Prevailing Wages? That's Like So 20th Century Man

from Agitprop:

Estimated Property Damage: $100 billion
Estimated Death Toll: 10,000 Americans
Using a national tragedy to cut wages for the poor: Priceless

For everyone else, there's decency.

From LA Times (thanks to el s for the tip).

One action Bush did not trumpet publicly drew a quick protest from a leading Democrat. By executive order, Bush suspended the Davis-Bacon Act in areas of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi, a move that will allow federal contractors to pay less than the local "prevailing wage" on construction projects.

Rep. George Miller of Martinez, senior Democrat on the House committee that oversees labor law, said the move would allow employers to pay "poverty wages" as they rebuild from the hurricane.

"The administration is using the devastation of Hurricane Katrina to cut the wages of people desperately trying to rebuild their lives," Miller said in a statement, noting that the prevailing wage for construction in New Orleans was about $9 an hour. "At under $9 an hour, workers certainly won't be able to rebuild their livelihoods."

See, there's no time to play the blame game. There's pockets to fill and people to screw!

Charles Norman Todd has more. So does Blogenlust.