ALEC, Koch and the Conservative led "War on the Middle Class"...

I've written extensively about the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the likes of Charles and David Koch, the Council for National Policy, the Heritage Foundation, Reason Foundation, CATO Institute, Freedom Works...etc, etc., and their involvement in starting, funding and advancing similar agendas targeting legislation beneficial to their corporate interests.

Usually I write about involvement of this core group related to incarceration, prison privatization and prison industries. I know to many this is simply not considered a "Hot Topic" - either in personal, business or political terms. This diary is published to show why it should be a hot topic and how the mechanics employed in this one ALEC led initiative is demonstrative of their agenda regarding pursuit of even more important issues facing us today.

I'll begin by saying that over the past decade we have been involved in a huge class war here in the U.S. It has been mostly ignored by many, because the skirmishes have been small scale when compared to larger issues that dominate our media and thus our minds. However, each of these tiny battles have led us to the situation today where the entire middle class is in a battle for it's very existence. The battle is brought upon us by the corporate elite representing the wealthiest segment of our society.

Criminal justice is but one of those "skirmishes" in this war. It is an important one though, for several reasons. The most important aspect is the huge financial windfall realized by these corporatists from our state and federal budgets for incarceration. The billions spent by the middle class on incarceration, is siphoned off through prison privatization of those incarcerated and by companies profiting off of incarceration in general; privatized health, food services, canteen operations, transportation, banking services, phone contracts and of huge importance - privatized prison industries.

Reports by independent and informed sources, provide statistics that as of 2007, American taxpayers spent $74 billion annually on incarceration, an increase of 72% since 1997 (Tracey Kyckelhahn, Justice Expenditure and Employment Extracts 2007, Table 1(Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2010) as reported by the Justice Policy Institute this week. Out of this huge sum of tax dollars, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and Geo Group (Geo) jointly reported $2.9 billion in revenue for 2010 alone (Corrections Corporation of America, 2010 Annual Report, 2011; The GEO Group, 2010 Annual Report (Boca Raton, FL): The GEO Group, 2011).

In addition to these "earned" profits by CCA and Geo, another $2.4 billion was taken in by companies through the sale of prisoner made goods in 2009. Together the private companies involved in private prison operations and prison industries are realizing more than $5 billion in income per year. This amount does not include peripheral income such as the profits made by Bail bond agents and insurers, medical, food service, banking or sale of products used in prison; chemical sprays, security equipment, construction of new prisons and expansion of existing ones. Altogether an estimated $11 billion dollars changes hands annually from U.S. incarceration and prison industries.

To anyone suffering through the economic situation over the past two or three years, this is a HUGE sum of money - and most of it paid out of state and federal appropriations set aside for correctional services and operations. Conservatives would have us believe that all these incarceration costs are because we as a society demand that we be made safe by locking up every possible individual that commits an offense against us - personally or upon our property. We're told it is because of these demands that so many are imprisoned and the cost of that imprisonment so expensive. These arguments have been used by Republicans since 1980 to increase incarceration by more than 650%, while putting into place legislation that allows their corporate masters and benefactors to realize the most profits possible from locking up everyone and throwing away the key.

Now lets take a close look at how this was done, why and the "mechanics". By doing this I'll demonstrate how these same manipulations and tactics are being used in a similar manner to win the "skirmishes" and ultimately this Class War - that is not even recognized as happening by many Americans...

From 1980 ALEC has been involved in writing model legislation involving criminal justice at the state level (lauding such efforts at their web site). Simultaneously through their huge number of Alumni who have gone on to posts within the federal government, or have been elected to the U.S. Congress, they also have pushed for federal legislation that comports with their state efforts; three strike laws, minimum mandatory drug and gun laws, truth in sentencing laws, replacement of government programs to provide bonding for those charged with, abolishing parole and similar legislation. These efforts have resulted today in more than 2.4 million of us incarcerated.

