Last Minute Responses on Peter Kobak

04/02/2019

At the tail end of the 2019 local elections for At-Large Peoria City Council seats, a mailer promising to expose the “liberals” running in the race was received by the general public. It was sent by Spotlight on Progressive PAC (whoever that actually is hiding behind dark money clothes). It is likely this group is a front for the Weaver faction of the Peoria Republican party. Chuck Weaver and his ilk¹ are largely libertarians, conservatives that believe civilization is founded by the free market alone.

The mailer in question attacked several of Peter Kobak’s position. First, it pointed out how his support for a higher minimum wage has been preempted by the state. While it is true Illinois has passed legislation raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025, there are still key loopholes that Kobak would have an opportunity at the local level to close. For example, one loophole in the state legislation is allowing capitalists to pay minors less than the minimum wage.² Paying minors less than adults seems like the right thing to do; obviously, adults have more responsibilities than minors and should be paid more for their labor. But, this sense of maturing superiority offers adult workers a psychological wage at best. If a business that is “low-skilled” can hire a minor cheaper than an adult, that’s what they’ll do, undermining adult workers. If Peter Kobak is on City Council, he can fight to close that loophole in Peoria.

Next, the mailer mentions that Kobak’s campaign promise to legalize cannabis is also likely to be preempted by the state. Hopefully the state does legalize cannabis, but only a novice political observer would forget the importance of “home rule” in Illinois legislation. At the local level, there may be slightly different rules, fines, taxes, etc. The question you have to ask is who do you want on City Council making these decisions? Do you want capitalists like Mayor Ardis & Sid Ruckriegal taxing cannabis at extremely high rates? Do you want capitalists focusing their attention on already wealthy, largely white cannabis growers? Or, do you want someone like Kobak who recognizes that legalizing cannabis is about more than tax revenue? Do you want someone who recognizes the disproportionate punishment of people of color with past cannabis laws? Do you want someone who understands the importance of equity working with cannabis shops and growers? Peter Kobak understands these points and the subtle differences.

Finally, the mailer stated Peter Kobak has 5 main points despite the fact the brochure of Peter’s listed has 6 points; this shows you how desperate these people are. Libertarians suffer from a profound bankruptcy of thought. I believe it was Zach Oyler who repeated multiple times how social justice issues should not be a concern for local governments. “Local infrastructure and fire/safety; that’s it.” (this is a paraphrase of Oyler’s actual comments). They forget how much the market depends on government for its survival (government builds the roads to these businesses; it educates the future workers of these businesses; etc.) And, as Peter Kobak has stated multiple times with great eloquence, government institutions have an opportunity to address systemic issues and bring forth change in ways the market can only commodify in its attempt to extract more surplus-value.

No, Peter Kobak’s campaign platform has not been preempted; if anything, it is put on more solid foundation with the assistance of state legislation. So, who do you want in the horseshoe this time around? A group that has the same ideas that have ground Peoria into the dirt the last several years? Or, is it time for real change? Vote for Peter Kobak April 2^nd, 2019.

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1. Which include sitting councilperson Zach Oyler and perennial candidate John “Growth™” Kelly
2. By 2025, it will be legal to pay minors a full $2 less than adults.