Alderman Daley screws over poor people
Our brilliant Alderman Daley, like many other economic idiots who call themselves Aldermen, just voted in favor of making it harder for stores like Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, Kohl's and Home Depot to competitively perform in Chicago.
The so-called "big box" retailers will have to pay Chicago employees a minimum of $9.25 an hour in wages and $1.50 an hour in fringe benefits, jumping up an additional 75 cents in hourly wages and doubling the fringe benefits by the year 2010. Current Illinois minimum wage levels are set at $6.50 an hour.
Say what you want about Mayor Daley, but he at least realized that this is a horrible thing for city residents.
The RANCH newsletter and Alderman Daley of course hails the move to punish "big box" retailers as a way to protect what they view as their retail boutique shops on Armitage.
Ummm, no, if you want your nice little village of shops, and to keep the average Joe in business, and don't want to see what one perwon bitched about as overpriced cosmetic stores moving into the area, you get rid of regulations and lower property taxes so that Average Joe can make a profit. My dry cleaner just lost their lease because they simply could not afford the new lease's costs. Guess what, the bulk of those costs for property owners come from maintaining the property (made more expensive by landmarking) and ever-rising property taxes (made more expensive by excessive city government spending).
The people who are hurt by this measure are not the wealthy in Lincoln Park and elsewhere who have a car, and the ability to drive to the suburbs to stock up on dog food and diapers, or pay for Peapod to deliver their groceries.
The people hurt are the ones who can only get somewhere by taking a bus or walking; who cannot afford to spend much on food generally, let alone the Whole Foods delivery surcharge for their groceries; and who would be thrilled to get the job as a greeter at Wal-Mart.
Requiring payment of a higher minimum wage is a cost. And for every person who maybe gets an extra $20 dollars a day in pay by the ordinance, how many people who do not have much in the way of disposable income will be forced to pay extra for groceries, transportation costs, home repair, clothing, because there is no "big box" retailer nearby?
If you lack disposable income, a penny saved is more than a penny earned, not least of which because the money saved you don't have to pay payroll taxes on.
So Vi Daley's wealthy constituents aren't harmed by the fact that they have to drive down Elston street on Saturdays if they want to shop at Target, or even out to the suburbs once in a while, or pay someone to do some electrical work instead of picking up supplies at Home Depot to do it themselves. But the people who don't have cars, who are living from paycheck to paycheck, will be forced to struggle when they don't have those same options.
So here's what a vote for Vi Daley means. Standing on the side of a government that thinks nothing of stealing value from your homes, making life harder for the working poor, all in the interests of protectiving a bunch of snobs' aesthetics.
posted by The Grants @ 11:23 AM
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