Here I am getting raise to comment on how spot on Majority Leader Pete Schwartzkopf is in his recent criticism of the NFL led crew that is working to limit sports betting in Delaware and then he puts his name to a misleading piece in the NJ.
So, to give Mr. Schwartzkopf his due – you are right in what you are saying about big sports and their hypocrisy. Keep it up.
However, his column today misses many points. First, if someone really cared about getting this state back on track he wouldn’t care about who gets credit for any policy that is enacted for the better of the state – he would just care that it passed. I know that Pete is a politician and has a partisan role to play, so is just doing his job…but there is a certain immaturity to the very premise of his piece.
Next gaff. Versions of House Bill 1 have been passed by the House many times only to die in the Democratic senate. You can’t take credit on this any more than dozens of others in both caucuses and both chambers who were part of the open government movement.
Point 2 – again, the anti-discrimination bill had passed the House before – meaning that the GOP led House had also passed the bill. Again, it died in the senate. Pete acknowledges this bill had bipartisan support both now and in the past but is again disingenuous regarding the premise of his column.
Then he proceeds to talk about how taxpayers were protected by various legislation. The problem here is that taxpayers weren’t really protected this session. Take the industry Mr. Schwartzkopf uses in his piece – construction. He fails to mention that the Democrats blocked any consideration of suspending the prevailing wage requirement for state and school construction.
Contininuing on – the fight against eminent domain was bi-partisan, even non-partisan when it came to the General Assembly. This was a case where most of the legislators saw the errors in the policy and worked to enact it. But since we are in the theme of assigning credit – remember Pete that it was a Dem governor who vetoed this bill in the first place.
I could go on. DSTP was going to be replaced anyway as would have been most of the other policies enacted. And I’ll concede that the manufactured housing bill is one that would not have passed before. In the end, the point is that the column is seriously lacking in truth and substance, but hey, at least we know who wants to take credit.
We also know that this year’s budget is smaller for the first time in 20 years. I give credit for this to Gov. Markell. And remember, that the Governor’s for the past 20 years – 16 of those years were Minner and Carper.
While Petey is certainly open and honest (he really doesn’t tell outright lies), he has absolutely mastered the art of exaggeration and political atta-boys. I had a discussion with him over the phone lines at delawaretalkradio last year where he took a rumor, which he thought was true about WFH (it wasn’t) about Cathcart and laid it right on out there and embellished it a bit, too. His piece in the paper today was just yet another in that long line of patting himself and other party members on the back. Oh yeah, he failed to mention that party-control over every level of government tends to aid your ability to push bills through at-will.
Ah, almost forgot. In his tirade against the NFL (and others), he absolutely forgot to bring up one of the most damning pieces of evidence to shake their (the NFL) argument to hell and back: their licensing of their teams’ logos to various state lotteries for $20 scratch-off tickets. Excellent miss there, Petey. I guess you’re too busy with atta-boys.
Democrats blocked suspension of prevailing wage is a feather in their caps. Republicans against prevailing wage is a blot on us.
Thank God we got Republicans out of Dover for awhile so we could make progress on the rights of homeowners in manufactured housing. SOmeday, when our GOP regains control, it will be a new generation with a fresh forward looking view of things.
Imagine if Republicans got their way getting rid of prevailing wage for construction workers:
Hundreds of hard labor blue collar working families in Delaware would see their wages cut drastically. Along with their benefits, their purchasing power, the taxes they pay back. A whole class of high paying blue collar jobs wiped out with the stroke of a pen. These jobs are not careers. They require a young strong back.
AstraZen and many many other white collar corps got huge subsidies to create high pay white collar jobs, we shell out millions to bring high pay jobs here – what could be a more straight forward, no nonsense, guaranteed way to create high paying jobs – than prevailing wage?
Prevailing wage is another of those wise old regulatory schemes resulting from the Great Depression. We discarded a lot of those old rules and look what we got? When you mess with prevailing wage, you mess with the social fabric. It is not as simple as geeee . . look we can save 32 million dollars.
There’s a big difference between public sector values and those of private industry.
Government doesn’t run on the same capitalist dynamics as private business. If government was just a numbers game, we could stuff 100 prisoners in a single cell and save zillions. Government by the People has a heart and a soul to reckon with.
Too bad Mr. Schwartzkopf is not a Republican. We need guys like Pete in our Party. I hope the GOP finds a new attitude toward blue collar wage subsidies – look at it like all the other economic development subsidies we employ to create good jobs.
Interesting. Why are you not commenting on this brewing CRI scandal that has your finger prints all over it?
psst…Jason…when you are trying to poke Charlie, you may want to pick a post he wrote.
