Rite Aid Shoplifters Have Right Stuff Neighbors Need

Talk about Groundhog Day coming up, every time a company invests in the blighted inner-city, criminals scare them away with a new wave of shoplifting mayhem. Actor Rapaport’s viral NYC Rite Aid post suggesting blatant thievery today is an historic reminder why victimized stores close leaving the poor poorer still.

Let’s give some progressive pols like Presidents Gerald Ford and Donald Trump credit for first enacting, then, trying to expand upon the 1974 “Community Development Block Grant Program” which reversed the Nixon funding “moratorium” on HUD projects and incentivized private investors to pour money into serious redevelopment projects with tax incentives. Critics will say the CDBP turned into another DC Pork Roast for Swamp insiders & lobbyists; yet undeniably it saw to fruition many great inner-city developments that brought new jobs & services to Chicago’s South Side (and many other big cities, too.) I recall working my way through law school driving a truck there in the 70s & can attest to some rejuvenated neighborhoods … at least, until, the shoplifters descended like locusts, driving up retailers’ insurance & inventory loss costs. There’s a reason poor folks pay more for a loaf of bread than a suburbanite … and there’s a reason so many stores once servicing the poor are now shuttered … AGAIN.

In a follow up post, Rapaport suggested Rite Aid might be forced to close the store he filmed because the rip offs were so great “the store’s shelves are now bare.” Rite Aid didn’t comment to Fox News about that possibility. But, you know its Groundhog Day …

Davd Soul