[lbo-talk] perfect cure for Katrina: vouchers!

[Mark S]

>New York Times - September 10, 2005
>
>G.O.P. Sees Opportunities Arising From Storm
>By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
>
[snip]
>
>But other changes are more ideological and more controversial. On Thursday, 
>Mr. Bush issued an order that exempts federal contractors working on 
>disaster relief projects from a longstanding federal requirement that they 
>pay workers "prevailing wages," which are usually pegged to union pay 
>rates.
>
>The exemption strikes at the heart of a requirement that labor unions and 
>Democratic lawmakers have ferociously defended for years.
>
>"There are a lot of opportunities to experiment," said Mr. Snow, who 
>jointed Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao and Secretary of Commerce Carlos 
>Gutierrez in a rapid trip to highlight the administration's 
>hurricane-relief operations.

It was before my time, but isn't this a classic Kissinger move?  Take 
advantage of crisis and confusion to introduce a retrograde policy that 
would have been impossible before the crisis?  It seems like crises also 
appeal to cynical manipulators...

M.

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