I made the same mistake a while back. It is reasonable to assume that someone whose alias is the same as the blog name is the owner. Especially in the absence of the customary Contributors list.
Mr. Holt’s diatribe would be more appropriate on DL with its lack of factual background or credence. Davis-Bacon was a Democrat scheme to prevent black construction workers from working in the north-east during the depression. Can anyone spell racism? Many minority contractors don’t have the time or experience to fulfill the paperwork demands of prevailing wage projects so it continues to discriminate. From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. Is this your slogan Mr. Holt? Why does construction have the privilege of having the government establish wages? Of course given the current Administration, every worker’s wages will be set by them. The process that establishes the prevailing wage is corrupted by organized labor. Given Mr. Holt’s largesse with my tax money perhaps he would just spare me and write a large donation to the state? I don’t really feel like paying someone over $70k a year to dig a ditch. Mr. Holt, you are indeed clueless.
Anbupro,
Sounds like a bit of a psycho overreaction.
FYI: In Delaware prevailing wage rate for common labor is around $20/hr. Not sure where you get $70k a year.
Prevailing wage laws date back to 1891. It’s government keeping wages up for construction labor. We know we can do it cheap cheap cheap and pay low low lower wages to hungry people, but this is America. We are very good to each other. We are not looking to see how cheap we can buy the labor of American workers.
Do you know what the hourly rate for private attorneys doing State work is? $200? $500? Who keeps track of hours? Or are you just fascinated with the imaginary fat cat ditch digger?
The laws established during the time of the Great Depression, including Federal Prevailing Wage, served as the foundation for 60 years of unprecedented American prosperity, the birth of the world’s first great middle class. This was no accident. It was by Government design. You may see Social Security, Minimum Wage, Prevailing Wage as sinister plots and democratic schemes, but the majority of us think it makes this country great.
America has always been dedicated to breaking up concentrations of wealth, business monopoly, static wealth in family dynasties, maintaining fair balance between rich and poor. It’s the American Way. Not sure why you seem so resentful of things that are so uniquely American. Did you read where the government nixed Google buying Yahoo. Too much power for one group. Prevailing wage for the little guy all part of keeping things equitable in America.
By the way did you ever dig a ditch? It’s mainly done by skilled heavy equipment operators these days. Skilled labor is a valuable commodity. In Delaware, power equipment operators get $50/hr. Still not as much as a lawyer, but not bad.
Well Mr. Holt, here’s my last shot at trying to educate someone resistant to education. Per the DOL the prevailing wage rate for a laborer in NCCO is $34.60 per hour. There are 2080 hours in a work year. Can you do the math? The co-author of the Davis-Bacon Act, Representative Robert Bacon, represented Long Island. Bacon was a racist who was concerned lest immigration upset the nation’s “racial status quo.” In 1927, he introduced H.R. 17069, “A Bill to Require Contractors and Subcontractors Engaged on Public Works of the United States to Comply With State Laws Relating to Hours of Labor and Wages of Employees on State Public Works.” This action was a response to the building of a Veterans’ Bureau Hospital in Bacon’s district by an Alabama contractor which employed only black laborers. You are typical of the socialists running this country who want everyone to have an equal financial outcome by playing Robin Hood. The promise of America is equal opportunity, not equal outcome. I don’t begrudge what an attorney makes. If it’s too much don’t pay it. That’s another nice thing about America. We have choices. You Robin Hoods of America are ripping out the entrepreneurial spirit. Why work harder than the next guy if the reward is going to be the same? Wait a minute! I think that’s called being in a union. I despise how you define the American Way. That’s not the American Way this country was built upon. Your American Way was the genesis of our present welfare state started under FDR. I’ll look for your column over at DL.
Well Ms. Anbupro, here’s my last shot at trying to educate someone who despises opposition.
The rate for a laborer ranges from a low of $20 to a high of $34 depending on the type of project. Highway work $20, heavy construction $34. That includes fringe benefits so worker take home is difficult to calculate. What that “common laborer” does neither you or I know. I have a feeling it is very hard. I don’t begrudge him or her that $20 or $34 minus deductions. Don’t know why I riles you up so.
There are also apprenticeship funds and a whole lot of other stuff that goes into keeping skilled labor top rate in America. Don’t be so down on the system. We build a lot of good stuff. Our roads, bridges, public buildings are done very well. Can you imagine construction in general if we did not have Government building codes enforcing standards and well trained trade workers? The union apprentice system is the pipeline that feeds the American building trades. There is a whole world of hard hats heavy machinery and back breaking work being done out there. They deserve our respect, not resentment. We know all about banks, and lawyers, and high tech, but when it comes to sheetmetal workers and millwrights there seems to be a bit of confusion about there value.
