Bernie Sanders calls for ending the Exploitation of the Prison Labor

Bernie Sanders calls for ending the Exploitation of the Prison Labor

SAT AUG 15, 2015 AT 05:58 PM PDT

byjamessFollow

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I've wondered what Senator Sanders was talking about, ever since I heard him say this:

Bernie Sanders -- facebook.com

It is morally repugnant and a national tragedy that we have privatized prisons all over America. In my view, corporations should not be allowed to make a profit by building more jails and keeping more Americans behind bars. We have got to end the private-for-profit prison racket in America!

He again called for ending this system of "Private Corporations making Billions off of Jails" -- at the Iowa State Fair today, to raucous applause.

This got me wondering, Who are these Corporations profiting off of captive Prison Labor?

and How are they allowed to profit from prisoners?

12 Mainstream Corporations Benefiting from the Prison Industrial Complex

by Ricky Riley, atlantablackstar.com -- October 10, 2014

McDonald’s
McDonald’s uses inmates to produce frozen foods. Inmates process beef for patties. They may also process bread, milk and chicken products.

Wendy’s
Wendy’s has also been identified as relying on prison labor to reduce its cost of operations. Inmates also process beef for patties.

Starbucks
The company uses inmates to cut costs as well. Starbucks subcontractor Signature Packaging Solutions hired Washington state prisoners to package holiday coffees.

Wal-Mart ...

Sprint ...

Verizon ...

Victoria’s Secret ...

Fidelity Investments ...

J.C Penney and Kmart ...

American Airlines and Avis ...

That was back in 2014. I would suspect many more Corporations have jumped on this highly profitable band-wagon, by now.

Afterall what could be better from a soulless Corporate-profiteer's point of view -- than a captive labor force, who can be compelled to work for next nothing.

And even in some states, this built-in private-prison labor force -- DOES have to work for FREE.

"The median Wage in State and Federal Prisons is 20 and 31 cents an hour, respectively."
by jamess -- Aug 14, 2015    

[PS. That link attempts to answer the "HOW they are allowed to profit from prisoners" question posed earlier.]

It is the Corporate version of "Capitalist Nirvana," because as that previous link explains:

Prison Workers: "are not considered “employees” under the law, they have none of the protections that word implies."

What can be done to fix this "private-for-profit prison racket" in America?

Once again Senator Bernie Sanders has more than a few thoughts on the subject:

Criminal Justice

Bernie Sanders believes that the United States squanders far too many resources on over-incarceration and misguided crime policies, and that this money could be better spent providing education, training, and jobs to those who might otherwise get lost in the criminal justice system. Bernie also advocates for police reform through increased transparency and accountability, as well as the demilitarization of America’s police forces.

  video link

Mass Incarceration: The U.S. incarcerates far too many people, a disproportionate percentage of them are people of color. Rather than spending resources to incarcerate people who aren’t an inherent threat to society — such as nonviolent drug offenders — Bernie proposes we spend more on education, training, and jobs that will reduce crime.

Police Reform: Bernie believes police should be demilitarized and held accountable for abusive practices. Body cameras are necessary to ensure accountability, and we need to prioritize community policing over strategies that escalate to violence.

Changing the Nature of Incarceration: Bernie wants to abolish private prisons, and focus on rehabilitating those serving time through education and job training. These initiatives can set them up for success upon release and reduce recidivism.

Capital Punishment: Civilized nations should not execute criminals. In the case of an exceptionally heinous crime, Bernie favors life imprisonment over the death penalty, believing that a life sentence is a harsh enough punishment.

Violent Crime: These crimes are a national scourge Bernie believes can be addressed through more sensible gun control as well as investments in programs that promote better policing and prevent domestic and sexual violence.
[...]

Many Thanks to FeelTheBern.org for taking and explaining so many stands, on what's right.

ORIGINALLY POSTED TO DIGGING UP THOSE FACTS ... FOR OVER 8 YEARS. ON SAT AUG 15, 2015 AT 05:58 PM PDT.

ALSO REPUBLISHED BY TEAM BERNIE AND BERNIE NEWS ROUNDUP.

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• non-violent offenders
• Prison Industrial Complex
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#3 ARGUMENTS ON THE MINIMUM WAGE

Robert Reich via Facebook.com

August 17 at 3:25pm · Edited · 

Carly Fiorina – the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard who drove its stock into the ground, fired 30,000 workers, and left with a severance package of $21 million -- held forth today on the minimum wage. She made 3 arguments you'll hear again and again from Republicans. Here they are, accompanied by the truth:

1. "The minimum wage should be a state decision, not a federal decision because it makes no sense to say that the minimum wage in New York City is the same as the minimum wage in Mason City, Iowa."

Nonsense. We don’t have lower worker-safety standards in Mason City than in New York, even though worker safety costs businesses money. We don’t allow children under 14 to work in Mason City but not in New York, even though a ban on child labor costs businesses money. We’re a single society, and minimal decency means the same thing in Mason City as it does in New York or any place else.

