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By Bill Wilson
Below the headlines of the day — war, NATO finally paying their way, Trump smacking Israel’s wrist — a battle more intense than anyone can remember is going on inside Congress. The fight is over the spending bill and the reinstatement of the Trump tax cuts. The stakes could not be higher.
As expected, every special interest in the world has descended on Washington, D.C. while these “negotiations” have been taking place. People are looking to settle old scores, grab fists-full of tax dollars and desperately trying to justify all of it while projecting the image of being more pure than Caesar’s wife. Of course, it is one big orgy of graft, waste and the perpetual game of justification of existence. But the math is the math, regardless of how distorted the process. And, if the Trump tax cuts from 2017 are to made permanent — and the pledges of no taxes on tips, overtime or Social Security kept — Congress needs to find money to pay for them. A lot of money.
With that in mind, a recent move by President Trump to hand over billions of tax dollars to organized labor is a head-scratcher. I suppose he thinks he is keeping faith with the working-class voters who delivered the White House to him. But nothing could be further from the truth.
Here are the specifics.
In 2022, Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14063 which mandated — required —so-called Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) on all federal construction projects greater than $35 million. The impact of this dictate was to hand over a major part of federally funded construction projects to union officials. To call it a subsidy for the union hierarchy is a major understatement. It was and is a lifeline to private organizations who are losing members and support year in and year out.
The effect of EO 14063 is to increase the cost for any federal construction project under the terms of the order. Independent studies show that forcing PLAs on construction adds about 20 percent on average to the cost. The most authoritative was conducted by the RAND Corporation, the grandfather of think tanks and as widely accepted a source as anyone could ask for.
With over $260 billion in federal construction slated for Fiscal Year 2025 thru 2028, a savings of 20 percent comes to $52 billion! All President Trump has to do to realize this bloc of money is to repeal EO 14063. Simple, stroke of the pen, and give Congress $52 billion to off-set tax cuts for the middle class and keep his promise of no tax on tips or social security.
So why not?
The answer, sadly, is politics. The President is being fed a line of lies. He is being told that he must keep faith with the working-class citizens who are arguably the reason he was elected. And keeping faith with those millions of families is in fact the right thing to do. But handing such a plum to organized labor does not do that. If fact it undercuts and insults those voters.
Today, only 10 percent of American workers are covered by union contracts according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the private sector, it is barely 6 percent. So, 90 percent to 94 percent of American workers do not have any reason to subsidize union bosses. In fact, they do not have any interest in being denied jobs opportunities because they are not part of the tiny contingent of union-card carrying workers. So, to the insiders whispering in the President’s ear, how does doing this in any way “keep faith” with America’s working families? Clear answer — it doesn’t.
You can tell by looking at what the White House has done that they are not really supportive of the move. On June 12 the Administration released a statement by the Office of Management & Budget that announced that the Biden EO 14063 would be kept. But in order to hedge its bets, the announcement also said that it would only be applied where keeping the PLA was “practicable and cost effective.” There is no better D.C. wiggle-words or phrase than this. Other tinkering was added, but the long and short of it is the Administration has caved to the demands of a handful of union officials.
These people, despite being unable to swallow hard and support a radical leftist like Kamala Harris, are still one of the backbones of the Left in America. The structures are part and parcel of the institutional leftist cabal that has done so much damage to America.
Workers — even those covered by union agreements — are truly the victims of the last 60 years. And they deserve the full support of the Trump team. They are the real hope for a true restoration of America. There is simply no justification or benefit to keeping the Biden-Bailout. The President needs to reconsider and outright repeal EO 14063.
Bill Wilson is the former president of Americans for Limited Government.
The post A Fast $52 billion That Trump Can Get With A Stroke Of A Pen On Project Labor Agreements appeared first on Daily Torch.
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