Also from 1980 on, ALEC developed and pushed their Model Legislation to expand privatization of state and federal prison facilities. Their Model Legislation's such as:

Targeted Contracting for Certain Correctional Facilities and Services Act
Resolution on Prison Expenditures
Inmate Labor Disclosure Act
Housing Out-of-State Prisoners in a Private Prison Act

have all been designed to benefit their long time members, CCA and Geo Group.
From 1993 ALEC has also been actively pursuing involvement in prison industry legislation. Their model legislation titled the "Prison Industries Act" is based upon exploiting the federal Prison Industries Enhancement Certification Program (PIECP) to allow private sector corporations, businesses and companies access to and use of prisoner labor as a cheap workforce and a means of increasing profits.

Through their legislative efforts, ALEC helped create our huge prison population of today. They were able to implement their model legislation on privatization of prisons in many states and on the federal level, creating a huge business niche with substantial profits for CCA and Geo. ALEC's efforts of privatization of prison industries - or allowance of the use of prisoners for corporate labor were equally successful, again resulting in huge profits to manufacturers and other member companies.

Now let's look at how they accomplished all of this so easily...

The criminal justice legislation mentioned above created the "workforce" for their prison industry initiatives. What needed to be done next was to expand prison industry operations state by state to create cheap jobs for inmates and high profits for their corporate membership.

Along came Ray Allen. Allen was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1993. As a "freshman" Conservative Republican lawmaker Allen was attracted to ALEC and joined their ranks. In 1993, legislation sponsored by Allen offered tax credits to corporations, encouraging them to engage in prison industries. In1997 he introduced ALEC's Model Prison Industries Act as proposed legislation in Texas and it became law. In 1999 he introduced more legislation on the state prison industry program and subsequent legislation amendments to his original legislation. While Allen was working so diligently on behalf of ALEC and prison industries, he became Chairman of the House Corrections Committee and ALEC's Criminal Justice and Homeland Security Task Force Chairman. In those capacities he assisted prison privatization efforts on behalf of ALEC members CCA and Geo side by side with his prison industry work.

In 1998 Allen participated in a meeting in Washington, D.C. titled: "Policies and Programs In Prison Industries". Key Note speaker was AG Janet Reno and other speakers included Pam Davis, PRIDE CEO and Chairman of the NCIA, FL. U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Crime (that just months before chaired a hearing on expansion of the federal prison industries). Also present as moderator was Warren Cikins, a representative of the Brookings Institution, another Koch and ALEC affiliate. Allen was also secretly lobbying on behalf of the National Correctional Industries Association (NCIA). As you can see from the articles and links, ALEC, the NCIA, Ray Allen and Koch affiliated Brookings Institution all came together at that meeting to promote expanding the PIECP program so that more corporations could take advantage of prison labor.

The U.S.Department of Justice issued the PIECP final guideline within 6 months of this "workshop meeting" attended by all of the above. Once the federal law was in place, prison industry in the U.S. exploded exponentially - along with the access to that labor by private corporations, many of which were members of ALEC or affiliated with Koch, Heritage or similar Conservative organizations and individuals. The results of the coordinated legislative and lobbying efforts of these lawmakers, corporations, individuals and organizations such as ALEC is today's estimated $2.5 billion dollar prison industry operation.

Just last October Attorney General Holder issued a memo applauding the continued growth of the federal prison population, and urged all federal procurement officers to "open their UNICOR" catalogs and buy - buy - buy products from them so they could expand the prison industries and put more inmates to work. With first Janet Reno and now Holder supporting this exploitation of prisoners as a workforce, the corruption has escalated to the highest office of law enforcement in the U.S. Such is the pervasive nature of this beast - fed by ALEC.

From the profits garnered from prison industries, and privatization, corporate members of ALEC contributed huge sums back to ALEC and affiliated right wing PAC's and political organizations. Conservatives have used both of these "Initiatives" to enrich themselves and to help fund other political efforts of ALEC and the likes of Koch through the Heritage and Reason foundations, etc. In plain terms, this money is being used to promote today's Republican initiatives: repealing healthcare, voter disenfranchisement, privatization of more jails, prisons and state operated facilities. Privatization and prison industry of the past is fueling ALEC and Koch's efforts against the middle class today.