2. "If we raise the minimum wage, young people who are trapped in poor neighborhoods will have less opportunities to learn skills and move forward."

Rubbish. By raising the minimum wage, people in poor neighborhoods receive more money for their work – and that money ricochets through such neighborhoods and encourages businesses to expand. Raising the minimum doesn’t cause job losses, as the attached research paper shows (the co-author is no relation).

3. "Small businesses are being crushed under the weight of a federal government that advantages the big, the powerful, the wealthy and the well-connected, and is crushing the small and the powerless. Every time we destroy a small business or we destroy a community bank, we are destroying the opportunity for someone to get that first job, learn skills, and get a better job."

Bonkers. Small businesses are being crushed by big corporations like Hewlett-Packard, and community banks are being put out of business by Wall Street. The federal government heaps advantages on big corporations and Wall Street banks because they're spending fortunes lobbying, contributing to campaigns, hiring fleets of lawyers, and paying platoons of "experts" to come up with answers the corporations want -- all with the goal of rigging the game.

www.irle.berkeley.edu

IRLE.BERKELEY.EDU

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What's the difference between Sarkosy, Netanyahu and Obama? The answer....

What's the difference between Sarkosy Netanyahu and Obama? The answer.... From: Arnold.Gonzalez@shell.com Date: Mon, Jun 13, 2011 at 10:54 AM Subject: Politics- What's the difference between Sarkosy, Netanyahu and Obama ? Secrets- "what we tell everybody to tell nobody" Its up to you to share or not this piece of secret with your friends. Anybody out there who doesn't know what this is all about, just let me know. Those who know, keep quite, ssshhh. Just plain politics, please.

HOWARD_19AUG15_13th TIME_U.S. EQUIVALENCE BS MANAGEMENT ENGINEERING EDUCATIONAL POINT ASSESSMENT

SUBMITTED CREDENTIALS

(Duplicate copy from my file)

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Income and Wealth Inequality

Income and Wealth Inequality

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Today, we live in the richest country in the history of the world, but that reality means little because much of that wealth is controlled by a tiny handful of individuals.

The issue of wealth and income inequality is the great moral issue of our time, it is the great economic issue of our time, and it is the great political issue of our time.

America now has more wealth and income inequality than any major developed country on earth, and the gap between the very rich and everyone else is wider than at any time since the 1920s.

The reality is that since the mid-1980s there has been an enormous transfer of wealth from the middle class and the poor to the wealthiest people in this country. That is the Robin Hood principle in reverse. That is unacceptable and that has got to change.

There is something profoundly wrong when the top one-tenth of one percent owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent.

“Just as the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say ‘thou shalt not’ to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills. How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?” Pope Francis.

There is something profoundly wrong when 58 percent of all new income since the Wall Street crash has gone to the top one percent.

Despite huge advancements in technology and productivity, millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower wages. The real median income of male workers is $783 less than it was 42 years ago; while the real median income of female workers is over $1,300 less than it was in 2007. That is unacceptable and that has got to change.

There is something profoundly wrong when we have a proliferation of millionaires and billionaires at the same time as millions of Americans work longer hours for lower wages and we have the highest childhood poverty rate of any developed country on earth.

There is something profoundly wrong when one family owns more wealth than the bottom 130 million Americans.

The reality is that for the past 40 years, Wall Street and the billionaire class has rigged the rules to redistribute wealth and income to the wealthiest and most powerful people of this country.

This campaign is sending a message to the billionaire class: “you can’t have it all.” You can’t get huge tax breaks while children in this country go hungry. You can’t continue sending our jobs to China while millions are looking for work. You can’t hide your profits in the Cayman Islands and other tax havens, while there are massive unmet needs on every corner of this nation. Your greed has got to end. You cannot take advantage of all the benefits of America, if you refuse to accept your responsibilities as Americans.

AS PRESIDENT, SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS WILL REDUCE INCOME AND WEALTH INEQUALITY BY:

Demanding that the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share in taxes. As President, Sen. Sanders will stop corporations from shifting their profits and jobs overseas to avoid paying U.S. income taxes. He will create a progressive estate tax on the top 0.3 percent of Americans who inherit more than $3.5 million. He will also enact a tax on Wall Street speculators who caused millions of Americans to lose their jobs, homes, and life savings.

Increasing the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour by 2020. In the year 2015, no one who works 40 hours a week should be living in poverty.

Putting at least 13 million Americans to work by investing $1 trillion over five years rebuilding our crumbling roads, bridges, railways, airports, public transit systems, ports, dams, wastewater plants, and other infrastructure needs. 

