Bush Drops Gulf Coast Wage Cut

Finally, the Dems in Congress put up a united spine for working people and
forced the Bush corporate cabal to stand down.

Last month, Bush cynically used Hurricane Katrina as pretense to suspend the
Davis-Bacon Act in areas damaged by the hurricane. This would've allowed
bloated crony contractors like KBR/Halliburton and Bechtel to pay workers less than the already-low prevailing local wage to rebuild the Gulf Coast.

Last week, Rep. George Miller (D-CA) introduced a joint resolution that would've forced a Congressional vote to overturn Bush's suspension of what Miller called the Gulf Coast Wage Cut. With all House Democrats and 37 Republicans opposing the Davis-Bacon suspension (and the Smilin' Hammer under indictment), the White House had no choice but to back down. Bush quietly announced yesterday than he would overturn the Davis-Bacon suspension on his own, effective November 8.

It's about time progressives accomplished something concrete besides letting Terri Schiavo die, which wasn't exactly one of those champagne-popping victories.