5 Facts About the Wealthiest One Percent of Americans

[^_^ 5,021]

And to add, many companies take out loans or even use *gasp* public funds in the form of bonds to build. I think I just heard Gary shriek and run off into the woods holding his pants on.

bonds are not public funds, stop being silly.

[Misha & Ira 113]

I never worked for a poor guy.

You know, if a few more people actually spent some time figuring out how to make more money rather than how to limit others, they just might actually realize that making money is not that hard.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

bonds are not public funds, stop being silly.

Ah, my bad. Money grows on trees, which happen to be on unclaimed land. Businesses simply drive to the nearest money tree and take their bonds.

[^_^ 5,021]

Ah, my bad. Money grows on trees, which happen to be on unclaimed land. Businesses simply drive to the nearest money tree and take their bonds.

perhaps you could spend some time reading about bonds.

[mawilson 2,133]

Ah, my bad. Money grows on trees, which happen to be on unclaimed land. Businesses simply drive to the nearest money tree and take their bonds.

Businesses sell bonds, they don't "take" them.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

perhaps you could spend some time reading about bonds.

Enlighten me because apparently my understanding of public bonds is limited to what I've read in the news.

Case in point - our federal and state prisons. Many of them are privately operated facilities and for-profit, but are built using bonds.

[^_^ 5,021]

Enlighten me...

No. Go read an intro book. They are available at any B&N and are quick reads.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

No. Go read an intro book. They are available at any B&N and are quick reads.

GFY.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I'm sure my inferior intelligence fails to grasp that isn't the same with what I was talking about - private enterprise using public funding.

FINANCING PRISONS

Until about the mid-1980's, when total state expenditures on prisons and related activities were $9.6 billion, about 40 percent of all state prison construction was financed by the pay-as-you- go method and 50 percent by general obligation bonds. The remaining 10 percent was financed using lease revenue bonds and other revenue streams.¹

By 1996, when total state expenditures for prisons were estimated to be $22 billion, more than half of all the debt issued to finance prisons was carried out through a specific variant of lease-revenue bonds called certificates of participation (COPs).²

• In the pay-as-you-go method, total capital projects are fully paid for in cash at the time of construction from current revenues or accumulated cash. Its obvious advantage is that it does not involve interest payments or other expenses associated with debt as no money is borrowed.
  
• With general obligation bonds, projects are paid out of tax revenues and backed by the full faith and credit of the government. Many states have statutory and constitutional limits on both the total amount as well as the amount of new debt that they can issue. General obligation bonds also require voter approval.
  
• In the case of lease revenue bonds, an entity or agency is specifically created to build the project, which then leases the right to use it to the government. The bonds are repaid by rent or lease payments that are appropriated by the legislature and paid for by taxpayers.

STATE AND FEDERAL EXPENDITURES ON CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES

Total Expenditures and Capital Expenditures³

• State expenditures (including the District of Columbia) for adult prisons were estimated to be $22 billion for 1996, the most recent data available from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Overall, between 1990 and 1996, state prison expenditures increased 83 percent from $12 billion to $22 billion.
  
• Of these, capital expenditures (on construction, land and equipment) were 6 percent of total expenditures, i.e., a total of $1.3 billion. Construction costs at $0.8 billion represented 4 percent, while equipment and land at $0.3 and $0.2 billion each represented about 1 percent of total expenditures.
  
• Federal prison expenditures increased 160 percent, from $946 million to $2.5 billion, during the same period.

NUMBER OF FACILITIES AND SECURITY LEVELS According to the 2000 edition of the Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities, there were a total of 1,668 state, federal and privately operated correctional facilities in 2000, or 204 more than in 1995.⁴ These included prisons, boot camps, prison hospitals, centers for substance abuse, community-based facilities and other places of confinement.

• Of the total 1,668 correctional facilities in the country in 2000, 1,320 were state facilities, 264 were private and the remaining 84 were federal facilities.
  
• Of the 204 new facilities built between 1995 and 2000, 154 or three quarters were private facilities, an increase of 140 percent in the number of such facilities from 1995.

http://www.publicbonds.org/prison_fin/prison_fin.htm

[luckytxn 2,265]

No. Go read an intro book. They are available at any B&N and are quick reads.

He could google the terms but may need help. \

Google: public bonds and then corporate bonds.

There are variations on each theme but even he should get the gist.

[mawilson 2,133]

I'm sure my inferior intelligence fails to grasp that isn't the same with what I was talking about - private enterprise using public funding.

I think you got that backwards, dude.

Public bonds means the government is borrowing money from private enterprise, not vice versa.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I think you got that backwards, dude.

Public bonds means the government is borrowing money from private enterprise, not vice versa.

Privately owned and operated state and federal prisons were built using public bonds. While the bond holders maybe investors, the ones footing the cost in the end are the taxpayers, which was the point I was making. Without that public funding, these private prisons would not be able to build, unless they found private investors willing to risk without any government backed guarantee and there aren't any. So the fact is that private enterprise often relies on public funds in the form of bonds in order to build.

A general obligation bond is a common type of municipal bond in the United States that is secured by a state or local government's pledge to use legally available resources, including tax revenues, to repay bond holders.

Most general obligation pledges at the local government level include a pledge to levy a property tax to meet debt service requirements, in which case holders of general obligation bonds have a right to compel the borrowing government to levy that tax to satisfy the local government's obligation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_obligation_bond

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Enlighten me because apparently my understanding of public bonds is limited to what I've read in the news.

Case in point - our federal and state prisons. Many of them are privately operated facilities and for-profit, but are built using bonds.

Not likely. Left wing misconceptions and propaganda maybe.

[luckytxn 2,265]

Privately owned and operated state and federal prisons were built using public bonds. While the bond holders maybe investors, the ones footing the cost in the end are the taxpayers, which was the point I was making. Without that public funding, these private prisons would not be able to build, unless they found private investors willing to risk without any government backed guarantee and there aren't any. So the fact is that private enterprise often relies on public funds in the form of bonds in order to build.

http://en.wikipedia....obligation_bond

Seems you are still confused. Now show a link to where the private prisons issue public bonds. Now if it is a state prison they do issue public bonds and tax payers have to pay for the bonds. Now the private prisons in Texas issue corporate bonds. They are paid back by tax payers in that the private prisons get a certain amount per day for each prisoner in revenue from the state and they use this revenue to pay their corporate bonds. (taxpayers) Now the costs has been shown that the private prisons can do cheaper than what it costs the state to do and even get a profit.

Edited October 6, 2011 by luckytxn

[one...two...tree 2,762]