It's day 12, and now we are in The Windy City of Chicago (ok, we have 23 days left, and we have a running pool who will not make it, my bet is on Paul).

Today, so far, we've canvassed Michigan Ave, and are preparing for a great town hall/community meeting with Rep. Jan Schakowsky.

The fun part of the day other than complaining about really bad coffee, is trying to figure out how to get a bus that needs 13 foot clearance under a bridge with 10 foot clearance. Now we're not trying to be all conspiracy-minded, but one of us, I wont mention who (ok, it was Paul), thinks Wal-Mart reduced the bridges in Chicago to keep our tour out - that's just crazy talk, but if you know any information about the so-called "Chicago-bridge/wal-mart conspiracy" please email us at info@wakeupwalmart.com.

Actually, we're here in Chicago at an important time. Wal-Mart is fighting tooth and nail to overturn the Chicago Living Wage Ordinance. There is a lot of talk from Wal-Mart as to why this is so bad, but let me put this into perspective for folks:

A full-time worker in retail would earn, under the new ordinance, around $20,000 a year. Now if anyone in America thinks that someone working full-time shouldn't be able to earn around 20k while living in one of the most expensive cities in America has never had lived on $20,000 or in Chicago. This is about people, families, having a decent job that may actually provide a little more than the basic necessities. How anyone in America with conscience can be opposed to this is beyond me.

So it's kind of ironic that those opposed to this living wage ordinance,(i.e. Wal-Mart) are talking about how unfair it is for them, but don't mention the part about Wal-Mart' s 11.2 billion in profits, tens of millions paid to top Wal-Mart executives, or that the Walton family is worth over $77 billion. Now I don't know about you, but the last time I checked there were never many Wal-Mart millionaire executives standing in line at the food bank, or the unemployment office, or the public hospital. But, there are a lot of Wal-Mart associates. What does that say about Wal-Mart's values?

The truth is that Wal-Mart can both make money and take care of its
employees at a level that supports the basic necessities (were talking food and rent here, not Ferraris.)

So if you are in Chicago, come this afternoon and join the fight for a better America. We'll be at St. Gregory High School at 3:00 PM. RSVP now and come sign the better America pledge.

- CK