Bush seeks to fund gulf coast reconstruction with unlawfully low wages
This should be the Bush-related Katrina story of next week. Of course, there are lots of other important issues right now, but in the midst of them all, the President is trying to authorize construction companies to bypass prevailing wage laws in their reconstruction efforts.

By executive order, Bush suspended the Davis-Bacon Act in areas of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi, a move that will allow federal contractors to pay less than the local "prevailing wage" on construction projects.

Rep. George Miller of Martinez, senior Democrat on the House committee that oversees labor law, said the move would allow employers to pay "poverty wages" as they rebuild from the hurricane.

"The administration is using the devastation of Hurricane Katrina to cut the wages of people desperately trying to rebuild their lives," Miller said in a statement, noting that the prevailing wage for construction in New Orleans was about $9 an hour. "At under $9 an hour, workers certainly won't be able to rebuild their livelihoods."

Via Kevin Drum, who thinks this is less about lining the pockets of business than it is about politics. Why? Now he may be able to entice some Democrats to oppose the reconstruction efforts.