Build Your Home For Less!
OK. Sorry if you've been checking back for Voyager photos. I should get some up this weekend. See, I recently bought a laptop, but ended up being a couple hunnerd short on the cost. Rather than pay outrageous interest rates to Dell, I picked up a few extra shifts at the hellspital. Problem solved. *ding*
So, instead of pretty pictures, I'll leave you with this today.
In his infinite wisdom, President Shrubbery (thanks Wendy) has decided that $9 an hour is too much to get paid to rebuild someone's house after a hurricane. See, he suspended the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931 which sets the standard for contractors to pay their employeers on federal contracts. I've mixed emotions on this one, but I couldn't find any legitimate non-politically motivated info on the economics involved, and it's not an area where common sense economics says that much.
On the one hand, if contractors can charge less due to cheaper labor costs, the gov gets more rebuilding bang for its buck. Factor in that in the areas surrounding the disaster area, where most of the labor will come from, at least half (some estimates range up to 90%) of the construction labor pool is illegal migrant workers. It's unknown how many people native to the area plan on returning and doing the rebuilding themselves, and that makes it hard to tell whether lower wages to non-locals will significantly depreciate the standard of living of an area already rated as one of the poorest in the nation.
On the other hand, what better way to raise your own personal standard of living than by scoring an "earn & learn" well paid gig with a federal contrator?
Judging from how stubborn many of the residents have been about actually leaving the disaster area, it's reasonable to say they'll be every bit as stubborn about not wanting to take lower paying construction work on top of that, meaning many residents are returning to homes being built by underpaid workers, all the while having no jobs themselves, because same said underpaid workers haven't finished the industrial and commercial construction yet, either. It's a tight spot the Prez has put them in. (Actually, it's a tight spot living in a hurricane prone area during an administration that doesn't understand that the "working" class carries this nation on its back has put them in.)
Regardless, besides being an interesting study in disaster economics, this new twist will certainly make the hurricane's aftermath a great example (hopefully) of the perserverance of man, especially the man at the bottom of the ladder. But that begs the questions, if man is defined by perseverance, what do we call those of our species that have given up?
So, instead of pretty pictures, I'll leave you with this today.
In his infinite wisdom, President Shrubbery (thanks Wendy) has decided that $9 an hour is too much to get paid to rebuild someone's house after a hurricane. See, he suspended the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931 which sets the standard for contractors to pay their employeers on federal contracts. I've mixed emotions on this one, but I couldn't find any legitimate non-politically motivated info on the economics involved, and it's not an area where common sense economics says that much.
On the one hand, if contractors can charge less due to cheaper labor costs, the gov gets more rebuilding bang for its buck. Factor in that in the areas surrounding the disaster area, where most of the labor will come from, at least half (some estimates range up to 90%) of the construction labor pool is illegal migrant workers. It's unknown how many people native to the area plan on returning and doing the rebuilding themselves, and that makes it hard to tell whether lower wages to non-locals will significantly depreciate the standard of living of an area already rated as one of the poorest in the nation.
On the other hand, what better way to raise your own personal standard of living than by scoring an "earn & learn" well paid gig with a federal contrator?
Judging from how stubborn many of the residents have been about actually leaving the disaster area, it's reasonable to say they'll be every bit as stubborn about not wanting to take lower paying construction work on top of that, meaning many residents are returning to homes being built by underpaid workers, all the while having no jobs themselves, because same said underpaid workers haven't finished the industrial and commercial construction yet, either. It's a tight spot the Prez has put them in. (Actually, it's a tight spot living in a hurricane prone area during an administration that doesn't understand that the "working" class carries this nation on its back has put them in.)
Regardless, besides being an interesting study in disaster economics, this new twist will certainly make the hurricane's aftermath a great example (hopefully) of the perserverance of man, especially the man at the bottom of the ladder. But that begs the questions, if man is defined by perseverance, what do we call those of our species that have given up?
posted by Amazing Shafeman at 12:47 PM
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