I don't know that I'd go that far, but certainly I think that clearer and stronger laws to protect public interests and the public should be enacted. I'd also say that big business plays a far greater role in our political system than I believe is healthy. I hadn't heard that about Colorado's prison population, but that is encouraging. I really like this idea, but how would you propose the people who work within those institutions get paid?Our monetary system and laws support this, it is clearly proof that Capitalism is a failure.
Slightly off topic: Not everything should make money. Prisons, Libraries, the Post Office, Police, and Health Care are all things that shouldn't make a profit. It should be celebrated when they operate at a loss by only providing services we need.
I agree and I think that public education could be of a (much) higher quality too. I also think that NASA should have a bigger budget, as should the diplomatic endeavors. I do think that it's necessary at this time to have a strong, capable and dedicated military (though I do think that it takes up a disproportionate amount of our resources), but I'm not entirely clear on how all those things can be accomplished with taxes alone. In my opinion, a good first step would be to greatly reduce the TSA's budget, or replace the TSA with actual security, but actual security would likely be very expensive too. Money is unfortunately at the heart of these things, as you mentioned. I know I don't want to pay very high taxes, but if it's the only way to achieve real public good, then I'd gladly pay, provided there are real jobs being created so that the public can afford to pay for these things while still living well.I see them as government institutions, so employees should be paid through our taxes.