Posted on 09/09/2005 11:03:39 AM PDT by Revel
Bush lifts wage rules for Katrina President signs executive order allowing contractors to pay below prevailing wage in affected areas. September 9, 2005: 11:43 AM EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush issued an executive order Thursday allowing federal contractors rebuilding in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to pay below the prevailing wage.
In a notice to Congress, Bush said the hurricane had caused "a national emergency" that permits him to take such action under the 1931 Davis-Bacon Act in ravaged areas of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi.
The Davis-Bacon law requires federal contractors to pay workers at least the prevailing wages in the area where the work is conducted. It applies to federally funded construction projects such as highways and bridges.
Bush's executive order suspends the requirements of the Davis-Bacon law for designated areas hit by the storm.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
Bingo.
Seems to me that, with the widespread damage and loss of jobs brought about by Katrina, the current "prevailing wage" in New Orleans is already close to zero. So if Dubya wants to pay below that, I suppose people are going to have to pay "contractors" an hourly fee just to perform their OWN property repairs.
In 2004, only 7.6% of Louisiana's workforce were members of organized labor.
So the actual consequence of this act will be to lower the wages recieved by Louisianans whose livelihoods were destroyed by this disaster, despite the fact that the vast majority were nonunion.
I don't know how he expects them to rebuild their properties with such a drastic reduction in wages. Especially when gasoline is up around $3 a gallon. It's hard to believe that the man could be so stupid.
It's easy to deduce that Jorge's "vision" to rebuild New Orleans is to reproduce the low-wage squalor of Juarez, Mexico.
"Are you a racist?"
I gave up any hope of being a racist in jr high school gym class, when I did terrible in the 100 yard dash.
The market will float and adjust. This will work itself out just fine without an artificial input from the feds.
Well that should empty the illegals out of Houston. They can be N.O. problem now.
It would be a good place to start learning a trade, but first they would need to get an education. We are building a house and I can't believe the amount of math and geometry that is involved every phase of the building. Even the roofers are constantly doing calculations.
The vast majority of those people who flooded the Superdome and Convention Center did not own their own homes. Most were renters, so they didn't own any property that they would have to rebuild. They were mired in poverty because they didn't have a trade or a skill. Most were on some form of govt. assistance to begin with.
I'm in favor of continuing their assistance on the condition that they need to be learning a skill at the same time. If they still have their 'safety net' they can 'afford' to be paid a smaller than prevailing wage. When this suspension of Davis Bacon is lifted, they will have skills which can be parlayed into real employment at real wages. In addition, and perhaps even MORE important than the skill is the attitude that you get up every day and you go about your life working for a living. This is a foreign concept to many of those who were living in the projects in New Orleans because it was never required of them.
You oppose unneccessary federal spending too, right?
You oppose ridiculous environmental and OSHA laws too, right?
Had Bush went by Davis-Bacon the costs of rebuilding would have been 2-3 times higher.
I'm pretty sure that locals in the area can rebuild the affected areas at a fraction of the cost.
Hallelujah! I only wish he'd sign an E.O. abolishing The D-B Act altogether. I realize that will never happen but a guy can wish can't he?
What wages? Most (in the NOLA area) were on government assistance anyway. How would Davis-Bacon provide a better livelihood, since these people lack skills anyway?
The worldview from inside your gated, country-club community is very myopic.
Haven't you been paying attention. They have shipped all the locals out. Now they are letting in the illegals to rebuild.
I'm about as joe-sixpack as you probably are.
But thanks for spreading the belief that those who oppose your Luddite views are wealthy, greedy elitists.
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