Until this past year many of us had no idea there was even a "war" ongoing against the middle class. We perceived the machinations of the Bush administration and Republicans as simply more of the same political rhetoric between the parties that had been continuing for decades, and chose to ignore it and we did it at our own peril. By our ignorance we allowed this cabal to amass a huge - almost insurmountable - financial war chest, which they used in 2010 to push many Democrats and moderate Republicans from office. With a majority in state governors, state assemblies and ALEC Alumni (Boehner, Cantor, Kasich, Walker and others) holding U.S. and state positions of power and influence they believe they are now in a position of minority strength. They're using that influence to push ALEC's agenda over the top.

If you look at what's been happening on the front lines in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio - to name just the top three states - and compare what's happening today to what has transpired in privatization and prison industry efforts in the past, we can easily discern the same pattern. ALEC member, the American Bail Coalition has used ALEC lawmaker members in Wisconsin to slip through a budget amendment to make way for a return of commercial bail bonding in that state. Previous legislative efforts to do that failed, so this time Rep. Robin Vos instead squeezed a last-minute provision into the state budget to enable the ABC to regain commercial bonding in Wisconsin. Of Course, Vos also serves as ALEC's Wisconsin State Chair.

A similar budget manipulation in Florida resulted in more than $100 million being slid to ALEC member GEO Group to build an unnecessary private prison facility in that state in 2008-09. This was accomplished by then ALEC member (and Alumni) Marcos Rubio and FL. House Speaker, Ray Sansom who has already resigned due to corruption and faces indictment for:

Perhaps the most notable individual charged to date is former Rep. Ray Sansom (R-Destin), who while serving as Rubio's budget chief inserted language into the Florida's 2008-2009 budget for what was to become Blackwater CF.

The FBI just issued subpoenas and is fully investigating that entire incident, looking particularly at the campaign contributions and lobbyist payments by Geo Group and to Rubio and Sansom. The fact that Florida has been forced to close up to five state run prisons to accommodate Geo's thirst for more prisoners in their beds, has been ignored by Governor Scott - another corporate hawk looking to fatten his own pocket. In fact Scott just supported legislation to privatize 18 counties in South Florida (home to Geo Group's headquarters) that will put another 15,000 state inmates in Geo's control at the taxpayer expense - a move even some Republicans oppose.

This, I think, clearly demonstrates the vast money being funneled into the pockets of legislators by corporations determined to have their way regarding access to taxpayer money. Today the President is faced with the challenge of repulsing the Republican's demands for no tax increases (actually rescinding the tax breaks given by Bush) while they go after Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and other safety nets important to the middle class. President Obama must be made to see that he has to draw the line on cutting important programs for the middle class and stand firm on repealing the tax breaks that he extended just last year. We have to begin to slow the until now uncontrolled flow of money into the corporate coffers and from there into the campaigns and special interest projects of ALEC's alumni serving as U.S. lawmakers or Conservatives. Repealing these corporate tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy will begin to diminish that flow. Repealing the PIECP laws - or even just enforcing the mandatory laws of the program - will turn that tap another full turn and lessen access to the $2.5 billion prison industry by private companies and ALEC's corporate members. Doing both would severely limit the funding of the Conservative efforts in their unstated open war against the middle class.

Make no doubt, we are in fact under attack from all angles by these efforts. The media owned primarily by conglomerates and corporate masters such as Fox, Bloomberg and Gannett won't report on this war or the battles being fought on all these fronts. Instead they fill their shows, papers and radio reports with inane topics and when something surfaces that points to this war, they downplay the incident, and convince their readers, watchers and listeners that the story is simply more left wing rhetoric that should be ignored...

...and it has been ignored and for far too long. The future of our country and society hangs in the balance today. If we continue to wring our hands and do nothing that future is bleak indeed. Instead we should be taking part in the many demonstrations and protests taking place across the country. Since the exploitation began months ago in Wisconsin and spread like a Republican fueled wildfire across the Midwest, thousands have been speaking out, protesting, demonstrating and fighting for worker's rights, defending voter rights, fighting to stop defunding or our education and similar issues.

