The Bush Overtime Scam

The attack on the 40 hour week is gearing up again in the Bush regime. The 40 hour week, a democratic ideal, is under attack by a selected resident who, has never worked a 40 hour week in his life, much less, made an honest dollar.

Underscoring the the work and business history of Bush, one finds failure. Thanks to his father's rich corporate pals, little Bush always seemed to be bailed out in the nick of time. What is most disturbing, though, is this person seems to want to dictate law and rules in an area he has no experience. Is he bent on seeing the American working family fail as he did? Is this some sort of retribution for the successes of the working men and women in America? One can only wonder as this resident bumbles his way through territory he does not understand.

The new rule would be that, overtime be paid after a two-week, 80-hour interval. Well guess what?? That means, Wal-Mart or some other despicable employer could demand you work 5 ten hour days the first week and then only allow you to work 30 hours the next week with no overtime pay. There would be no set schedule, you would have difficulty planning ahead for family activities, you would be a part-time parent. All of these rules violate the Fair Labor Standards Act, an Act that evenly distributes work hours and prohibits excessive work hours without premium pay.

And, of course, we can easily tie this attack on over-time pay to Bush's corporate pals. He is, in essence, setting the stage for workplace abuse and no means for employees to opt-out of the mandatory conditions put in place by this scam.

Employers have always had flexible options but, have rarely authorized their use. Without incentive I, personally, predict that the forced overtime will eventually cost corporations more due to lack of productivity and low morale.