McCain Uses Prison Labor

by Natasha Chart, Thu Apr 24, 2008 at 12:35:54 PM EDT

The McCain campaign has been caught out using free prison labor for an event at which he also received a significant discount on renting the facility.

I guess that's what happens when a very wealthy Republican realizes that there aren't many people who want to donate to, or volunteer for, their campaign. They hit up a town with a captive labor force for some free elbow grease.

Yes, we have that here.

It's all part of keeping the US competitive on the world labor market.

What? You didn't think that no one was profiting off our sky high incarceration rates, turning public sentencing policy into private wealth, did you?

Also, as of 2004, prison inmates were 45 percent Black, 25 percent Hispanic. I'm sure that doesn't factor at all into continued toleration of this cut-rate abuse of the labor market. I wonder what John McCain, Mr. Civil Right, thinks about that.

Tags: 2008 election, John McCain, prison labor (all tags)

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Re: McCain Uses Prison Labor

Mr. Civil Rights is just doing his tour through the "black belt" right now so when his cronies roll out the racist campaign against Barack he can say he was trying to reach out to minorities.

by recusancy 2008-04-24 12:39PM | 0 recs

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Re: McCain Uses Prison Labor

Actually, if Hillary takes the nomination by coup... he's hoping to sin over some of the disaffected black voters...

by LordMike 2008-04-24 12:42PM | 0 recs

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Re: McCain Uses Prison Labor

She's not going to do that no matter how much they bluster. It's not up to her. It's up to the supers. And they're not suicidal.

So let's bring our focus to McCain now. All this sniping at fellow dems isn't helping anything.

by recusancy 2008-04-24 12:44PM | 0 recs

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Prison labor is a growth industry

as well as prisons in general.

The US has a higher incarceration rate than any other nation on Earth, nobody knows why.

Well, at least someone is making money.

by architek 2008-04-24 06:39PM | 0 recs

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Re: McCain Uses Prison Labor

fuckin disgraceful.

by amde 2008-04-24 12:42PM | 0 recs

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THANK YOU!

For shedding some light on this! Everyone needs to push this!

We need to get people like Ed Schultz, Randi Rhodes, etc. to stop wasting their and our time bashing Clinton and try using some time to attack mccain for this and other right wing crap!

by kevin22262 2008-04-24 12:57PM | 0 recs

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Push what?

The GOP will admire McCain for saving money.

by architek 2008-04-24 06:40PM | 0 recs

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Re: McCain Uses Prison Labor

I think the real question is if it is okay to waterboard these individuals if they have actionable intelligence about who put the aluminum cans in the trash instead of the recycling?

by kasjogren 2008-04-24 01:42PM | 0 recs

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Back it up, or take it down!

"McCain uses prison labor," my pink fanny.

You have no evidence that McCain knew about this. None.

Look, I'd like to nail McCain's ass to the wall as much as any of us. And Lord knows he's a target-rich environment. But that's what makes unsupported claims like this one so irrational.

All things like this do is discredit the accuser.

by RT 2008-04-24 01:58PM | 0 recs

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Speechless

Every time I think they have exhausted my capacity for outrage, they find another way. Every single time.

by Trond Jacobsen 2008-04-24 03:03PM | 0 recs

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Re: McCain Uses Prison Labor

We take on McBush...

Everyday...Every way

by nogo war 2008-04-24 03:13PM | 0 recs

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Re: McCain Uses Prison Labor

Also, don't know if anyone saw this, but I thought Dean's framing of McCain's "oh its so horrible I hope they don't run it" response to the NC ad was fantastic:
"If he can't pick up the phone and make members of his own party stop airing a television ad he claims to oppose, how can he lead our country through an economic crisis or the war in Iraq?"

Even better is to change the last part and made it about foreign leaders. McCain's always playing up a tough-guy image, that's he's going to make people who hate each other behave by the steely gaze on his visage. But if he can't make his fellow Republicans not run an ad, who's he kidding?

by bosdcla14 2008-04-24 05:51PM | 0 recs

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Re: McCain Uses Prison Labor

More than likely the inmates that were used were jailed for for non-violent acts such as smoking or having in their possession the non-drug "marijuana."

No wonder McCain doesn't want any research done on the medical use of marijuana. It would cut in to the private prison industry's use of low cost labor.

by Hempy 2008-04-24 06:29PM | 0 recs

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just when I thought I knew every reason

to detest McCain, you come up with another one! Thanks a lot.

I linked to this at Bleeding Heartland:

http://www.bleedingheartland.com/showDia ry.do?diaryId=1284

by desmoinesdem 2008-04-24 09:47PM | 0 recs