Time to Lose Davis-Bacon
Inside Liberty Watch Today - Oct. 3, 2005
In the wake of hurricane Katrina President Bush did at least one sensible thing-suspend the Davis-Bacon Act in the states effected by the storm-and a few of the usual suspects are outraged.
"The administration is using the devastation of Hurricane Katrina to cut the wages of people desperately trying to rebuild their lives and their communities," Rep. George Miller of California told reporters.
Miller continued, "President Bush should immediately realize the colossal mistake he has made in signing this order and rescind it and ensure that America puts its people back to work in the wake of Katrina at wages that will get them and their families back on their feet."
"I regret the president's decision," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, "One of the things the American people are very concerned about is shabby work and that certainly is true about the families whose houses are going to be rebuilt and buildings that are going to be restored." Does Kennedy really expect us to believe that any structure built using laborers that don't pay union dues is shabby?
Even the Reverend Jesse Jackson took time out from grandstanding at some picket line somewhere to tell CNN the other night that Bush is creating another disaster by suspending Davis-Bacon.
While Jackson prattled on and on about how New Orleans residents should be hired to do the cleanup at Davis-Bacon prevailing wages, he should know that Davis-Bacon was passed in 1931 by congressman such as Rep. Clayton Allgood, who bragged at the time about supporting Davis-Bacon as a means of keeping "cheap colored labor" out of the construction industry.
For those not up to speed, 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.
The Davis-Bacon Act sets forth the minimum wages to be paid to various classes of laborers and mechanics employed under the contract. Under the provisions of the act, contractors or their subcontractors are to pay workers employed directly upon the site of the work no less than the locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits paid on projects of a similar character.
But, just who pray tell decides what the prevailing wage is? The secretary of labor determines such local prevailing wage rates. In practice, this usually means the wages paid by unionized contractors.
The co-author of the Davis-Bacon Act, Rep. Robert Bacon, represented a congressional district in Long Island. According to the Institute for Justice, Bacon proposed the bill "in response to the building of a Veterans' Bureau Hospital in Bacon's district by a contractor from Alabama, who employed only black laborers."
Ralph C. Thomas, former executive director of the National Association of Minority Contractors, has stated that a minority contractor who acquires a Davis-Bacon contract has "no choice but to hire skilled tradesmen, the majority of which are of the majority." As a result, Thomas contends, "Davis-Bacon closes the door in such activity in an industry most capable of employing the largest numbers of minorities."
This is one of the reasons Texas Republican Ron Paul introduced The Davis-Bacon Repeal Act in 1999. Addressing the house, Paul said; "Mr. Speaker, Congress must act now to repeal this 61-year-old relic of an era during which people actually believed Congress could legislate prosperity. Americans pay a huge price in lost jobs, lost opportunities, and tax-boosting cost overruns on federal construction projects every day Congress allows Davis-Bacon to remain on the books." Unfortunately, Paul's bill went nowhere.
Of course taxpayers would benefit most if there were no Davis-Bacon. "The Davis-Bacon Act drives up the cost of federal construction costs by as much as 50%," Paul told his colleagues. "In fact, the Congressional Budget Office has reported that repealing Davis-Bacon would save the American taxpayer almost $3 billion dollars in four years!"
With a Republican in the white house, and majorities in the House and Senate, now is the time to declare the entire nation a disaster area and get rid of Davis-Bacon.
Doug French, Liberty Watch Columnist
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