Key questions to consider:

How much will it cost the government to administer this program?

Which agency and department will be responsible for evaluating contractors?

How long will it take the program to get up and running?

How long will it take to evaluate all of the existing federal contractors?

What about future federal contractors? How will that process work? Will this be a barrier to entry for new firms?

What factors will be used to evaluate federal contractors? Is it fair? Is it transparent?

Is this additional red tape something that is already covered by existing labor and procurement laws?

Are federal procurement officials supportive of yet another hoop to jump through in the already complex federal procurement process?

Is the federal government prepared for the lengthy and costly litigation that may grind federal procurement to a halt?

Is there compelling evidence that the existing procurement system needs this change?

Will this change lead to greater efficiency and faster and better delivery of services to the government and taxpayers?

Who is the architect of this policy and who will benefit from this change?

What else? Throw out some more ideas.

However, this issue IS another example of Big Labor’s powerful lobby – pushed by Big Labor-funded think tanks like the Center for American Progress and their friends in Congress and in the Administration that depend on this mutually beneficial parasitic relationship – to change the rules in federal contracting that will give Big Labor a big advantage and stifle free and open competition.

For example, the White House is already trying to funnel lucrative federal construction contracts to Big Labor. President Obama signed Executive Order 13502 on Feb. 6, 2009 – just a few weeks after taking office. The order promotes project labor agreements (PLAs) on federal construction projects more than $25 million. PLAs essentially ensure that federal construction projects are built by union workers, even though just 14.5 percent of the U.S. private construction workforce belongs to a union.

Cutting competition and implementing inefficient union work rules increases construction costs (it is estimated PLAs increase costs by 18 percent) and reduces job creation in the construction industry, which is already suffering from 24.7 percent unemployment.

Government-mandated PLAs are bad public policy and are a blatant form of government corruption. I’m suspicious this proposal is likely more of the same because of Congress and the Administration’s track record of handouts to Big Labor.

You can learn more about Executive Order 13502 and anti-competitive and corrupt PLAs at http://www.TheTruthAboutPLAs.com

I certainly don’t want “massive government interference” – I want responsible regulation…& thoughtless chanting of “Free market, Free market” isn’t a solution – may as well yell, “more of the same, more of the same!”. I’ll put it back to you – when has unbridled capitolism ever worked in the long term? Was it in the 20′s?, was it the 80′s? (S&L again, I know – but damn sure looks alot like what’s happened today) Was it Enron? We are suffering the consequences of deregulation – everytime we loosen the strings on financial regulation the greed of a few destroys the well-being of the many (see again the S&L crisis – just like this one – small scale)

Your parents didn’t own a car – how exceptional. That doesn’t change the fact that the middle class was stronger 1, 2 generations ago than it is today. That doesn’t change the fact that America no longer makes anything. That doesn’t change the fact that CEO pay has grown exponentially while wages have stagnated. That doesn’t change the fact that by nearly every measure America’s standing has diminished over the last 4 decades; healthcare, education, manufactoring. We’ve become the worlds largest debtor, when we were the world’s largest creditor. Something has to change. Government isn’t the enemy – it’s what you make of it.

That is part of our problem now: too much government interference in free markets. Agreed, the free market is a messy place. But, in the long run, it provides the most benefit to the most people even if some do come out on the short end.

BTW, my parents and grandparents didn’t have cars, didn’t provide college educations, and never owned any real estate. They didn’t live nearly as well as I have.

From Dan Henninger’s article in WSJ:

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy planted the seeds that grew the modern Democratic Party. That year, JFK signed executive order 10988 allowing the unionization of the federal work force. This changed everything in the American political system. Kennedy’s order swung open the door for the inexorable rise of a unionized public work force in many states and cities.

Link to the whole thing:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704320104575015010515688120.html

FROM NATIONAL REVIEW: THE CORNER
Liberal Orgs, Unions Funneling Money to Anti-Tea Party Group [Daniel Foster]

Joseph Abrams of Fox News has conducted a detailed investigation of a series anti-tea party groups, each appearing to be independent grassroots entities but in fact part of “a complex network of money flowing from the mountainous coffers of the country’s biggest labor unions and trickling slowly into political slush funds for Democratic activists.”
The largest single benefactor of the groups is the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which in 2008 alone donated $10 million to two front organizations. A number of other prominent unions, including the Service Employees International Union, Change to Win, the Communications Workers of America, the National Education Association, the Teamsters Union, the United Food & Commercial Workers Union, and others were also significant contributors.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/02/09/anti-tea-party-web-site-scheme-funnel-funds/

Once again, a radical leftist misrepresents the issue. This is not a debate on whether or not a “living wage” is good or not. Just like healthcare is not a debate about whether or not old people dying is good or not. The issue here is whether or not you are in favor of competition or not. The Leftists, who control these unions, don’t want to face any competition. None. And they want the federal government to do everything in its power to guarantee that the unions don’t have to compete. Well, that’s not the American way. And that’s why we reject the Leftist arguments that are proven to be grossly ineffective and actually harmful to a nation. Just look at Venezuela. The Leftists in this country enjoy all the benefits of our way of life while simultaneously subverting our political system in order to turn us into another Venezuela. That’s what God should forbid!