The Big (Green) House: Obama Admin. Uses Prison Labor to Advance Green Energy Agenda
- Posted on June 20, 2012 at 5:30pm by
Becket Adams
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The Obama administration is using prison labor to help “advance its green energy agenda,” according to a shocking new report from the Washington Free Beacon.
“Hundreds of federal inmates earn between $0.23 and $1.15 per hour manufacturing solar panels at UNICOR facilities in New York and Oregon. The panels are then sold to a variety of government agencies, which are obligated by law to purchase them [emphasis added],” Andrew Stiles reports for the WFB.
Okay, how does any of this work?
Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (also known as UNICOR) was established in 1934 by President Roosevelt and is owned by the U.S. Department of Justice. The original idea behind the program was to provide federal inmates with a voluntary work-training program. But now the program is being used to provide “federal agencies with green energy technology such as solar panels.”
Proponents of the program argue that it allows the feds to buy American-made products at “an affordable price.”
The solar panels “are domestically sourced and produced, meeting the requirements of the Buy American Act, Trade Agreement Act, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,” according to UNICOR’s website.
Okay, so then why did the agency enter into a five-year contract worth $219 million with a foreign company for the solar cells used to assemble the panels?
“It is a common trick employed to get around ‘Buy American’ restrictions,” Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) told the WFB.
You see, even if the parts are foreign, it’s technically “American” if it’s assembled on U.S. soil. And having an army of prison laborers means that it’s put together practically for free.
“It’s yet another outrage on what is happening with our tax dollars,” Rep. Huizenga added.
The biggest and most obvious problem here is the fact that none this benefits the private sector. The parts are foreign made, everything is assembled by prison laborers, and then the law requires government agencies buy from, well, the government agency.
Spokespersons for the prison labor program maintain that they are “preparing inmates for the green economy” and that the program “reduces the recidivism rate among prisoners.” However, as Stiles notes, a 2011 Congressional report says those claims are “are not conclusive.”
And if you didn’t think the fact that prison labor is being used in “green energy’ investments was bad enough, consider the following: UNICOR actually has a long history of undercutting private businesses. How do they manage this? Easy: as mentioned in the above, federal agencies are compelled to purchase from them.
“A military clothing manufacturer in Tennessee recently lost out to UNICOR on a $45 million contract to make products for the Department of Defense,” Stiles writes, “As a result, the firm laid off about 100 employees.”
In fact, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has had prevent – on more than one occasion — UNICOR from stealing business from the private sector in his home state.
“Why are we going to use taxpayer dollars to purchase materials that are literally taking business away from the private sector?” said Rep. Huizenga. “And let’s be honest, let’s pull the pin on the hand grenade. If this was Chinese prison labor, we’d be rejecting every single one of these imports.”
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Comments (45)
bartjoebob
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 11:45amTime to stop kidding ourselves…. we are all living and working inside the federal prison system while forced to advance the green agenda
Report Post »TexasHunter
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 2:53pmHow about using them to fix our border. Seeing that most of them in TX, AZ, CA, are illegal. But that would be to logical.
Report Post »AintLIBSjuzGreat
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 4:09pmWhat and send them voters home, you must be kidding.
Report Post »paulwbrown
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 10:36amBoth state and federal prisons have long employed inmates in “prison industries” and farms, at a very token wage. On one side it is unfair to private businesses that would like the government agency business. On the other side it is a training program for inmates and it provides products for public agencies at a considerable savings to the taxpayers. I worked in a California prison where the inmates made quality office furniture for sale to the state and the same prison trained inmates to fight forest fires and work helping to maintaining state forests when not fighting fires.. One of the major problems in prisons is idle inmates, another is inmates being discharged with no marketable skills. Overall, I think the prison industry is a positive.
Report Post »Allieann
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 4:16amI believe I read yesterday that Obummer is going to spend $7 billion dollars on insuring prisoners will not get raped while incarcerated. Isn’t it more likely that he is forcing us to pay for this, per usual while he and his criminal cohorts extort money, saying one thing while doing another.
Report Post »johnjamison
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 7:58amSo U.S TAX PAYERS ARE PAYING 50K A YEAR TO WAREHOUSE CRIMINALS, PAYING THESE CRIMINALS A SALARIES WHILE THEY IN PRISON WITH TAX DOLLARS,AND THEN PAYING FOR THE PANELS WITH TAX DOLLARS….
Report Post »TIME TO SHUT DOWN D.C.
g.prunty
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 10:00pmObama is so arrogant it wouldn’t surprise me if he let only all black prisoners out of jail in the final moments of his term I could see that from this nut in chief
Report Post »beckyspatflaveredstew
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 9:30pmIf you have power to create renters it would be a wise move to own the rental property.
Report Post »sbenard
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 9:29pmImagine that! Slave labor — in America! Just like the Gulags of Soviet Russia!
But why should we be surprised! Both were run by communists!
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 6:29amBlacks love to Create SLAVERY: From Ancient Egypt… through Anthony Johnson, 1652 Virgina… to Obama!
Report Post »myptofvu
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 8:19pmSo when Obama says something like “we created 100k green jobs” he’s referring to these prisoners?
Report Post »Skrewedretiree
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 10:19pmYa hit the nail on the head. The Media missed this one……
Report Post »woodyb
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 10:47pmYes, did anyone ever ask him WHERE those jobs ARE?????????????
Report Post »EP46
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 7:43pmRemember…..Van Jones is the one who wanted prisioners released and working green jobs. obama will probably release them all by executive order.
