Contract Price Fixing : Davis/Bacon 1931 Law Must Go

I can't imagine a law that benefits the labor unions being cast into the outer darkness by any member of congress that has been on the job for more then one year. The progressive socialist democrats and the main stream media, I repeat myself,  would have a field day castigating those politicians that would dare changing legislation that has suited labor unions for decades as being against the working man and therefore must be destroyed.

There are tens of thousands of rules, laws and regulations that are on the books that need to be purged from the system but that won't happen any time soon given the present political climate to 'go along to get along'.

Our only saving grace will be a total turn over of congress from one dominated by the 'good ol' boys' to the new breed of politician that believes the Constitution is the law of the land, free markets and individual freedom to pursue one's own destiny.

Price Fixing in Construction Contracts
Source: George Leef, "Davis-Bacon: The Price-Fixing Conspiracy That The Feds Mandate," Forbes, April 10, 2014.

April 21, 2014

A 1931 price-fixing law is driving up labor costs and should be repealed, says George Leef of the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education.

• The Davis-Bacon Act is a 1931 law concocted to protect white, union labor.
• Construction contractors at the time were routinely hiring low-wage, non-union, black workers instead of higher-wage, unionized white employees for projects.
• Congressman Robert Bacon and Senator James Davis wrote a bill requiring all laborers to be paid "the prevailing wage," and President Hoover signed the law in March 1931.

What is the prevailing wage? It's generally the union wage in the closest locality with union contracts. The law is nothing more than price fixing, and many states have their own versions of Davis-Bacon.

• The law increases the cost of federal construction projects.
• By mandating higher wages (and because of the inefficiency of union work rules), Leef estimates that the law probably increases construction costs by 15 percent to 20 percent.
• On top of these costs, taxpayers are paying Department of Labor employees to calculate what "prevailing wages" are.
• Davis-Bacon is typical special interest legislation, spreading the costs among many and providing benefits to a select few.

The law was at the basis of a recent dispute in Washington, D.C.'s CityCenterDC -- a mixed-use development project that is privately funded, its only government connection being that it sits on land leased from the District of Columbia for 99 years. But that led local unions to insist that the project fell under the purview of Davis-Bacon, and the Department of Labor agreed.

After a challenge by the developer and the District, a district judge struck down the Department of Labor's ruling, reasoning that, if the CityCenterDC project had "public benefits," then any project whatsoever could be considered to fall under Davis-Bacon, providing no limit to the law.
While the ruling is a victory, the decision could be appealed and overturned by the D.C. Circuit Court. Ultimately, lawmakers simply need to do away with Davis-Bacon, one of the many laws on our books that needlessly drive up federal spending.