Florida Teamsters called it by its right name when they protested today outside of the confab:
"Looking for further opportunities to sell our vital state services to the lowest bidder."
That was Teamsters International Vice President Ken Wood, who's also president of Joint Council 75. And here's what William C.F. Muse, a retired FDOC colonel had to say:
We know what dangerous criminals are capable of. We work hard to keep the public safe, and putting the public’s security in the hands of companies looking to make a big profit is wrong.Just yesterday, the Justice Policy Institute released a study showing how prison companies profit through the suffering of mostly poor people. JPI reported
The three main companies have contributed $835,514 to federal candidates and over $6 million to state politicians. They have also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on direct lobbying efforts. CCA has spent over $900,000 on federal lobbying and GEO spent anywhere from $120,000 to $199,992 in Florida alone during a short three-month span this year.
Meanwhile, “the relationship between government officials and private prison companies has been part of the fabric of the industry from the start,” notes the report. The cofounder of CCA himself used to be the chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party...
In Arizona, 30 of the 36 legislators who co-sponsored the state’s controversial immigration law that would undoubtedly put more immigrants behind bars received campaign contributions from private prison lobbyists or companies.Florida's
Here's one question: What will these people feast on when they've finally devoured every last morsel from the carcass of the middle class?
