10 years and warns of a "prison industrial complex."

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TEXAS "HATE-CRIMES" LAW RIDES EMOTIONAL WAVE

A Texas House committee passed a "hate-crimes" bill yesterday after hearing
emotional testimony from Texans who said they have lost loved ones and had
their sense of security shredded because of violent acts of prejudice,
according to The Dallas Morning News. (
http://www.dallasnews.com/texas_southwest/291870_hate_20tex.ART.html )

The Judicial Affairs Committee passed the bill, 7-2. A similar measure
cleared a Senate committee last week. The bill builds upon a measure passed
in 1993 that enhances penalties for crimes allegedly motivated by hate.

The bill, on its way to becoming law, could potentially send someone to
prison longer because of the rallies they attend or the books in their home.
New York University law professor James B. Jacobs discussed hate crime
legislation at the Cato policy forum "Hate Crimes: Criminal Law and Identity
Politics." Video of the event can be seen at the Cato Web site. (
http://www.cato.org/realaudio/cpf-08-05-98.ram )

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CORPORATIONS TO BE WEANED FROM GOVERNMENT NURTURE

Bush administration budget officials are proposing to cut about one-quarter
of the lending authority of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, prompting howls
from corporations that use the agency's loans to finance many overseas
sales, according to The Washington Post. (
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1960-2001Feb13.html )

The proposal, which was disclosed by business groups, could revive a
controversy over government support for big companies. The Ex-Im Bank has
long been targeted as a prime example of corporate welfare. Business
lobbyists, however, had thought the agency's funding was safe from the Bush
administration, which counts big firms among its most important
constituencies, and the news has come to as a surprise.

In "There's No Conceivable Reason to Preserve Corporate Welfare," (
http://www.cato.org/dailys/7-23-97.html ) Senior Fellow Doug Bandow writes
that "business subsidies deserve to go on the chopping block simply as a
matter of priorities." The Cato Handbook for Congress section on Corporate
Welfare ( http://www.cato.org/pubs/handbook/hb107/hb107-6.pdf ) recommends
that Congress terminate programs that provide direct grants to businesses;
eliminate programs that provide research and other services for industries;
end programs that provide subsidized loans or insurance to businesses; and
eliminate the income tax loopholes carved out solely for specific companies
or industries and substantially lower the tax rate so that there is no net
revenue increase.

In "Why We Don't Need the Export-Import Bank" (
http://www.cato.org/dailys/8-25-97.html ) and in testimony before Congress,
( http://www.cato.org/testimony/ct-iv071797.html ) Ian Vásquez, director of
Cato's Project on Global Economic Liberty, argues that "The Export-Import
Bank is a New Deal era agency with no relevance in a liberal global
economy." In the Cato Handbook for Congress, (
http://www.cato.org/pubs/handbook/hb107/hb107-64.pdf ) the Export-Import
Bank, at a cost of $700 million a year to taxpayers, was named one of the 12
worst corporate welfare programs.

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In today's Daily Commentary: No matter how noble the cause, federally funded
faith-based initiatives are unconstitutional. By Robert A. Levy.
http://www.cato.org/dailys/02-20-01.html

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