A quiet news article
Yesterday, the President quietly suspended the Davis-Bacon act for the Katrina disaster area (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050908-5.html). The Davis-Bacon Act creates a requirement that contractors who receive federal construction contracts must pay employees a wage that is at least an average of what workers would make working on non-Federally funded projects. For example, an electrician working on a federally funded highway project must be paid at least $22.09 an hour.
I saw one explanation buried in a news report last night from an administration spokesman: "The Federal Government wants to ensure that it gets to best value for its reconstruction dollars". Another explanation I found this morning, paraphrased as "necessary to remove the red tape associated with wage regulation thus providing a speedier, less expensive rebuilding solution". (http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ga09_norwood/DavisBacon.html)
To be fair, this is not the first time this act has been suspended. It was last suspended in 1992 for three weeks in repsonse to Hurricane Andrew. Best I have been able to determine is that previous suspensions were accompanied by a timeframe and this suspension is open ended.
To me, this seems like short-sighted logic. Obviously, there are multiple needs here but I see the two major priorities to be repairing vital national infastructure and helping the survivors get their lives back. Would it not be a better use of our tax dollars by insisting that workers get paid within the existing regulations, thus putting more money in the pockets of those who most need it, and simultaneously creating much-needed tax revenues for local, state, and federal treasuries?
Another obvious concern would be the type of rebuilding contracts awarded. If the feds are truly concerned about getting the most bang for their buck, and are willing to get that bang on the backs of the afflicted area's working poor, here's hoping that those contracts will be of the Time and Materials type as opposed to Firm Fixed Price contracts. FFP contracts would give companies an oppertunity to pad their profit margins with the savings acquired from the suspension of Davis-Bacon.
Also, the Vice-President seems to be visiting our town today. Why? I would love to see another "Fuck you, Mr. Cheney" moment caught on camera. Nothing personal against the VP, but I love those moments.
I saw one explanation buried in a news report last night from an administration spokesman: "The Federal Government wants to ensure that it gets to best value for its reconstruction dollars". Another explanation I found this morning, paraphrased as "necessary to remove the red tape associated with wage regulation thus providing a speedier, less expensive rebuilding solution". (http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ga09_norwood/DavisBacon.html)
To be fair, this is not the first time this act has been suspended. It was last suspended in 1992 for three weeks in repsonse to Hurricane Andrew. Best I have been able to determine is that previous suspensions were accompanied by a timeframe and this suspension is open ended.
To me, this seems like short-sighted logic. Obviously, there are multiple needs here but I see the two major priorities to be repairing vital national infastructure and helping the survivors get their lives back. Would it not be a better use of our tax dollars by insisting that workers get paid within the existing regulations, thus putting more money in the pockets of those who most need it, and simultaneously creating much-needed tax revenues for local, state, and federal treasuries?
Another obvious concern would be the type of rebuilding contracts awarded. If the feds are truly concerned about getting the most bang for their buck, and are willing to get that bang on the backs of the afflicted area's working poor, here's hoping that those contracts will be of the Time and Materials type as opposed to Firm Fixed Price contracts. FFP contracts would give companies an oppertunity to pad their profit margins with the savings acquired from the suspension of Davis-Bacon.
Also, the Vice-President seems to be visiting our town today. Why? I would love to see another "Fuck you, Mr. Cheney" moment caught on camera. Nothing personal against the VP, but I love those moments.
posted by rol-e at 1:52 PM
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