Before you spout off about a ditch digger making $70,000 you are obliged to find some examples, not just make crap up. Was that for a full year? Was it repeated for more than one year. Who is this person?
I am one of 67 million Americans who voted for the new President. Every poll ever done on the most beloved American Presidents consistently puts FDR, Lincoln, and Washington as the top three of all time. Your view is fringe. Social Security is good. Not bad.
I have been an entrepreneur all my life. Very competitive. Very interested in making tons of profit so I can earn lots of money to buy lots of fun stuff. Love it. Spent most of my spare time during the Cold War aiding the cause that defeated communism. An American flag waves proudly at both my front and side doors. I have only once voted non-Republican in a Presidential election.
All those socialists you see lurking behind every doorway, behind every shadow – are really just good old plain vanilla Americans. I consider myself a conservative – meaning one who favors the practical.
In 1947, 87% of construction in the United States was performed by the unions. Today that number is less than 17%. The private sector has turned their back on union construction. Seems to me that it is working fine in that sector. I’m not completely certain, but I beleive that there are more non-union apprentices in Delaware than Union. Unions realized their only chance to compete was to control the political process so they have invested in politicians as opposed to efficiencies. The State of Delaware is so phony that they build using prevailing wage rates, but has DEDO put out actual market wages to attract business to the state. As an entrepreneur, why do you not embrace the market establishing wage rates? FDR prolonged the depression with his entitlement programs, and it was WWII that ended it. I guess that we will just agree to disagree. I may object to much of what you espouse, I don’t object to dissenting viewpoints. That’s America.
“As an entrepreneur, why do you not embrace the market establishing wage rates?”
In general I do. But I also embrace the concept of minimum wage and prevailing wage as minor counter balance to market tendency towards extremes. If we relied totally on the market, we would have ten year olds working in sweat shops as we once did. There are no absolutes.
It’s all good. Private sector, public sector finding the balance with the goal of what is best for the majority of Americans.
FDR successfully led the Nation from the Depression on to victory in WW II, one of the most perilous periods in American history. From what I hear everybody loved the guy back then. Saying FDR prolonged the Depression is monday morning quarterbacking. Personally, I am very glad we now have FDIC insured bank accounts. Not sure what the other “entitlement” programs you object to are, but I repeat Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, all the stuff that flowed from that, GI BIll, FHA, all did wonder for America. I am extremely thankful for the wisdom of the “Greatest Generation”. If America had fallen into hopeless poverty in the 1930’s we probably would not have been able to resist the push of socialism-communism that was so much in fashion at the time.
The best way to protect Capitalism is to make sure too many people don’t get too poor, that the gap between rich and poor does not get intolerable. That’s where things like prevailing wage come into play.
Unions are pretty much an American invention. A pure expression of the free market. Workers come together for maximum leverage, then bargain for the highest wages. Union membership being down shows where the market is at. Unions are no more sinister than Banks or any other self interested institution.
[…] etiquette. Then he ends anonymous comments. Kavips on healthcare. He says we are all right. Resolute Determination on Peter Schwartzkopf vs. the NFL. Naturally, the DuPont heir sides with the multibillion dollar […]
Rep. Schwartzkopfs commentary expounding on his accomplishments during the last legislative session was interesting reading, both for what it said, and what it did not say.
To begin, taking credit for balancing the budget seems a bit disingenuous to me. The budget was going to be balanced no matter what; thats State Law.
Instead of buckling down to do the hard work of finding inefficient or ineffective programs, or meaningfully cutting the bloated state workforce, Pete Schwartzkopf voted to pile tax increase upon fee increase onto the backs of already struggling Delawareans.
Rep. Schwartzkopf also touted his partys efforts to bring about the sunshine laws to make government more open and information more accessible. I think thats a great idea. What Rep. Schwartzkopf neglects to mention is that he weakened the bill considerably by introducing an amendment to exempt his own emails. So much for open government …
Finally, one achievement that seems to have slipped Petes mind completely, HB 198. Pete Schwartzkopf voted to give away Delawares Electoral College votes to whichever Presidential candidate gets the most popular votes nationwide, regardless of who Delawareans actually vote for. This attempted end-run around the Constitution completely mutes Delawares voice in the electoral process. Pete Schwartzkopf wants to take our own electoral votes out of our control.
So, if these are the kind of accomplishments Rep. Schwartzkopf delivers for his constituents, I say its time to unseat Pete before he has the chance to do us any more favors.