Why Privatization Is Good For Politicians, Part 281
By Susie Madrak Tuesday Jan 27, 2009 7:09pmBack when I was a reporter, I once explained to a (Republican) politician that it was against the state ethics law to use his wife as the township secretary, since the two of them could collude to change the public record. He looked at me, shocked, and said, "If you're not in politics to make money for yourself and your family, why would you bother?" Why, indeed.
Privatizing public facilities gives them one more way to make illegal money:
SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - Two Luzerne County judges are headed for federal prison.
Federal authorities say President Judge Mark Ciavarella and Senior Judge Michael Conahan were involved in a $2.6 million scheme to place juvenile offenders into facilities in which the judges had a financial interest.
Court documents state that in some cases, Ciavarella ordered children into detention even when juvenile probation officers did not recommend it.
The two have agreed to plead guilty to honest services fraud and tax fraud. Their plea agreements call for sentences of more than seven years in federal prison. They have agreed to step down from the bench.
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Gotta love that profit motive!
At least Obama brought a refreshing message of public service, and voters responded. Anyone can see he and Michelle have given up more profitable private sector legal careers to serve their country. So whenever I hear Palin talking about an "opportunity for me and my family," I want to cringe. It seems obvious what her motive is.
These judges should be completely ashamed. Profit motive, indeed!
This place is beginning to look more and more like Rome in its final days.
I hope these two clowns aren't sent to some white collar country club.
It's kinda hard to serve from a cell.
...and the newspaper lead should have read:
"Two incredibly stupid Luzerne County judges are
headed for federal prison."
Do ya think by stepping down, they will get to keep some pension or other benefits?
judges doing time in a county jail...will get some benefits..!
profit profit profit
either by scamming the taxpayer to pay for the gulag system, or forcing jail inmates to pay for their upkeep.
oh how the money rolls in.
Shawshank Redemption - Rooftop scene - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4IB5ySg2Fc :-)
its great to be your own man!
Don't have to go all the way to China to find child workers locked in sweat shops doing slave labor. Thanks to privatized penal institutions, we can do that job here.
I want those judges doing hard labor, so they can truly internalize their error.
New Legislation Authorizes the building of FEMA Camps In U.S.
does it offer creamatorium facilitys!
"open ended mandate" in reference to legislation I boggle.
After all, government never abuses those .. ever! Honest! They swear ...
had prepared a number of those FEMA resorts around the country. I guess they figure they might need a few more and now's a good time to push this crap through, while everyone's distracted arguing over who's going to pay for condoms, or not.
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2102
I live outside the fall out area. I've been stockpiling food and ammo. If this goes up; things are going to ugly fast.
is built upon privatization.
The overseers of the private contracts are themselves private contractors.
the CIA gives regular lie detector tests. Can we do the same for public officials?
.. have the CIA administer them to the public officials, and the public officials administer them to the CIA. Just think of the tin foil hattery theories that would result!
Well, it would be good for the books and talk show circuits ...
...a local prosecutor tried to indict Cheney and some others for conflict-of-interest because they invested in companies that included Correctionc Corporation of America and Global something-or-another, private prisons.
Now, the nature of any capitalistic business is based on constant growth. In a prison corporation, that means always building more prisons and filling more beds is far more important than letting prisoners go, or even seeing that the prisoners are released with increased life skills so that they don't return.
Bad idea. Bad idea.
It's no wonder such a large number of non-violent small time marijuana drug offenders are locked up for longer periods of time. This system is corrupt. Plus it is also costing tons of our tax dollars to house these non criminals in prisons. It's like housing aspirin addicts or boozers or smokers. It makes no sense. They are no threat to society.
I thought the blogs would clear this type of stuff up, but too often the blogs follow the suit of the mainstream media and can't seem to see past that example. Pushing the envelope slightly but not seeing the advantage of tearing the envelope to pieces. I guess it's polite society type of thing that prevents people from telling the truth about the controversial topics. Lou Dobbs talks about Immigration every damn day for a year. You'd think the blogs could competently cover the Anthrax attacks or the Prison Industrial Complex. But its touch and go. It's usually just surface reporting and not long lasting enough to bring about change. Sad.
Then you hire back free prison labor from the prison for the golf course maintenance, saving you the pesky problem of being caught with illegals for a low low price.
We are allowing foreign enterprises to buy up our tollroads and ports. We are completely ignorant. We are stupid for allowing this. We are letting corporations like Halliburton steal the hell out of us. We don't get it. But most people don't want to go there, when it comes to conspiracy theories. Just like a few years ago it was such a conspiracy theory that the government would be spying on all of us. We are stupid to not be discussing these things openly and in depth.
