Shabbat Shalom 3 Av 5766

Only Hurts the Poor

This week the Chicago city Council defied Mayor Daley and overwhelmingly passed legislation requiring retailers with stores larger than 90,000 sq feet to pay a minimum wage of $10 an hour with an additional $3 an hour toward benefits. This bill is a clear victory for labor unions who fear Wal-Mart and Target expanding in Chicago and bringing their grocery store super-stores into neighborhoods to compete with the union shops of Jewel and Dominicks.

So who will benefit from this law? The answer is only the unions. Who will be hurt by this law? The poor, mostly Blacks and Hispanics. The truth is that inner city minorities need the jobs and revenue these stores bring in. They also need places to shop that allow inner city families to stretch their budget. For years I have complained about the prices at union operated food stores. $3.99 for a gallon of milk, Chicken Breast $4.29 a pound and fresh produce that ain't so fresh and priced for rich people. On the other hand independent non-union shops in the suburbs that I shop at, $1.99 for milk, $1.69 for Chicken Breast and the freshest fruits and vegetables at great prices.

You can argue that the employees at the union shops earn a better wage with better benefits and that is undoubtedly true. However, that is a small group of people compared to large communities that desperately need the discount priced stores and unskilled jobs that don't pay that much less and still offer limited benefits.

Wal-Mart and Target have already stated they will either fight the city in court or expand in the suburbs. Target will most likely close the doors on their Chicago stores. Tell those laid off workers how this law benefited them.

The truth is that Chicago politicians are in the pocket of labor unions, who are often more morally bankrupt than big corporations. One may not like Wal-Mart for their high profits and lackluster employee benefits. However, people who have chosen not to graduate high school or obtain job skills can gain valuable experience at large stores and move up the store ladder. They also don't have to work there. The community that has these stores benefit greatly from lower prices to greatly increased tax revenue. Free Market good, Big Government Bad!

United Nothings

Nobody despises the UN more than hour brilliant blogger. My feels have been strengthened during the recent Israel/Hezbollah war. A few days ago Hezbollah was firing rockets at Israeli civilians from an area next to a UN observation station. Israel attacked the Hezbollah and in the process the UN post was hit an 4 UN observers were killed. Israel apologized for the accident, but UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan claimed Israel purposely attacked the UN site. Sadly, Annan most likely new the danger that post was in. Nine days ago one of the UN observers killed, a Canadian, sent an email stating that Hezbollah was firing rockets next to the post and purposely used the post as a shield.

Kofi Annan has reigned over a United Nations that grows more anti-Semitic by the day. He is a man of words with no action. His administration is drowning in corruption. It is cowards such as Annan who continue to make the world a worse place.

The current Israel/Hezbollah war is greatly due to the UN not demanding the enforcement of their own resolution 1559. Sadly there are still some people who believe the UN actually serves a purpose in the world. If it does serve a purpose it isn't to promote peace and prosperity. If anything the UN is the organization that allows war and genocide to continue, while their representatives get to live in the United States (NYC) instead of their own meager nation. Mayor bloomberg should tow all their cars, while John Bolton urinates all over Kofi Annan.

Clerks II

This past week the wife and I saw Clerks II, the sequel to the 1994 Generation X cult classic Clerks. The only word to describe the film is...Awesome! As expected Clerks II is raunchy and vile. The language is graphic and definitely not for children or anyone who easily gets offended. Often we see movies and comedians getting cheap laughs with toilet humor. The only way to describe the dialogue in Clerks II is vile graphic language for educated adults getting huge laughs. Bottom line, go see Clerks II.