| I feel very strange about saying this, but I believe Democrats in the U.S. Senate today cost the state of Michigan jobs, and it had a lot to do with Guantanamo Bay. Over the last couple of days, I've seen pokes and prods in the news like this: According to the Detroit Free Press former Michigan Governor John Engler wants to put Guantanamo Bay detainees in Michigan prisons. He pitched the idea to state legislators last week. Engler says Michigan could charge up to a billion dollars a year to turn a prison in the upper peninsula into a terrorist holding facility.
It was an idea that apparently had bipartisan support, according to this: However, Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) refused to state that Michigan would not accept Guantanamo Bay detainees, “If the governor and local government accept them then that ought to be considered.” The acceptance of detainees would require the construction of a large, maximum-security prison that would help create jobs and stimulate the economy, which is the main reason why Levin believed that states would agree to accept detainees. But he reiterated that the local governments must make the decision.
And, then today, Senate Democrats helped pull funding from Gitmo's imminent demise over the question of where to send people. I don't much like the idea of going hat-in-hand and begging to the federal government for jobs, but I also don't have a problem with the Gitmo detainees being incarcerated in Michigan. I have a great deal of faith that the American prison industry can prevent terrorist suspects from escaping. |
