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reagan-was-a-horrible-president:
Private Prison Corporation Offers Cash In Exchange For State Prisons
As state governments wrestle with massive budget shortfalls, a Wall Street giant is offering a solution: cash in exchange for state property. Prisons, to be exact.
Corrections Corporation of America, the nation’s largest operator of for-profit prisons, has sent letters recently to 48 states offering to buy up their prisons as a remedy for “challenging corrections budgets.” In exchange, the company is asking for a 20-year management contract, plus an assurance that the prison would remain at least 90 percent full, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Huffington Post.
The move reflects a significant shift in strategy for the private prison industry, which until now has expanded by building prisons of its own or managing state-controlled prisons. It also represents an unprecedented bid for more control of state prison systems.
Corrections Corporation has been a swiftly growing business, with revenues expanding more than fivefold since the mid-1990s. The company capitalized on the expansion of state prison systems in the ’80s and ’90s at the height of the so-called ‘war on drugs,’ contracting with state governments to build or manage new prisons to house an influx of drug offenders. During the past 10 years, it has found new opportunity in the business of locking up undocumented immigrants, as the federal government has contracted with private companies in an aggressive immigrant-detention campaign.
Did y’all catch that?
“plus an assurance that the prison would remain at least 90 percent full”
14 February, 2012
Sourced from The Huffington Post
Originally from socialuprooting
Reblogged from reagan-was-a-horrible-president
Tagged as prison industry violence crime politics corruption corporatism
Notes (192) -
Super PACS “represent much of what is wrong with American democracy rolled neatly into one package,” said Marites Velasquez of Illinois PIRG, announcing a new report showing that fundraising monsters suddenly dominating our elections are funded by a very small number of very rich people.
LIL B!!!
I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! YOUR HARD WORK AND OUR MANY LATE NIGHT KITCHENS POLITI-CONVERSATIONS HAVE CULMINATED IN YOUR SUPERSTARDOM!
<3 <3 <3
Big B
8 February, 2012
Sourced from msmarites
Reblogged from msmarites
Tagged as Marites Roomies Citizens United politics corporatism free speech
Notes (3) -
Between the SOPA bill and Defense Authorization Act…I have lost all faith in Congress.
I don’t want either of these bills to be something we look at after it’s passed, only to realize how horrible they are…
But I honestly don’t know what to do…
-XIII
15 December, 2011
Sourced from andrewadjei
Originally from andrewadjei
Reblogged from jonathan-cunningham
Tagged as NDAA SOPA militarism police state corporatism corporate culture
Notes (1646) -
14 December, 2011
Sourced from anarchyagogo
Originally from anarchyagogo
Reblogged from fuckyeahmarxismleninism
Tagged as corporate interest corporatism corruption government democracy
Notes (101) -
Bernie Sanders on Citizens United
Warning that “American democracy in endangered,” Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday proposed a constitutional amendment to overturn a Supreme Court ruling that allowed unrestricted and secret campaign spending by corporations on U.S. elections. The first constitutional amendment ever proposed by Sanders during his two decades in Congress would reverse the narrow 5-to-4 ruling in Citizens United vs. the Federal Elections Commission.
10 December, 2011
Tagged as Citizens United corporate interest corporatism video politics Bernie Sanders
Notes (13) -
No more corporate personhood in LA
”Thanks to ground work by the U.S. Green Party, the wave of Occupy Wall Street empowerment and Human Rights Alert, today, Los Angeles became the first major U.S. city to vote against corporate personhood and call for a Constitutional Amendment asserting corporations are not entitled to constitutional rights and that money is not free speech. The vote was unanimous.
The unanimous vote was witnessed in Council chambers packed by a standing room only crowd of hundreds of people as well as a overflow room filled to capacity by enthusiastic supporters.
…
The action is in response to Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that supposedly gave corporations same 1st Amendment protections as people and allows them to spend unlimited funds on campaign finance.