Report Post »tharpdevenport
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 8:18pmObama won’t*, but that is on the lsit of demands from Occupy. Check out their full list.
* = But it is very likely illegal aliens or maybe even — thouigh a stretch — any hispanic in prison, will be.
Report Post »tharpdevenport
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 7:09pm“Taking off my shirt, boss.”
“Take your shirt off, Lou.”
“Getting some water, boss.”
“Get some water, Lou.”
“Getting millions od Federal dollars to create a green company that is predicted to go under, boss.”
“Waste millions of tax dollars on green jobs, Lou.”
Report Post »Tri-ox
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 7:03pm… next up – organ harvesting.
Report Post »Smokey_Bojangles
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 7:00pmWhy does Obama have a five-year contract worth $219 million with a foreign company for the solar cells used to assemble the panels?Did All the American ones that gave him huge campaign contributions and he gave money to go out of Business and bankrupt?
Report Post »Maybe Eric Holder and Obama can learn a new trade in prison?
klatoo
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 6:46pmIn case you haven’t noticed America has become China over the last four years.
Report Post »LeadNotFollow
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 6:38pm…
Report Post »Convicted felons are taking jobs away from decent citizens, who would do these jobs.
Tax Revolt
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 7:38pmYou forget our definition of “decent citizen” is not the same as for libs and progs. You are only a decent citizen if you are not one of these; white, male, law abiding, productive self-sufficient legal citizen. Remember if you are any one of these you are not a friend of what is in the White house, and DC as a whole.
Report Post »philipzhao
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 6:36pmIs this the “ Polish death camp” ?
Report Post »blazingaway
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 6:06pmGreat idea …all prisoners should have to work and should be so damn tired from working that all they want to do at the end of the day is fall into bed and sleep …which is what we who do work feel and are sick and tired it while criminals watch tv, lift weights, and WE THE PEOPLE pay for them and their crimes
Report Post »Skrewedretiree
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 10:21pmWhy, heck! You’re a person after my own heart! I’ve been saying this for YEARS! It’s nice to know I am not alone on the dark side of the moon.
Report Post »majahn
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 10:41amI agree too…..I’ve always said, we don‘t need the illegals to do the jobs American’s wont do. Well, lets make the prisoners also help with the farms, crops, etc. We don‘t need more Mexican’s, we need to make the people in PRISON, do some hard time, instead of working out, eating and watching TV. When did America become the joke of the prison system ?…people in our prisons are better off then 75% better then most people have it in other countries, what is wrong with that ???
Report Post »randy
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 6:04pmImpeach the SOB
Report Post »Oznogs
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 6:01pmTime to bring back the chain gangs to clean hiways and things like that, but then federal/state emplyee unions would complain about that. Heck it is even hard for teenagers to get that kind of work because of the fed/state unions. I say let the state/fed workers fix the roads and let others clean up the hiways there you go instant JOBS for all.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 6:08pmI grew up near the largest walled prison in the world (at that time) .. they had farm land and grew what they ate .. they had a craft store where you could buy leather goods they made… they weren’t really competing with those on the outside .. they were producing for their own use. But then it was too much work for them to do .. and the farms died out and the prison has been split up and mostly closed down … now the taxpayers support them .. and they get law degrees.
Report Post »Oznogs
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 6:34pmDoesn’t the tent city jail of sheriff Aripio have gardens that help support his jial birds eat? Besides the cheese sandwiches that is.
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 8:06pmcatb I wish we would bring the “self sustaining” prisons back where they work the land to eat. one can dream right?
Report Post »BIgWheeler
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 5:58pmMy only problem is this: Why are we paying inmates at all? They should work to pay for their food, housing and the cost to guard them.
Report Post »scuba13
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 6:04pmShovel ready jobs for when Obama and Holder wind up in jail.
Report Post »Lord_Frostwind
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 5:55pmWell I’ve always said they should put the inmates to work for all the crap jobs that government employees make way too much doing. Not exactly what I hoped for, but it’s a start.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 6:03pmmaking big rocks into small is a better “job” for these people .. Obama once again shows he doesn’t understand the economy .. and JOBS .. 800,000 illegals and criminals that the unemployed must compete with .. little wonder unemployment is high and going back UP!
Report Post »joe alexich
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 5:54pmmore and more of government setting green agenda ground work for are future prison workers.They will have to work for the government whrn they get out.The power grows.
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 5:52pmoh those mandatory minimum scentences coming in handy for the president who I thought was anti slavery but oh well it must be good to be king.
Report Post »TheBoracle
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 5:48pm“preparing inmates for the green economy”…………. Yep! When they are released from prison, they can go to work for those solar manufacturing plants that were subsidized with billions of taxpayer $$. Oh wait – they are all bankrupt and closed.
If the administration REALLY wanted to build green energy, they would have made micro loans to inventors and entrepreneurs. Could you imagine how many ideas and inventions they could have fostered? Trying to compete with the chinese on manufacturing is just plain STUPID. Our real strong suit is inventing, design and application.
Report Post »doomytram
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 5:48pmOblamer is a composite of himself…… Green Jobs, Van Jones, and Hussein Oblamer are the disastrous dynamic trio of failures.
Report Post »michael48
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 5:47pmthe reason we don’t hear of the mafia much anymore….they went to Law school and became politicians…why bribe them when you can be one…Gov. of the Gumbas etc….you want healthcare??? shut down the Haaaaavaaad Law school types and turn them into Med. schools….
Report Post »dennisS
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 5:47pmAt least Holder will learn a trade when he goes to prison.
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