The crippling of the national economy has resulted in many government expenditures being cutback. As a way of coping with budget shortfalls, several state and federal governments have imposed tax increases. Much of the tax money is allotted for education, health, military, and many citizens argue, prisons.
While many acknowledge prisons serve to provide safety by decreasing crime rates, they also dispose of taxpayer’s money in providing inmates with more services than the law and taxpayers consider practical.
One instance of improper use can be seen through the Oregon Department of Corrections spending $773,000 in soda pop purchases during 2007-2009 budgets. The founder of Common 
Sense for Oregon group, Ross Day “believes inmates should be given water instead of soda, arguing the Constitution only requires water as nourishment.”
http://www.nwcn.com/statenews/oregon/stories/NW_051209ORN-prison-soda-LJ.1b501603.html
A team of several researchers from The Pew Center on the States, found that many prisons around the country are overpopulated with inmates “who could be managed safely and held accountable in the community,” says Adam Gelb, director of public safety performance project for the Pew center.
The Pew argues that more prisoners, who “are not violent and career criminals”, should be given probation and parole sentences as the national cost of supervising a person drops from $79 to $3.42 per day.
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/mar/03/too_much_spent_on_prisons_study_says73605/
“As the prison-industrial complex has grown, it has diverted resources from government programs ranging from education to drug treatment,” says journalist for Impact Press, David Mericle. He continues in saying, “They increase corporate profits and stimulate the economy by further repressing the oppressed, creating the need for more prisons.”
http://www.impactpress.com/articles/febmar01/prisonind020301.html
Such wasteful government issues are depicted through statistical information because the public responds to numerical data. When taxpayers hear their money is being spent for seemingly useless causes, they are known to become agitated and protest for change. Therefore, the media continues to structure stories around statistics and by repeating various negative expenditure themes, so to be comprehendible to every reader.
Generally, this topic is underreported because similar to the public, the media fails to investigate the drawbacks of prisons until after they have poured money into it; due to government requirements. People and the media neglect to research specifically how their money is being used and whether budget cuts can be made at the time taxes are paid.
The main spokespeople for advocating prison budget cuts are organizations that view the expenditures as too costly and unnecessary. Primarily, these organizations want to increase money for life-improving programs such as, education, while decreasing the money spent on prisoner “necessities.”
As people across the world feel the effects of a hurting economy, the media is encouraging citizens to protest so the government will spend money more wisely in restricting unnecessary prison expenditures.
