One of the biggest problems facing the City of Philadelphia is the fact that businesses are leaving in droves and no new businesses want to come here. Most of that has to do with the fact that our business taxes are some of the highest in the region and that businesses in this City are penalized for being successful.
So how do you create a friendlier business environment and entice small businesses and big chains to come to Philadelphia?
Well, you don't ask them to change their hiring practices, that's for sure. However, that's exactly what Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller is trying to do.
Last night on the Fox 29 news, they profiled Miller's willingness to introduce legislation that forces Philadelphia businesses to change their hiring practices so that they hire more ex-offenders. She says that businesses see someone check the box on their application that they've been convicted of a felony and simply throw the application away. Of course, Miller's idea has many businesses angry in Philadelphia, most notably the hotel industry - companies that have to occasionally let the lowest-level of employees into guest's rooms.
There's no better way to not only scare away businesses that already exist here - but to not entice more businesses to come here - than to say "Oh, by the way, you have to change what you do. We know what's best for you. The Government knows how to run your business better than you do. We've got it all taken care of."
The piece on Fox 29 showcased a few individuals who said that they're down on their luck because of mistakes they made years ago. Some of the guys talking had terrible communication skills. We're no experts or MBA's over here, but we'd suspect that some businesses want to hire someone who can complete a sentence in non-ghetto English, even if their ultimate duty is to scrub toilets.
There are also many companies who just don't want to take the risk. The economy sucks and a company has to spend so much money here in Philadelphia on simply hiring people. Maybe they don't want to pay all those wage taxes on someone who is going to possibly rob from the company. Guess what? It sounds mildly unethical and maybe a little mean-spirited, but it's the company's right. They're doing nothing wrong by not wanting to hire someone with a criminal background. They're running a business the way they want to.
If you tell businesses how they should operate, they'll just give the City of Philadelphia a big middle finger and move elsewhere. Maybe that's what Donna Reed Miller wants, though. Maybe she wants more of us enslaved to the City of Philadelphia through the fact that there are no private sector jobs.
It cost taxpayers thousands of dollars every time someone introduces an idiotic bill like this. Donna Reed Miller doesn't care. She's also a supporter of the Obama Administration's idea to let convicted felons vote. So, if they're given a chance to vote, she'll be re-elected by countless ex-offenders. This is obviously not a ploy to "better" the City of Philadelphia.
- AP
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Aaron's appearance on the Fox 29 News at 10 from December 9th, 2010.
Aaron's appearance on Fox News Channel from December 1st, 2010.
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