The Gulf Coast Wage Cut (suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act) (see Talking Points Memo) signed into law by Prez Bush is another piece of evidence that the Republican party is has no connection with the people that do the actual work in this country. He will limit wages of people in need and continue with the patronage and graft that has come to mark this administration. If you think that patronage and graft are not important to this administration just look at who is in charge of the hundreds of billions that will be spent on Katrina's' aftermath. Karl Rove, the original Dark Prince of political patronage. Much back scratching will be going on in the future as he rewards the people that kick back the most graft to the coffers of the Republican Party.
We are now seeing what this administration has in mind for the actual people that have made this country great. Poor wages, no viable Social Security, no health care.
Poor wages, because the suspension of the Davis - Bacon Act will not save this country one red cent in the reconstruction of the destruction left in the path of Katrina. Any monies saved will only go to the crony/corporations contracting the jobs. It will only add to the hardship of a group of people that need a living wage to rebuild their homes and businesses.
Social Security can be mended by removing the cap on deductions that are taken in out for it. I believe the ceiling now about $90,000. We Boomers will not live forever and this problem will be fixable to get over the hump. The recent spate of bankruptcies being instituted by major corporations that may well abrogate their responsibilities for their pension funds, and shift the payment of those pensions at a lower % by government guarantees (thus constituting a welfare for the corporate class), should be seen as a shot over the bow in the fight on how to fix Social Security. The United States of America cannot short shrift the middle class by taking away the only, and very small, pension that they may receive.
Health care is an anathema to this administration. Even though it has signed into law the most expensive Medicare bill ever, it did so by hiding the real cost and giving the pharms everything they wanted. An idea that could be bounced around would be for the government to pay for all preventive and basic medical, dental, and vision for all citizens up until they are 18 years of age. After that all are on their own. Once again at retirement (what ever age that becomes in the future) the preventive/basic are again covered. We would be supporting the segments of our population at most risk. Insuring that a healthy cadre of workers are always available enter the work force. Plus the support that we would have for our elders as they leave the work force and begin their retirement. I am thinking these changes would be cost savers in the long run. I have not the ability to run the numbers, but basic and preventive medicine must be cheaper than what we are doing now.
What we are seeing in the actions of this administration is the deconstruction of the American middle class.