Chris Dodd & Countrywide
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
Davis-Bacon
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008Davis-Bacon is costing us big time! Forget minimum wage. The US Congress is slipping in language to every bill of late that requires inflated wages for the projects taxpayers fund.
The Wall Street Journal yesterday explained what’s been going on.
What do the farm bill, the cap-and-trade global warming bill, the clean water bill, the housing bailout bill, and the school construction bill all have in common? Not much, except that in each one and countless others the Democratic majority in Congress has inserted “prevailing-wage” requirements that amount to a super-minimum wage.
We’re speaking of Davis-Bacon, the 1931 law that originally applied to road building and other federal construction projects and set a floor on wages in part to price black and Mexican workers out of the work. Today, its main impact is to require de facto union wages. Many reputable studies have estimated that Davis-Bacon inflates federal construction costs by anywhere from 5% to 39%. A Heritage Foundation analysis of wage data reports that in many cities the mandated Davis-Bacon wage is twice as high as the market wage.
I am all for paying fair wages and the government should not be paying folks under the table. Yet, it should be bidding out the work and accepting the lowest cost for the spec, just like all government agencies do. Taxpayers should not pay escalated wages.
Congress should not be dictating wages, it should be negotiating fair wages on behalf of its stockholders constituents.
The Muddy Waters Run Again
Friday, May 23rd, 2008I will walk alone by the black muddy river
And sing me a song of my own
I will walk alone by the black muddy river
And sing me a song of my own
Rep. Maxine Waters sure stepped in it yesterday. In the farce on Capitol Hill where Congress thinks it can guilt oil executives into lowering at the pump prices, Waters revealed what she desires.
Look at the video again. The blonde behind Waters tries, but cannot contain her laughter. Watch it again. Too funny.
There is very little candid speech in Washington, DC, and in a case like this, as soon as there is, one runs from it like a plague.
Rocket’s Red Glare
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008Someone lied to Congress today. Roger Clemens went under oath today and claimed:
Let me be straight, I have never taken steroids or HGH.
Clemens is not stupid. He has seen that the federal government will prosecute perjury, just ask Barry Bonds. He did what I said he needed to do.
There is one way to clear up the matter for good: put yourself under oath and answer the questions.
I applaud Clemens for what he did today. But consider me still skeptical. Two seats to his right was Mr. McNamee. McNamee claimed today that he injected Clemens many times over the years.
McNamee has credibility issues. So does Clemens. One of them lied; perhaps both. Right now, I am providing Clemens with the benefit of the doubt, but I by no means will declare him innocent. If he had used steroids, he has totally screwed his legacy and should be jailed. Knowing that, how could he have lied to Congress? That’s why he gets my leniency.