"Contracting out government functions is not quite the same as privatizing. "
I can understand that point. I just don't think these things work. Public education is very important. I can not think of a single example of a society that educated, or attempted to educate everyone, where there were strictly private schools. Essentially if one were to privatize the education of everyone, someone would still have to pay for the education of those who could not afford the tuition.
"If they can do it more efficiently than the government can do it itself, so what?"
That is a big if. Cost effective accounting in prisons could be very interesting. I used to know a guy in that business. I don't mind a little competition, I just think having your prison system run by another country might not be a great idea.
I agree about the war on drugs. Conservative governments tend to grow almost exponentially.