Collectively we must come together and for once present a united front against these attacks and the war itself. Join us in Protesting ALEC in August in New Orleans. If you can't come, donate to the effort. You can join or donate here: http://protestalec.org/. You can also join the Brave New Foundation in their efforts of exposing the Koch influence, opposing prison privatization and incarcerating immigrants for profits by Geo and CCA.

Please take a few seconds and sign my petition that will be sent to your state legislative members and Governor, asking that ALEC legislation be identified and their state members exposed.

I'll be in New Orleans in August and hope to see some of you there joining arms with us in this ongoing war against the middle class. If our President continues to capitulate to the demands of the minority over the needs and demands of the middle class, we must stand up and speak out for ourselves and our neighbors...just sayin'...

Slave Labor - A Calm Revolt in Georgia Brings This Issue to the National Spotlight

From my Dkos Diary post on 1/19/11

Last month a few inmates in several Georgia prisons stood up against being used as slaves by the state and private corporations involved in prison industry. Mainstream media mostly ignored the "strike" by prison inmates - as they so often do, being owned and run by large corporate interests that may or may not be involved in prison labor themselves.

Corporate interests saw this quiet protest as a challenge to the established order of prison for profits that have ruled for the past two or more decades now. If this protest was allowed to continue there was a possibility it would spread to other Georgia prisons - as well as a real likelihood that prisoners in other states working under the same conditions might see this as an opportunity to join in the protest.

This action in Georgia by inmates of all classes, race and ethnicity demonstrated two important points. First that inmates overcame the race separation that prison staffers have long encouraged and fostered, and; a willingness of prison and non-prison state authorities to use violence to enforce the slave-like conditions under which inmates are forced to live and work to produce profits for corporate interests.

The strike began on December 9, 2010. In the days leading up to the planned target date, quiet discussions via cell phones were made among those involved. Their main concern was that the demonstration be multi-racial and involve whites, blacks and Latinos and that the demonstration remain peaceful and non-violent.

What was the purpose of this "strike" by inmates in Georgia? They were calling for decent wages, better social services and respect for their civil liberties. The prisoners also were protesting the quality of the food and the lack of fruits and vegetables, the quality of medical care, the availability of education and job training programs, parole decisions and overall conditions including having to pay for medical treatment and care while not being paid for their work. Many of the things the rest of us take for granted but are being denied to 2.3 million of us incarcerated - mostly for drug and drug related crimes.

It was a demonstration planned for a single day but continued for six anxious and tense days until called off by the inmates themselves as more and more oppressive tactics were applied by their captors. Hot water was turned off, all phones in the cell block were switched off and prison guards began searches - apparently looking for the cell phones being used to coordinate the strike - and taking "contraband" they found in the prisoner's cells.

The strike ended on December 15th but during those tense 6 days the inmates - many who were not involved in planning or setting up the strike - paid a heavy price for being an inmate in the Georgia prison system:

"Though the protest has reportedly remained non-violent, guards have allegedly used violent measures to force the men back to work. Prisoners report that at the Augusta State Prison, several inmates were ripped from their cells by CERT Team guards and beaten, resulting in broken ribs.

‘At Telfair, the Tactical Squad roughed up prisoners and destroyed all their property. At Macon and Hays State Prisons, Tactical Squads have menaced the men for days, removing some to the “hole,” and the wardens turned off heat and hot water.'

Other reports came in naming some of the participating inmates and describing what had happened to them because of their "peaceful participation" in the strike:

"Like thousands of inmates scattered in prisons across the state of Georgia, Terrance Bryant Dean participated in an eight-day peaceful protest to highlight inhumane conditions in the prisons.

"Days later he was brutally beaten by guards at Macon State Prison, his family and a coalition of supporters charge.

"When his mother, Willie Maude Dean, and members of the Concerned Coalition to Respect Prisoners’ Rights attempted to visit him at the Atlanta Medical Center on Dec. 31, the hospital claimed her son was no longer there and the corrections department claimed he was moved to Jackson State Prison the night before, according to an alert The Final Call received from coalition co-chair Elaine Brown.

