The Patriot Post® · DC Mayor Gets the Message

In July we explained Walmart’s decision to withdraw plans that would have brought six stores and some 1,800 much-needed positions to Washington, DC. In short, Walmart officials were forced to drop the effort because of the Large Retailer Accountability Act approved by the city council. The legislation would require the world’s largest retailer, among others, to pay its employees $12.50 an hour.

In response, Walmart walked away. And they evidently weren’t the only ones. According to the Associated Press, “Mayor Vincent Gray vetoed a bill Thursday that would force [Walmart] and other large retailers to pay their employees at least $12.50 an hour, calling it a ‘job killer’ that would not advance the goal of a living wage for District of Columbia workers.” You don’t say!

“The bill is a job-killer, because nearly every large retailer now considering opening a store in the district has indicated they would not come here or expand here if this bill becomes law,” Mayor Gray conceded. Well, what did you expect to happen?

Predictably, the Left still places the fault at the feet of evil corporate giants. “Walmart put a gun to the mayor’s head, and the mayor capitulated,” explained furious council member Vincent Orange. “Walmart and the mayor should be ashamed that they’re going to provide poverty wages to people who get up every day and go to work.”

It’s Big Labor and their Democrat lapdogs that should be ashamed. You reap what you sow.