Big Box and Joe Moore's Socialist Agenda

The next time you hear Alderman Joe Moore talk about a "living wage" or his puffery about creating jobs in Rogers Park, ask him what the hell he's talking about. In the summer of 2006, Comrade Alderman Joe Moore got his "living wage" ordinance passed in the City Council. 

Comrade Joe Moore

Some cheered that "progressive" law. Most of us, however, understood that this was (a) bad for local employment opportunities, (b) not the right way to achieve a better standard of living, (c) dangerous because it would scare other "big box" businesses (stores with 100,000 sq. feet or more) away from Chicago, and (d) it would only be a matter of time before the "progressives" behind the ordinance pushed for "medium box" and eventually any box they could get their "progressive" hands on. 

Sure enough, points out Marathon Pundit, it wasn't long before "Lowe's and Target announced cancelling new store projects in Chicago. But there is common sense in Chicago--Mayor Richard M. Daley vetoed the bill." Yesterday, Home Depot (a "big box") said it was hiring thousands of people nationwide, including 2,000 right here in Chicago. 

Thank God that Mayor Daley vetoed Alderman Joe Moore's idiotic and counter-productive ordinance, and that enough members of the City Council came around to common sense. Had they not, the hundreds of people that Wal-Mart has since put to work, plus the 2,000 Chicagoans that will find employment at Home Depot soon, would be - pardon my French - shit out of luck. This is not to say there are not problems with Wal-Mart and some other "big box" stores. 

I, too, have issues with them, not the least of which is there piggish buying of Chinese-made goods, goods that often have equivalents made in the U.S. or in nations friendlier to us than is China. But one of the good things they do is employ Americans right in our own backyard. False progressives like Joe Moore, however, would rather deny people an opportunity to work at Wal-Mart, Home Depot, or Target than have them work for the "non-living" wage of $9.00 per hour. 

Stop; let's not quibble about the exact wage. The point here is that anything over minimum wage is a hell of a lot better than nothing, and nothing is what too many people in some of our neighborhoods have. Joe Moore would keep it that way simply to score political points and have champagne toasts made to him by fellow "progressives." 

As I pointed out yesterday, this is good news for 2,000 Chicagoans. But Joe Moore must hate it. 

Again, Marathon Pundit: 

"One of the major supporters of [Alderman] Moore's bill was the Service Employees International Union. Had Moore, SEIU, and other short-sighted ones gotten their way, those Home Depot jobs wouldn't be coming to Chicago." 

Yes, but will that stop Joe Moore? No, he and his minion Alex Armour have an obsessive hatred of Wal-Mart and other "big box" stores, and their blind hatred causes them to drive against these business entities in spite of the fact that their actions have the potenial to destroy lives by denying people needed jobs. These guys are not "progressives." Progressives put people first, not selfish political ambition. Joe Moore and the Stalinists in his camp do not care about people; politics and tally marks are more important. Keep an eye on Moore; there will be future battles in this fight. 

Read Marathon Pundit's excellent reporting on yesterday's Home Depot announcement, and related items by clicking here.