"Ms. Brown said the coalition found out about the beating during its second fact-finding visit to Smith State Prison on Dec. 30. Its first prison visit was to Macon on Dec. 20.The coalition asserts the beating was in retaliation for the protest, which began in early December.

"In addition, Ms. Dean said the Georgia Department of Corrections has given no information about her son’s condition or his whereabouts.

"The mother told coalition leaders after their latest visit that Macon State Warden Gregory McLaughlin told her that Terrance was in an isolation cell, but the mother believes he was already in the hospital.

"The family of a second inmate, Miguel Jackson, alleges he was severely beaten by upwards of 20 guards Dec. 31 during what is called a “shakedown” at Smith State Prison near Glennville, Ga. in which corrections officers search prisoners’ cells. Upon finding nothing, said Mrs. Delma Jackson, Miguel’s wife, the officers accused Mr. Jackson of having “something.” Mr. Jackson was pepper sprayed, handcuffed and beaten repeatedly with hammers resulting in a fractured nose and 50 stitches to his face, said Mrs. Jackson. Guards also attempted to throw him over the railing from the second floor, she said.

"And because the family has not been allowed to see him, his wife said they worry whether or not he may have a concussion or internal injuries. Upon seeing pictures of her husband, Mrs. Jackson said she and other family members drove New Year’s Day three and a half hours from Atlanta to check on his status.

"Their visit was denied by corrections personnel, she said. This was after the family waited 90 minutes to be given a sheet to fill out, requesting a visit. “We didn’t even want to sit there and visit, we just wanted to see that he was okay and they denied us that right,” Mrs. Jackson told The Final Call.

"When she asked prison officials why visitation was denied, all officials said was that there was an “incident” and the only one authorized to approve a visit would be the warden, who was not there, Mrs. Jackson continued. Mrs. Jackson said her husband’s fractured nose as of Jan. 3 still had not been reset and she worried the violent encounter will affect him psychologically.

"Coalition spokespersons said that beating occurred around the same time it was negotiating access to certain prisons to investigate conditions. And even as the delegation visited Macon State, the corrections department was apparently covering up the inmate’s reported retaliatory beating by several CERT (Correctional Emergency Response Team) members.

"Witnesses reported to the coalition that CERT officers restrained Terrance Dean after an alleged dispute with a guard, dragged him from his cell in handcuffs and leg irons, removed him to the prison gym and beat him unconscious.

"The beating remained unreported by corrections officials even though the coalition specifically raised questions about reports of retaliatory beatings, said the group. Questions were also asked about the status and whereabouts of 37 – or more – men the corrections department identified as strike “conspirators,” the coalition said."

The response by Georgia Corrections officials was the standard action taken when riots or other violent events take place. In the instant case, there was no violence by the inmates, merely a refusal to work for nothing, receive inadequate medical care (and forced to pay for it), a parole program that actually did what it was supposed to and proper amount and quality of food provided.

By planning this strike and making their intentions known to those on the outside, prison officials learned about the impending activity and they also began planning their response. Prison facilities were placed on lock-down to keep inmates confined to their housing units. Staffing was increased and the prison CERT teams put on standby. This team of officers Corrections Emergency Response Team are trained to handle most situations encountered in the prison environment - except response to non-violent protests. The standard response? Violent and immediate action to maintain control. In this instance it resulted in unnecessary brutality at more than one facility.

I write about this for many reasons; the racial disparity in prison populations, the real lack of adequate medical treatment, parole boards who receive huge salaries without actually granting more than a handful of paroles a year, poor food given to the inmates and for a dozen more reasons.

Chief among those remaining reasons is the basis for the strike in the first place - the slave labor atmosphere created by making those incarcerated labor for free or pennies on the dollar. They labor daily to manufacture products we use daily. Sure, many work to keep the prisons running; maintenance, food service, laundry, cleaning and other daily work that allows prisons to function. But a large segment of those imprisoned who have the skills needed by prison industries, are put to work making money for those industries and many corporations they're partnered with.

