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Book details
  • Genre:POLITICAL SCIENCE
  • SubGenre:Civics & Citizenship
  • Language:English
  • Pages:245
  • eBook ISBN:9781623098070

Good Morning Uncle Sam

by Andrew Miles

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Overview
In the most trying financial period our nation has seen since the Great Depression, the federal government’s entitlement programs are weighing very heavily on an already overburdened economy. Analysts and scholars talk about the issues on a systemic level every day on news programs across the country, and viewers are inundated with first-person accounts of the terrible price many Americans are paying. What has thus far been missing, however, is a grassroots examination of the societal effects from a criminal justice perspective. That wait is now over. Offering a street-level view of the problems created by an out-of-control government and an exaggeratedly liberal judiciary, Andrew Miles’ analysis is a patriotic call to arms to forego the free—and often counterproductive—ride too often offered in many sectors. A police officer for the past seventeen years, his blunt, factual view is based on thousands of hours working on America’s streets. Focusing on the human impact as well as the fiscal, Miles tackles the difficult subjects of incarceration versus rehabilitation and welfare versus meaningful contribution to explain the fundamental need in our country for reform. Right now our prison system resembles overcrowded housing, offering very little, if any, job or life skills training to help prisoners re-enter the outside world as contributing members of society. Much like the bailouts of corporate giants, this merely creates a system of handouts wherein the cycle repeats and the burden is placed squarely on those who form the backbone of America: the middle class. A healthy dose of reality and hope, Miles’ no-nonsense polemic is a cold shock to an American system desperately in need of it. An empowering exploration that is sure to change the way you look at our country, Good Morning Uncle Sam is a clarion call for a return to the greatness upon which America was founded.
Description
Misapplied and poorly managed entitlement programs have destroyed our cities and rendered affordable housing unsafe. For peace of mind and to escape the crime and decay caused by these programs many have fled to more expensive neighborhoods or into the suburbs where they assume rents or mortgages that strain the limits of their budgets. Such is the plight of the American Middle. We are hardworking, self-reliant and prepared to stand our ground—on our own two feet! We are not part of the extreme political left or right. We are simply straight up Americans, the backbone of this nation and the majority of the voting population. We still fly the flag and we know to cross our hearts when the National Anthem is played. We do not have time to ponder international affairs or other matters that don’t affect our daily lives. It’s all that we can do to keep up with the domestic problems that are constantly created by those in Washington D.C. The current tax system is a mess; it should not take the use of accountants and attorneys to pay Uncle Sam his due. Only our spending should be taxed, not our earnings and savings. The less we spend, the less we pay and only necessities such as groceries should be exempt. Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan sounds pretty good to most of us—it’s simplistic and fair to all… …Governing America is a nightmare and more than any one person or body of 535 can understand let alone us. Therefore we try to send only the best to represent us. We depend on you to ensure that the taxes collected through our sweat and blood is used in a proper and judicious manner. Yet you spend it so liberally. In the most trying financial period in almost a century, it is the voice of everyday Americans—not elected officials, not corporate CEOs, not powerful lobbying groups—that can change the current system. For Andrew Miles and many citizens like him, the time to raise that voice for change is now. Tired of profligate spending, sick of watching handouts benefit the few while the many suffer, and angry over the gross mismanagement occurring in our government, Americans are making themselves heard in a way that hasn’t been seen since the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s. And just like that era, the terrible effects of poor decision-making need to be laid bare and made clear. A grassroots examination of the societal effects from a criminal justice perspective that offers a street-level view of the problems created by an out-of-control government and an overwhelmingly liberal judiciary, Andrew Miles’ analysis is a patriotic call to arms to reclaim our country’s greatness and forego the free—and often counterproductive—ride too often offered in too many sectors. A police officer for the past seventeen years, his blunt, factual view is based on thousands of hours working on America’s streets. Focusing on the human impact as well as the fiscal, Miles provides a new side of the debate concerning entitlement programs. With concern and compassion he explores the relationship between poverty and incarceration in the American criminal justice system, how it leads to imprisonment rather than rehabilitation, and the consequences and economic effect it has on the rest of the country. It is, in effect, a mirror of the bailouts of corporate giants, merely creating a system of handouts wherein the cycle repeats and the burden is placed squarely on those who form the backbone of America: the middle class. A healthy dose of reality and hope, Miles’ no-nonsense polemic is a cold shock to an American system desperately in need of it. Covering a well-rounded series of topics that address the current state of the prison and government aid cycles thoroughly and thoughtfully, he takes his analysis to the crucial final step of providing possible solutions. An empowering exploration that is sure to change the way you look at our country, Good Morning Uncle Sam is a clarion call for reform and return to the greatness upon which America was founded.
About the author
Andrew Miles is a certified police instructor and has taught at the Arkansas Criminal Justice Institute, the Arkansas Attorney General's Office, and the US Attorney's Office. Miles has won numerous personal awards, most notably Officer of the Year by his agency and Police Officer of the Year for the Military Order of World Wars. He has been a police officer for seventeen years and founded his department’s Nuisance Abatement Unit, a unit that has won many awards including The International Association of Chiefs of Police Award for best community policing and the MetLife Foundation’s Community Policing Partnership Award.