TPM Reader RB tells us that Rep. Todd Akin’s office (R-MO) is telling constituents that the Gulf Coast Wage Cut is standard operating procedure after a natural disaster. As far as we can tell, that’s a crock since the Davis-Bacon Act has only been suspended in response to a natural disaster once since it was enacted in 1931. That was by the president’s father in 1992 in response to Hurricane Andrew — and that mainly because he needed to appeal to right-wingers in the lead-up to the election. (For those of you who are too young. Believe me, it was a different day.)
In any case, that’s not standard operating procedure. At best it’s a congenital predisposition. Who else has heard from Rep. Akin? Has his staff given you the same line?