As I've written previously, hundreds of corporations are involved in prison industries, prison privatization and peripheral profits garnered from canteen sales, clothing sales to inmates, healthcare contracts to provide "adequate" healthcare to inmates, food service, chemical spray agents, tasers, chairs to immobilize, pharmaceuticals, prisoner transport, data capture...and dozens more.

Because 40% of those incarcerated are African-American, they are the ones who are most adversely affected. Some say they've even been targeted by one of our political parties - Republicans. However the color or race of an inmate, though of important note, is not the issue. Rather it is the way in which all inmates are treated through imprisonment and from the attitude and actions of those who "guard" them:

"This mass incarceration comes out of racial politics stirred up by the Republican Party, attorney Alexander argued. Essentially, she said, the GOP exploited the fears and anxieties of poor working class Whites by launching a movement promising to “get tough” on “those people” and built a campaign around crime and welfare to mobilize poor and working class White voters to defect from the Democratic Party and join the Republican Party in droves.

“But now that the war on drugs and mass incarceration has gained such steam, there’s a whole range of interests that has found that they can profit from caging human beings. And it’s not just the private prison companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange, but it’s a whole range of corporate interests,” she said.

“You know, taser gun manufacturers, phone companies that gouge prisoners and their families, the private health care providers that provide typically abysmal health care to prisoners, and prison guard unions,” all of whom now lobby for harsh criminal justice policies to try to ensure their profits and jobs will continue for a foreseeable future, attorney Alexander said."

The Prison Industrial Complex (PIC)is a huge conglomerate comprised of industries, private prisons, food service, healthcare, commissary and other services related to and profiting off of prisons and the inmates they house. It has grown to such size in great part due to the labor they extract from those inmates they profit off of. As I've written previously, there are billions generated in sales of products made by these men and women we've imprisoned. Because of these profits those involved in exploiting prisoners to the fullest extent possible, were threatened by the actions taken in Georgia by the inmates.

This kind of an "uprising" by those working to ensure money is made for the corporate interests can not be allowed to happen! This was a direct threat to the corporate "way of life" they've grown used to. Thus it had to not only be put down, but quelled in such a manner that it set an example to inmates in Georgia and all other states. Profits and stock prices were put in jeopardy by this brief demonstration last month.

Because many corporations involved in prison industries, and peripheral operations are publicly traded, stocks are impacted by the smallest ripple affecting prison operations and privatization. One aspect most of us are not cognizant of is this; prison workers, staff, administrators, industry personnel and even the lowest guard working in prison, all have the benefit of employee stock options. Many buy stocks or receive stocks in CCA, Geo Group, Aramark, GE, Microsoft,and hundreds of other corporate stocks that are involved in profiting off of inmate labor and prison privatization. Guards who reduce food given to inmates, or deny necessary healthcare are not simply being hostile or vicious, he is protecting his stock prices. Sometimes it is not simply a matter of abuse, its a matter of profit that causes abusive behavior.

An inmate represents a number and expected profits for the length of his/her sentence to those profiting from incarceration. It is important to those playing this game to know precisely how long an inmate is expected to remain in prison and represent the potential for profits. This is why the "Truth in Sentencing" (TIS) laws developed by ALEC and proposed by their members to state legislatures was so important to ALEC corporate members such as Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and Geo Group. They wanted to be able to calculate the "life" term of the sentence of those they house for states. Truth in Sentencing made it mandatory that every prisoner serve "at least 85% of the sentence imposed" upon conviction of a crime.

Many also are unaware that in 1994 a federal law was passed that provides federal funding and grants to states that enact and enforce TIS laws. Thus we see the influence of ALEC and their lobbyists upon our federal lawmakers to get this kind of oppressive laws spread throughout the country. Currently 35 of the fifty states took advantage of and participate in TIS laws and receive grant funding.

"Follow the money trail" as I've been told over and over again has led me down many paths - from courts through prisons to the corporate interests involved from beginning to end. One of those paths led me to a site that claims prisoners are assigned product numbers and traded as individual stocks:

"Now that corporations with the help of the federal government had successfully converted prisoners into commodities to be traded globally, prisons saw an almost immediate end to actual punishment as prisoner labor was now sold to profit the corporation. Because the corporations owning and running prisons have only one duty, to make a profit, it is not uncommon for these prisons to be understaffed and for security to be less than desirable to keep costs down. Medical treatment is in short supply.

