If Ray Lesniak was half the man of the Left he claims to be, he'd author a bill to seize his rock star buddy's extra home and turn it into a homeless shelter for those who can't find work because of the lousy job Ray has done as a legislator since 1978. Yes, this creature has been around since 1978, and his long tenure in politics perfectly encompasses the destruction of the working class in New Jersey and the United States of America. No, we're not saying that Ray did it all, but he did do his part.
Back in 1978, when Ray was a newborn legislative weasel going from trouser pocket to trouser pocket, getting his snout caught were it didn't belong, a student who worked a minimum-wage summer job could afford to pay a year's full tuition at the 4-year public university of his or her choice.
Thanks to legislators like Ray Lesniak, that doesn't happen anymore.
Since 1978 -- while Ray has grown richer and richer (though not as rich as his rich celebrity friends he wants us to obey) -- average working people have grown poorer and poorer. The average worker today is over $20,000 poorer than he or she would have been if legislators like Ray Lesniak hadn't got their hands on power in the 1970's.
And while Senator Ray Lesniak and his rich celebrity friends are fighting to allow people with penises into the girls' toilets in states like North Carolina, there are some battles that Ray is too pussy to fight. Like the human trafficking and modern day slavery that goes on in Qatar.
On Thursday, when Ray Lesniak leads the members of the New Jersey Senate in taking the "momentous" step of banning travel to places within the United States of America, here is what the cowards won't be doing. The Senate won't be banning travel to Qatar. Why should New Jersey take a stand on Qatar? Because Qatar is using slave labor to build projects related to the World Cup.
Don't believe us? This is a headline from the Guardian(U.K.): "Modern Day Slavery in Focus in Qatar" (March 30, 2016). From Mother Jones: "Qatar is treating its World Cup workers like slaves" (May 26, 2015). From Reuters: "Qatar complicit in modern slavery" (October 28, 2015). Here is what Amnesty International had to say about Qatar:
The authorities arbitrarily restricted the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. A prisoner of conscience was serving a lengthy sentence for writing and reciting poems.
Amnesty just issued a report (March 31, 2016) titled, "Qatar World Cup of Shame." Here are a few excerpts:
Migrant workers building Khalifa International Stadium in Doha for the 2022 World Cup have suffered systematic abuses, in some cases forced labour... “The abuse of migrant workers is a stain on the conscience of world football. For players and fans, a World Cup stadium is a place of dreams. For some of the workers who spoke to us, it can feel like a living nightmare,” said Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty.
“Despite five years of promises, FIFA has failed almost completely to stop the World Cup being built on human rights abuses.”
...Amnesty International uncovered evidence that the staff of one labour supply company used the threat of penalties to exact work from some migrants such as withholding pay, handing workers over to the police or stopping them from leaving Qatar. This amounts to forced labour under international law.
“Indebted, living in squalid camps in the desert, paid a pittance, the lot of migrant workers contrasts sharply to that of the top-flight footballers who will play in the stadium. All workers want are their rights: to be paid on time, leave the country if need be and be treated with dignity and respect,” said Salil Shetty...
Qatar’s kafala sponsorship system, under which migrant workers cannot change jobs or leave the country without their employer’s (or “sponsor’s”) permission, is at the heart of the threats to make people work... Some of the Nepali workers told Amnesty International they were not even allowed to visit their loved ones after the 2015 April earthquake that devastated their country leaving thousands dead and millions displaced.
My life here is like a prison... a metal worker from India who worked on the Khalifa stadium refurbishment, complained when he was not paid for several months but only received threats from his employer: “He just shouted abuse at me and said that if I complained again I’d never leave the country. Ever since I have been careful not to complain about my salary or anything else. Of course, if I could I would change jobs or leave Qatar.”
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2016/03/qatar-world-cup-of-shame/
But Senator Ray Lesniak is not going to peep about Qatar. You see, it is easy to pick on Americans living in North Carolina, but not so easy to stand up to the powerful people in New Jersey who represent the State of Qatar.
We happen to have a copy of the signed contact between the Embassy of the State of Qatar and a powerful firm whose lobbyists include the former chiefs of staff for both Senators Menendez and Booker -- signed last December -- courtesy of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (enforced by the United States Justice Department). Ray Lesniak's political allies pocket a retainer of $100,000 a month just for making sure the State of Qatar isn't embarrassed by anything like a resolution calling them out for their human rights abuses. Last year, the firm pocketed as much as $155,000 a month just in consulting fees.
So go ahead, Ray. Tuck up your balls and make your fashion statement. Punish your fellow Americans for wanting to keep sexual predators out of girls' toilets, while you and the New Jersey Senate kiss the tail of the State of Qatar and endorse its slavery and abuse of human rights by your silence. We pity you.