...the idea of a global economy?? Share and share alike - just as though we're all one big happy family. The Chinese and the Saudis, etc., need to be rewarded for buying all of our debt and allowing all of us (well, all of us peons) to just keep running up those credit card balances. Once our economy and the dollar collapse, we'll be working for them anyway.
And this vicious shit continues to adversly effect those whom have little or NO voice in this corrupt system of right wing owned operated and controled corporate America.
Any wonder why it is that Black America stood up for the great Rev. Wright,when he said God Damn America?
Land of the fleece and home of the slave
investment scheme. Can't quite find the old sources, Yet, it's still a stinking swill.
This kind of thing was not illegal when Bush was in charge.
In fact, this is EXACTLY what Randian Free Trade is all about! Imprisoning everyone for profit. Why is this illegal when the judges were making so much money? Anyone that thinks this is wrong is a socialist/commie/fascist.
But now that the Dems are in control making money is illegal...
Victims Recount Reform School Horrors
Early Show Exclusive: "White House Boys" Divulge Fla. School's Deep, Dark Secrets
Comments Comments12
Dec. 15, 2008
Snip - (CBS) Several former students at a reform school for boys in the Florida panhandle, now men in their 60s who attended the reform school decades ago, say its manicured gardens and winding paths hid a deep dark secret.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/15/ear...
Amended: upon checking to see if the link video was still working, at approximately 1:20pm on Wed. 1/28/09 est. the vid seems to have become unavailable? You can check youtube® for Florida/whitehouse boys to confirm.
Or start here > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCKem_9PATY
Or here > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDAH7k2RBGY&NR=1
governing from the bench?
A judge making a cash kick back from a private children's prison to wrongfully convict children of crimes.
I'm thinking that some of these kids have daddy's in the pen.
This isn't going to go over well for the judges.
"Call for" seven years does not guarantee a single day behind bars, and doubtless they won't serve any. Whichever judge or lawyer pushes to have them imprisoned will be ostracized, stabbed in the back, or not will be "warned" that his back won't be covered when he's under investigation.
Those who work as police, lawyers, judges and other enforcers of the law should be held to a higher standard: they should sign waivers that exempt them from a standard defense and be automatically found guilty without trial. You wouldn't see corruption if they knew putting their hands in the cookie jar would get them cut off.
Nu uH, come ON, Pennsylvania's judiciary is corrupt, I don't believe it. ( sarcasm ) The entire government structure here is corrupt with that "right Kind of person" crap. Low brain nitwits run this area, I would even do a better job, and I am just a dumbo uneducated auto-mechanic.
I have never met a republican that was in government for any other reason then making money for himself and his family!
Can you name 1?
Both were obviously crooked, greedy, corrupt, Reslugs. That's how they do business.
"If you're not in politics to make money for yourself and your family, why would you bother?"
What ever happened to being a faithful public servant? Remember back when people were proud to do good for their community? This asshole will probably claim to be Christian but at the same time is only out for himself...which would make him not Christ-like. GOP Values I guess!
I believe it's an advantage of the aged, with the option to act young, that best furnishes wisdom.
I was born an atheist, as I would argue everyone was/is. I will, with some certainty, assume to die and or perish likewise. I too am puzzled by human actions and ideas, for they often tend to conflict, even though they come from a single/individual source. Labels aside,
I often find myself looking to age for insight and inspiration, while at the same time looking to youth for insight and inspiration. I would be dishonest if I denied that the holy books held great instructions. I would be dishonest if I denied that they held destructive ones as well.
You've presented some interesting questions above. I do not yet know, if the individuals in question, were GOP, Black, White, yellow or brown. In addition, I'm not sure of their religious denomination as well. I do know, they were individuals who at times acted collectively to do, in my opinion, negative things. Fortunately I believe the + outnumbers the - in existence and unlike a battery, age will power our future absent a fatal action. Thank you for you comment, I admire your noted sincerity.
I tire of this cash driven prison planet. WTF next?
This is one of the most shocking stories of the year. Our children are being harvested to private prisons for profit by judges.
This story clearly illustrates that greed has perverted our most sacrosanct government institution - the criminal justice system. Not only is it corrupted, but it has been used as a tool to illegally confine and abuse innocent adults and children in ever increasing numbers.
During the past 25 years it has created the largest prison population in the world, now housing 25% of the world's inmates, more than 2,500,000 adults.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons budget has increased by two thousand percent as a result of mandatory minimum sentencing for drug users, from $220 million in 1986 to over $4.3 billion in 2001. Over $5 billion was spent for prison construction alone in the last 10 years, yet the prison system still exceeds capacity by 32%. In 2005 States spent $42.89 billion on Corrections, but only $24.69 billion on public assistance. It costs an average of $25,000/year to house each inmate.
-oneforall
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