Job killing leftists have chalked up another victory. Wal-Mart was looking to build three stores in Washington, DC, but the prostitutes serving Big Labor, aka the DC City Council, voted 8-5 to chase them away. What this came in the form of was a “Living Wage Bill”, which was actually specifically targeted toward Wal-Mart. The bill forces retailers with over $1 billion in sales and stores occupying over 75,000 feet of pave to pay $12.50 per hour, as opposed to the $8.25 Washington, DC minimum wage. The Washington Post reported
“The question here is a living wage; it’s not whether Wal-Mart comes or stays,” said council member Vincent B. Orange (D-At Large), a lead backer of the legislation, who added that the city did not need to kowtow to threats. “We’re at a point where we don’t need retailers. Retailers need us.”
What? Exactly what point is it that you feel the need to chase businesses away from a city that has 8.5% unemployment? We could also give Messr, Orange a basic lesson on economics that wages get determined by what you’re worth, not what makes leftists happy. Entry level jobs pay less for a reason. And we could also point out that when a city suffers from high unemployment it’s nothing to celebrate over when you shut down someone who is willing to risk their own money in your neighborhood to create jobs. $8.25 per hour is actually an exponentially better wage than the amount of zero that comes from not working. Fox News added that Wal-mart scrapped it’s plans as a result, and also noted how this bill singled out Wal-Mart:
Unionized businesses are exempt from the measure. Large stores that already have a presence in D.C., including Target (TGT) and Macy’s (M), have four years to comply.
That last part can be translated as an exemption that Macy’s and Target will be allowed to keep in perpetuity provided they shovel enough money to the appropriate community groups dedicated to re-electing the DC council members.
One doesn’t have to go far to see examples of leftists’ selective outrage, whether it’s in the privately owned Newseum’s layoffs while their executives are paid quite well, or anti-Capitalist Senator Elizabeth Warren (D – Cherokee Nation) who pays her own interns a living wage of… zero.
Here is where I go back to my original “Chicken Hawk” argument. If all of you lefties truly support a living wage, then try something crazy and radical – go out and support a living wage yourself. Let’s start with Councilman Orange – if $12.50 is the lowest wage needed to survive in Washington DC, raise the minimum wage to that level for all residents, not just those that may be employed by an organization that the radical left has to hate. I urge Councilman Orange to take it a step further – going forward he should refuse campaign contributions from any organization whose lowest paid employee makes less than $12.50 an hour.
The easiest way is for you to use your own income to start a company that pays $12.50 an hour for entry level work. Chances are, if you’re living in the Washington DC area you probably have some money put away that you can afford to do so. Knock yourself out – if you feel so strongly about paying a living wage, then do it yourself. Or find a group of friends to pool your money if you can’t afford this on your own. Or maybe this is too much trouble for you – fair enough. Then I call on you to show that you are serious by boycotting all of your local favorites that don’t pay at least $12.50 per hour to all of their employees. Do Ben’s Chili Bowl, Ray’s The Third (Hell Burger), or the Old Ebbitt Grill pay every employee, from their managers down to the cleaning crew a living wage? If they don’t then stop eating at them. Take it to all of your everyday purchases – if you’re looking for a good deal on a TV or if you need a new refrigerator steer clear of Best Buy and HH Gregg until you’ve confirmed that the wages they pay meet whatever your personal morality dictates for them to earn your business. You don’t want to come off as ignorant like John Edwards, do you?. I have no idea how much each of these organizations pay, and I really don’t care. How much each employee is compensated is between them an the employer so long as no laws are being broken.
Or don’t. I really don’t care what choices you make with your own money. If you like to spend less and want to support the people who work for Wal-Mart then shop there. Or don’t shop at Wal-Mart and seek a store that pays its employees higher wages and gives you the opportunity to support that effort by paying more. But stop pretending that your focused ire toward Walmart is out of compassion for the poor rather than a product of the interest groups telling you who to hate this week.
Cross posted from Brother Bob’s Blog
