Talk about something that sounds straight out of Communist China!  2020 presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg’s campaign hired ProCom, a New Jersey-based call center.  The company then made calls for his campaign using labor from state prisons.

“We didn’t know about this, and we never would have allowed it if we had,” the campaign told the Intercept on Tuesday after an anonymous source tipped off the publication. “We don’t believe in this practice, and we’ve now ended our relationship with the subcontractor in question.”

The Intercept went on to report:

According to a source, who asked for anonymity for fear of retribution, people incarcerated at the Dr. Eddie Warrior Correctional Center, a minimum-security women’s prison with a capacity of more than 900, were making calls to California on behalf of Bloomberg. The people were required to end their calls by disclosing that the calls were paid for by the Bloomberg campaign. They did not disclose, however, that they were calling from behind bars.

…

The campaign said it did not know about the arrangement between ProCom and an undisclosed campaign vendor until The Intercept made its inquiry. The campaign then ended the relationship on Monday and said it has asked vendors to do a better job of vetting subcontractors in the future.

“The use of prison labor is the continued exploitation of people who are locked up, who really have virtually no other opportunities to have employment or make money other than the opportunities given to them by prison officials,” said Alex Friedmann, managing editor of Prison Legal News and an advocate for incarcerated people’s rights.

John Scallan, a ProCom co-founder, said his company pays the Oklahoma minimum wage of $7.25 an hour to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, which then pays the incarcerated people working in the call centers. The Department of Corrections website lists the maximum monthly wage for the incarcerated at $20 dollars a month, but another policy document says there is a maximum pay of $27.09 per month.

When asked if their total monthly earnings are capped at these levels, Scallan said incarcerated people who work for ProCom make far higher wages. “I can tell you unequivocally that is not us,” Scallan said. “Some of them are making that much every day.”

Stop, and think about the irony here:  criminals behind bars are making campaign calls to voters for an anti-American criminal named Michael Bloomberg.

Where are the investigations into this matter?

Furthermore, how is it that criminals in prison are employed by corporate entities?

Look at that pay!  Most people would regard that as “cheap, slave labor.”  Isn’t that what Democrats like Bloomberg complain about and push for $15 per hour minimum wages?

Look, I’m not for the prison system at all.  It’s unjust for the criminals and the victims to whom this is deemed to be “justice.”

However, the prisoners are being used as slaves of the agents of the state such as Michael Bloomberg.  What’s next?  Making products?  Organ harvesting?  This isn’t justice, it’s exploitation.

Mr. Friedmann told The Intercept,

“It’s entirely possible they didn’t know,” Friedmann told me, “but that’s like saying department stores making clothes in southeast Asia don’t know that 5-year-olds are stitching together their soccer balls. Well, shouldn’t you know? Shouldn’t you have some idea of your supply stream, or what your downside supply stream is doing?”

Yes, you should, which renders this a good point to add on to the many of why Michael Bloomberg should not be allowed anywhere near the People’s White House.