Did I just watch this guy on MSNBC say the Davis-Bacon Act is part of the problem of high unemployment? Is this not the dumbest shit you've heard in a long time? I nearly spit out my overpriced bottled water.
Then his dumb ass thinks Davis-Bacon is some kind of ultra-liberal legislation that is holding the economy back. He says liberals need to face reality. He apparently has no idea that Davis-Bacon was passed by REPUBLICANS and signed into law by HERBERT HOOVER!!!
What an idiot! Can you believe this?
James J. Davis and Robert Bacon were both REPUBLICANS. But that's beside the point. What sickens me is that this is exactly the kind of dumb ass Washington thinking that posits that the problem with the economy is that people are being paid too much. Alter thinks that if you have a federal road contract, for example, you'd prefer to hire 12 people making $10 an hour rather than 6 people at $20 an hour. He seems to not consider that companies will only use the people they need and not one person more. So, if you can do that job with 6, you'll do it with 6. If you can pay them less than the prevailing wage, all the better.
I just get so sick and fucking tired of these asshats dumping on working people and union folks. Any time there is any kind of problem, it's always "dump on the working stiffs...they're the problem." It's these same assholes that say a living wage is bad for people.
Here's an idea for you Alter: How about we raise taxes on people like you (and me) and use that money hire a bunch more people at prevailing wage? That sounds a lot better to me than cutting the wages of people who are already working.
Update:
Incidentally, the sponsors of the last bill seeking to suspend Davis-Bacon were, surprise, members of the Republican Study Committee. Alter places himself in the company of Jeff Flake, Tom Feeney, and Marilyn Musgrave. Feeney and Musgrave were defeated in 2008.
***** I should say, although it's probably obvious, this opinion is my own and does not reflect the views of Daily Kos, it's publisher, editors or other writers. In my ranting anger, I failed to say so right from the beginning. Furthermore, many here have taken offense to my rather blunt insult. In deference to them, the title has been adjusted.*****