In yet another blatantly political and typically Democratic move Chicago’s Mayor Richard Daley is supporting a proposal to set aside a portion of city contracts and giving preferential treatment for those contracts to businesses owned by gays and lesbians.

“The City That Works” already has set asides for businesses owned by blacks, Hispanics, Asians and women. This would be yet another block of city business opportunities no longer made available to white, heterosexual businessmen.

When asked about the proposal submitted by openly gay Alderman Thomas Tunny of the 44th Ward, Mayor Dailey said “I think it’s good. It helps small businesses. It helps businesses grow in the city and that’s what we want.”

Far be it from me to correct the math of “da Mayor” that received 4 million votes in a city of 2.9 million people, but if you set aside business to benefit one group don’t you have an equal and opposite adverse effect on another? Of course you do!

As a lifelong Democrat, who knows how the vote goes, this Mayor understands that if he can keep the various minority communities on his side the white community will fall into place. Daley has already run against blacks, women and Hispanics, and successfully defeated them all. He also knows that he has a strong voting bloc in the gay community and while he may not have proposed this manifestly unfair business bias himself, he has very little choice in his public support of it. But please Mr. Mayor, don’t say this is to benefit small business or any business for that matter. It is exclusively to the benefit of your next reelection bid and patronage stranglehold. It is actually to the detriment of business and the city as well.

Chicago, like most major metropolitan areas, is currently suffering from the reduced revenues of economic recession. The 2009 budget for the city is a whopping $6 billion dollars. It included some belt-tightening in anticipation of the lean times ahead and also included an additional $52.5 million in new and increased taxes and fees. This is on top of the record $276.5 million in new and increased taxes and fees included in the 2008 budget. It is important to note that this budget does not include Cook County costs which are paid for directly by the county tax and spend machine.

The 2009 budget, when passed, contained 784 fewer layoffs than the year prior. However since its passage the mayor has put several city employee unions feet to the fire insisting on additional non-paid days off or else he would be forced to institute a wave of city worker layoffs.

In this climate of reduced business for city businesses and reduced revenue for the city itself are we sure that taking even more of the business that is left available to the general business community and setting it aside for yet another special interest group is the proper and fair thing to do? How can that be?

How is it possible that because you are homosexual your business is deemed more worthy to survive than a heterosexual owned business? And in a time of near budgetary crisis in the city, how is it possible that setting aside more of the city’s contracts, further diminishing the competitive bidding process and increasing costs, is a good thing?

Are the cost structures different at homosexual owned businesses that would require they get some special treatment to level the playing field? Have homosexual owned businesses been on the receiving end of years of prejudice that we need to make some sort of amends? I’m pretty sure I understand how we identify black, Hispanic, Asian and female owned businesses. How exactly is the city going to verify a homosexual owned business? Just the thought of that verification process could keep some city inspectors from sleeping at night.

This is a tragically unfair proposal and definitely not in the best interest of the city. I understand why the Mayor supports it. But it’s still a pretty low blow.

So to speak.