RED MAYOR VS. REDLINING:

Daley calls big-box ordinance 'redlining' (FRAN SPIELMAN, July 25, 2006, Chicago Sun-Times)

Mayor Daley on Monday denounced as "redlining" a proposal to establish wage and benefit standards for Wal-Mart and other retailing giants and suggested that aldermen who don't want big-box stores simply "opt out."

Daley played the race card, flanked by some of Chicago's most influential black ministers, two days before a City Council showdown on an ordinance that could change the economic landscape in Chicago.

"This is going to hurt the minority community. . . . You talk about redlining. This is basically redlining. . . . This deals with economic development in the African-American community," Daley told a City Hall news conference.

"No one would ever bring that up in the suburban area. We're not talking about the Near North Side. . . . We're not talking about Wrigleyville. We're not talking about any of those [white] communities. We're talking about the West Side and the South Side. . . . For us to say, 'No, we don't want these stores,' that puts Chicago more on the map [as anti-business] than foie gras. That says, 'We don't want development.' ''

There's a whole stage full of folks who haven't accepted yet that they're Republicans.

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 25, 2006 10:16 AM