Waste Not, Want . . . ?

Tale of two prison pictures in today's news. In FL state corrections secretary, James McDonough made a well-publicized critique of private prisons, saying private companies can finance and build prisons, but state government run them better. This after a state audit found FL had overpaid private prison operators almost $13 million last year. In fairness, Mr. McDonough is new to the job and trying to make things right there now, but it sounds like he has a lot of work to do. . . . As if to answer the critique directly, a CA audit found contracted health care in the state prison system had "rampant" overspending, as spending there rose $668 million in the last five years. The audit recommends the state hire its own doctors and other specialists, especially since one contracted urologist apparently was being paid $2036 an hour. Having lived in DC, that doesn't seem that unreasonable, but the auditors saw otherwise.