Stimulus paybacks…

The Davis-Bacon provision is a 1931 law typically used only on federal highway projects.    But under the stimulus, it will apply to ALL state and local jobs on energy, housing, agriculture or construction.

In states with high labor rates, such as California or New York, you’ll get about half as much done for the money.     And in right-to-work states (where a worker cannot be forced to join a union for employment),  most contracts will have to be re-bid, which is a not inconsiderable expense for those states.

The bottom line is that if you’re a non-union worker, the Democrat-controlled Congress just said “screw you.”

The love for labor is odd, considering the shameful history of union racism, but of course, very few blacks actually know any of this, especially if they have been “educated”  in public schools.

Yes, I’m prejudiced against labor unions, primarily because their leadership is so often corrupt.    I think they were valuable in the day because they did work for their members, but for several decades now they have been run for the benefit of only the union bosses and the Democratic Party, and they’ve certainly been fond of killing all the geese laying golden eggs.

But my distaste also stems from a personal experience, an occasion when I was working  for a corporation which required me to make a visual inspection of the building prior to another construction draw.  One of the union job bosses tried telling me where I could go and what I could do.    I thought he was joking at first, but when I headed for a floor where I had been told the work had not been completed as claimed, the six-footer blocked my way.     I smiled and in my best Southern drawl informed him that he could either get out of the way or go get help, because he’d need it.    He laughed and swiftly found himself on the floor and me charging up the stairs.

By the time he decided what to do, I was finished with my tour.    The bully had collected two other men and was waiting for me on the ground.    I simply asked, very loudly, if he had told them why he needed help as I popped out into the open.   Stymied, he settled for nasty looks.

And I had cause, once again, to be thankful for my rather odd upbringing, and the highly eclectic mix of friends and acquaintances I have enjoyed.