"Corporations have perpetuated a growth industry which must be profitable. To be profitable requires a continuously new population of prisoners sentenced to lengthy terms. In many cases these terms are drug related, or consist of other non-violent crime. With the extended sentences the prison population of the US has grown from 225,000 in the early 80’s to more than 2.5 million currently.

"Prisoners now answer phones for corporations, make 36% of all appliances sold in the US, license plates, road construction, and various other jobs, all performed for the profits of the corporation. The corporations also collect from the states and federal governments while at the same time profiting from the contracting out of prison labor. The higher the prison population the greater the number of prisoner bonds sold on Wall Street. This is organized crime perpetuated by private corporations who treat the prisoners as commodities.

"C.J.T.S. is a corporation dedicated to the tracking and coding of prisoners and provides the software to do it. Using this system and one called CUSIP:

'a nine digit number (called Ordnance Number) is issued for the Certificate of Stocks going internationally to ANNA (Lynn’s note: see link for ANNA which is in Brussels, Belgium at www.cusip.com ). These Securities are sold through the Commodity and Security Exchange. The bottom line is they are selling stocks in the prison system. The jails are referred to as Warehouses and the prisoners are called Goods.'

'From the moment a person is arrested for any reason, the prisoner cash register starts ringing. This can be for something as simple as a traffic ticket. The law enforcement department making the arrest assigns a pre-defined code to the charges being made. This code has a monetary value and the money starts rolling from this point on all the way through the system. Publicly traded prisoner stocks, took a tumble in 2008, but look as if they will rebound as the Obama Administration along with Senators McCain and Lieberman, and others such as Graham and Shumer devise plans to increase ever greater numbers of US citizens under the false flag of national security.'

Are U.S. Prisoners now being traded as public stocks? Are they being assigned a nomenclature number to identify them and to use in trading among stock brokers and investors? I haven't been able to completely research this claim, but from what I've discovered about corporate involvement in prison privatization, I would not dismiss this claim as not worthy of more investigation.

As all of the foregoing demonstrate, prison is big business in America. It has grown and spread as a disease while our attention was focused on other matters. Those involved in the PIC have purposely kept as much of their activities of manipulating our laws under the radar as possible, to avoid our objections and refusal to support such a system of abuse. From Microsoft and McDonald's to CCA and Geo Group,none of the corporate executives and their investors want any of this made public. God forbid...it would forever tarnish their image among the classes.

If inmates ceased to work behind those prison walls, this nation would be brought to a near standstill. Many of you find that hard to believe, I know but you have to understand the depth of the involvement of prisoners in our everyday lives. Millions of products sold on the open markets today are made by tens of thousands of inmates working for hundreds of profitable U.S. and foreign corporations. If inmates simply decided to quit working and stay in their cells...what would happen? Food would have to be brought to them by the corporation providing food service. Canteen sales would cease, production would grind to a halt. Trucking companies hauling the products from prison industries would stop running and commodities we buy for our homes and businesses would increase in price as they became more scarce.

In addition to all that described above...corporations would scramble to locate manufacturing facilities in the civilian markets and hire more civilian workers to replace the inmates they've used for years. Jobs would be created, money made and our economy - the economy of the people would grow exponentially as the corporate profits shrank due to the necessity to pay higher wages, benefits, vacation packages. In the end, our economy and some of the wealth that has handed over to the corporate elite would return to the working and middle classes of America.

How would this be a bad thing to all concerned - except of course those who have profited off slave labor for more than 30 years? For one single voice, I say we should encourage all inmates to cease working in the prison industries for pennies. If they do this it will cease to be profitable and force lawmakers and Courts away from incarceration, in favor of alternative programs, probation etc. The biggest winner would be us, as taxpayers who would gain our jobs and dignity back from those profiteers who have ruled for far too long.