Mary Beth Fielder, Move To Amend - LA founder, who spearheaded bringing the resolution to the LA City Council said, “It’s a great day for Los Angeles and it’s a great day for the United States of America.”
“I hope this is the vote heard around the world and that it will inspire other who want to reclaim our democracy to begin organizing in their communities. Together we can build the grassroots support we need to actually amend our constitution.”7 December, 2011
Tagged as corporatism corporate interest los angeles law video government
Notes (80) -
David Hollier - Texas Billboard
This is incredible.
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“It is necessary that laws should be passed to prohibit the use of corporate funds directly or indirectly for political purposes; it is still more necessary that such laws should be thoroughly enforced.” - Teddy R, 1910
19 November, 2011
Sourced from filthyphil
Originally from filthyphil
Reblogged from wesort
Tagged as Teddy Roosevelt politics politicians corporate interest corporatism
Notes (7) -
Important notice to all internet users in the United States, as this bill could ruin everything you love about the technology:
Tumblr just put up this site warning people about the dangers of PROTECT-IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Read up, kids. This is important.
Your morning homework: Read this letter from AOL, eBay, Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Mozilla, Twitter, Yahoo!, & Zynga. Then visit Tumblr’s page and take action.
Some more links which might be useful:
- Avaaz launched an online petition yesterday - at 67k signatures and counting. They need 100k+ to get it in front of congress
- Site organising a censorship protest here
- Electronic Frontier Foundation also campaigning
Please consider writing your representative and the sponsors of this bill:
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)
I wrote my congressional representatives (including my rather detestable congressman)… HAVE YOU?
16 November, 2011
Sourced from tumblr.com
Originally from shortformblog
Reblogged from prostheticknowledge
Tagged as liberty internet free speech corporate interest corporatism
Notes (3986) -
Freshman Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) is known for his anti-Obama rhetoric on cable television and his inability to pay his child support payments. But during a recent meeting with constituents in his Chicago-area suburban district, Walsh lost his cool when several attendees asked about why banks have so much power in government. At one point, Walsh even threatened to eject a man who asked Walsh about the revolving door of bank lobbyists infiltrating Congress and financial regulatory agencies.
Walsh at one point screamed, “don’t blame the banks … this pisses me off!” After several constituents accurately pointed out that bank lobbyists occupy key positions within Congress, the SEC, and other oversight bodies that are supposed to supervise bank practices, Walsh began sticking his finger close to his constituent’s faces, yelling, “quiet for a minute or I’ll have to ask you to leave.” The constituent, who had calmly asked his question before being cut-off midway through his sentence, obliged:
WALSH: Thats not the problem! The problem is you’ve got to be consistent. And I dont want government meddling in the marketplace. Yeah, they move from Goldman Sachs to the White House, I understand all of that. But you gotta’ be consistent. And it’s not the private marketplace that created this mess. What created mess was your government, which has demanded for years that everybody be in a home. And we’ve made it easy as possible for people to be in homes. […] Don’t blame banks, and don’t blame the marketplace for the mess we’re in right now! I am tired of hearing that crap! This pisses me off! Too many people don’t listen. […]
WALSH: Quiet for a minute! Quiet for a minute!
CONSTITUENT: Joe, what did I say–
WALSH: Quiet for a minute or I’m going to ask you to leave. You need to listen, or I’m going to ask you to leave.
The conversation moved from talking about influence of the bank lobby to larger structural problems in government. Walsh absurdly claimed that worker unions have more power and money than corporations in America. But he was quickly rebutted by his constituent, who said that in any case, unions serve worker interests while corporate lobbies push for private, selfish interests. The video of the exchange, which occurred during Walsh’s “Cup of Joe with Joe Walsh” event on Sunday in the town of Gurnee, Illinois, was posted on YouTube last night by Gene Taylor’s District116.org blog.
9 November, 2011
Tagged as populism politics Illinois politicians corruption corporatism banking
Notes (91)