1. Reversing trade policies like NAFTA, CAFTA, and PNTR with China that have driven down wages and caused the loss of millions of jobs. If corporate America wants us to buy their products they need to manufacture those products in this country, not in China or other low-wage countries.
2. Creating 1 million jobs for disadvantaged young Americans by investing $5.5 billion in a youth jobs program. Today, the youth unemployment rate is off the charts. We have got to end this tragedy by making sure teenagers and young adults have the jobs they need to move up the economic ladder.
3. Fighting for pay equity by signing the Paycheck Fairness Act into law. It is an outrage that women earn just 78 cents for every dollar a man earns.
4. Making tuition free at public colleges and universities throughout America. Everyone in this country who studies hard should be able to go to college regardless of income.
5. Expanding Social Security by lifting the cap on taxable income above $250,000. At a time when the senior poverty rate is going up, we have got to make sure that every American can retire with dignity and respect.
6. Guaranteeing healthcare as a right of citizenship by enacting a Medicare for all single-payer healthcare system. It’s time for the U.S. to join every major industrialized country on earth and provide universal healthcare to all.
7. Requiring employers to provide at least 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave; two weeks of paid vacation; and 7 days of paid sick days. Real family values are about making sure that parents have the time they need to bond with their babies and take care of their children and relatives when they get ill.
8. Enacting a universal childcare and prekindergarten program. Every psychologist understands that the most formative years for a human being is from the ages 0-4. We have got to make sure every family in America has the opportunity to send their kids to a high quality childcare and pre-K program.
9. Making it easier for workers to join unions by fighting for the Employee Free Choice Act. One of the most significant reasons for the 40-year decline in the middle class is that the rights of workers to collectively bargain for better wages and benefits have been severely undermined.
10. Breaking up huge financial institutions so that they are no longer too big to fail. Seven years ago, the taxpayers of this country bailed out Wall Street because they were too big to fail. Yet, 3 out of the 4 largest financial institutions are 80 percent bigger today than before we bailed them out. Sen. Sanders has introduced legislation to break these banks up. As President, he will fight to sign this legislation into law.

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

Who shall rule this free country?

Robert Reich via Facebook.com

13 hrs · Edited ·

Quote of the day:

"I regard this contest as one to determine who shall rule this free country—the people through their governmental agents, or a few ruthless and domineering men whose wealth makes them peculiarly formidable because they hide behind the breastworks of corporate organization.”

—Theodore Roosevelt (1907)

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#Donald Trump has opened the floodgates to lies about immigration.

Robert Reich via Facebook.com

13 hrs · Edited ·

Donald Trump has opened the floodgates to lies about immigration. Here are 4 trumped-up myths along with the facts.

1. MYTH: Immigrants commit lots of crime. FACT: Immigrants don’t commit much crime. Incarceration rates among young men are lowest for immigrants, especially for the Mexicans, Salvadorans, and Guatemalans who make up the bulk of the undocumented population, according to the Justice Department.

2. MYTH: The number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. is soaring. FACT: The number of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. has declined from 12.2 million in 2007 to 11.3 million now, according to Pew Research Center. Which means the net rate of illegal immigration into the U.S. is less than zero.

3. MYTH: Most new immigrants are from Mexico. FACT: More people now immigrate into the U.S. from China and India than from Mexico, according to the Bureau of Immigration. The Latin American immigration boom is ending, and the Asian immigration boom is just beginning.

4. MYTH: The U.S. can’t afford more immigrants. FACT: We can’t afford not to have more immigrants because the U.S. population is aging. Twenty-five years ago, each retiree in America was matched by 5 workers. Now for each retiree there are only 3 workers. Without more immigration, in 15 years the ratio will fall to 2 workers for every retiree, not nearly enough to sustain our retiree population.

Demagogues grow on lies. Spread the truth.

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Released into wild, Philippine Eagle ‘Pamana’ shot dead

Pamana the eagle soars after her release. PHOTO FROM PROVINCE OF DAVAO ORIENTAL 
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Released into wild, Philippine Eagle ‘Pamana’ 

shot dead

Three-year-old Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) named “Pamana” (heritage) was shot dead on Wednesday two months after she was released in the wild.

Pamana sustained a gunshot wound in her right breast, Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) Executive Director Danny Salvador said.

“Unfortunately, there’s this man with a gun who thinks that apparently, he can shoot anything and did this,” Salvador said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel.

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Voters Are Rejecting The Ruling Class – The 1% Are Running Scared

Voters Are Rejecting The Ruling Class – The 1% Are Running Scared

— August 10, 2015

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According to former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, the political surges of both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have much deeper meaning than most people have been willing to discuss. According to Reich, the surge of these two candidates represents a broader revolt against America’s ruling class.

Reich explains that the two candidates are both viewed as outsiders, and their growing support is a sign that the public is ready to do away with the ruling class that has dominated American politics for the last 30 years.

One of the most important points made is that this groundswell of support is not to be confused with the typical attraction that the public has towards newcomers in the political arena – Reich says that this attraction is much different.

Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.

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About the Author

Gary Bentley

Gary Bentley is a Video Producer for Ring of Fire.

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