The Davis-Bacon act was passed by the US Congress in 1931 and signed into law by President Herbert Hoover.  You see, it was during the Great Depression when jobs were scarce.  In Robert L. Bacon’s congressional district which included Long Island, New York a Federal Building called the Veterans’ Bureau was being constructed.  The contractor brought in a bunch of African-American workers from Alabama to do the work, denying Bacon the political support he would have had if local workers had been employed on the job.

The Davis-Bacon Act was rooted and born in racism, but evolved into a union protectionist bill, as all Federal construction projects must pay the prevailing union wage.  The Davis Bacon act has cost US taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars since it was passed, driving up the costs of virtually every Federal project.

In 1996 Santorum had a chance to vote for the repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act.  He was one of just 14 Republicans to vote against the repeal of Davis-Bacon. When asked about why he opposed repeal on Fox News Sunday, Santorum said:

“And you need to remember, I was from the state of Pennsylvania.   I’m no longer representing that state. And by the way, with respect to Davis-Bacon. My feeling was, again, representing that state, which has a large segment of contractors that work under those provisions that I would protect that right. Again, as a president, I would have a different view. But I did represent a constituency and one of the things I think is important is to listen and respect the rights of my state.”

The above quote exposes Santorum for what he is; a compromising, unprincipled politician that will go where the votes are…period.  Davis-Bacon and Rick Santorum are both bad acts.  We should repeal Davis-Bacon as soon as possible.  Meanwhile, Rick Santorum should not be taken seriously as a Presidential candidate.