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Wal-Mart Allies With The Left
Forbes.com ^ | 07-01-09 | Tevi Troy

Posted on 07/05/2009 4:45:55 PM PDT by GOP_Lady

Behind the bipartisan motives for employer-provided health insurance.

On Tuesday the CEO of Wal-Mart, long the bête noire of the American left, issued a joint statement with SEIU head Andy Stern and Center for American Progress President John Podesta, two close allies of Barack Obama, supporting the administration's health reform efforts. The letter called for bipartisan reforms that include an employer mandate to purchase health insurance for their employees.

An odd alliance? Maybe. But when two camps eye the same goal for separate reasons, they can become unlikely bedfellows.

(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: benefits; bhohealthcare; corporateamerica; healthcare; walmart; workplace
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1 posted on 07/05/2009 4:45:55 PM PDT by GOP_Lady
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To: GOP_Lady

when a company becomes large enough it will almost always become part of the establishment. This usually involves fear of and favors from politicians and their media friends, and laws that tend to discourage their competitors.


2 posted on 07/05/2009 4:48:49 PM PDT by GeronL (freeping on a PS3)
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To: GOP_Lady
I have been giving my business to Walmart and staying away from Target for some time now.

This is going to HURT Walmart, IMHO.

3 posted on 07/05/2009 4:50:26 PM PDT by Kansas58
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To: Kansas58

same here and I will not be going there now either


4 posted on 07/05/2009 4:52:21 PM PDT by manc (Marriage is between a man and a woman no sick queer sham--- end racism end affirmative action)
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To: GOP_Lady

Follow the MONEY! Some traitor is getting rich at the expense of America and the Corporation.


5 posted on 07/05/2009 4:54:52 PM PDT by Steamburg ( Your wallet speaks the only language most politicians understand.)
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To: GeronL

I prefer Meijer stores anyway. The prices are comparable and I find a lot more of the American made goods I prefer.


6 posted on 07/05/2009 4:57:22 PM PDT by cripplecreek (The poor bastards have us surrounded.)
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To: GOP_Lady

Just a cynical way of burdening the smaller rivals with costs that Wal-Mart can afford given their enormous revenue base and the efficiencies and leverage on Suppliers they are able to realize. More consolidation in an already suffering sector.


7 posted on 07/05/2009 4:57:24 PM PDT by TCats
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To: GOP_Lady
Walmart understands, perhaps better than just about any other business, how to succeed in the business environments in which it operates.

What that means is that Walmart has figured out that in Socialist/Statist countries with leftist control, they must worship at the altar of the state and buy - overtly and otherwise - influence where influence is to be had.

They have also figured out that as a capitalist enterprise, they must curry favor with the party in power, and they have long been vulnerable to a possible power shift from the Republicans to the Democrats. That power shift is now complete, and Walmart must reposition politically to find new allies to counter the anti-Walmart, anti-profit, anti-globalization, pro-Labor coalitions within the Democrat party.

No surprises here .... and it is not very complicated at all.

8 posted on 07/05/2009 4:57:44 PM PDT by JustTheTruth (Say "NO!" to Socialism in America!)
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To: cripplecreek
Agree about Miejer. They are very competitive with Costco as well and without the need to buy in Industrial Size amounts!
9 posted on 07/05/2009 5:00:20 PM PDT by TCats
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To: GOP_Lady

People called me a troll here when I badmouth walmart


10 posted on 07/05/2009 5:00:29 PM PDT by mel
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To: GOP_Lady

o.k. Walmart.... I never liked your quality anyway, but thought you were a friend to the ordinary person.... no more... in my life, you are going the way of G.E. the traitor companay who sold to the enemy and who obamanation is trying to make rich with cap and trade. when I see the GE commercials on TV about energy, I want to gag!


11 posted on 07/05/2009 5:00:41 PM PDT by bareford101 (obamanation's United States of Wonderland, but God still holds the reins)
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To: GOP_Lady
The Left thinks it has found a way to destroy Wal Mart. Convince Conservatives to stay away.

I don't shop at Wal Mart because of any political stance. I shop there because it is right down the road and it beats everybodys prices. End Of Story!

12 posted on 07/05/2009 5:04:55 PM PDT by BallyBill (Serial Hit-N-Run poster)
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To: jan in Colorado

ping


13 posted on 07/05/2009 5:06:50 PM PDT by Gondring (Paul Revere would have been flamed as a naysayer troll and told to go back to Boston.)
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To: Kansas58

I have avoided Target, and now Walmart/Sams Club will be next...I refuse to support the left anymore. It’s sad about Walmart’s decision. I will also drop any other affiliations in next year that are associated with this marxist administration. There are other places to get prescriptions filled, and other places to buy what we need. Although it may cost a little more... do we really want to support those destroying our country. Besides China is one who benefits from Walmart...not USA.

We need to help create jobs in USA...because this Admin is failing at that intentionally, imho.

Half of what we buy is a want, and not a need anyway. Time to start bartering and buying used, but some things need to be new. We need to investigate who to buy from that supports our point of view. Post what you find out, and I will too...so we all put our money where our mouth is from now on.


14 posted on 07/05/2009 5:08:49 PM PDT by Kackikat (It isn''t over till it's over, and it s not over yet.....when the TRUMPET sounds I'll be gone...)
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To: Gabz

Wally ping.


15 posted on 07/05/2009 5:09:42 PM PDT by upchuck (Psalm 109:8 ~ Let his days be few; and let another take his office.)
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To: GOP_Lady

Kinda funny to hear all the Free Traders now spin Wal Mart now....as they have worshiped at the feet of Wal Mart...claiming that it is the symbol of “free enterprise”

Now, Wal Mart is in bed with the Socialists....and probably the most liberal union in the nation.

More proof that....if you support Free Trade with Communist China....You...Are...A....Communist

Wal Mart could be our future “state run store”.....which would probably be all right with the Free Trade Comrades


16 posted on 07/05/2009 5:09:57 PM PDT by UCFRoadWarrior (The Biggest Threat To American Soverignty Is Rampant Economic Anti-Americanism)
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To: mel

Well, WalMart has unmaksed themselves as no friend of the US taxpayer, that does change things mel.

Who couldn’t see this coming though? As if now there will be card check and somehow WalMart will be spared if it does come around to their automatically opening front doors..

To me, what is missing in the US Corporate Culture is guts, they have none, Wally World is merely throwing the US taxpayer to the croc hoping that it will escape the same fate...


17 posted on 07/05/2009 5:10:44 PM PDT by padre35 (You shall not ignore the laws of God, the Market, the Jungle, and Reciprocity Rm10.10)
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To: GOP_Lady

Capitalism is amoral.

When capitalists think the Left is winning, they will become Leftists.

They will even sell the rope for their own hanging.

Surely you’re not surprised?


18 posted on 07/05/2009 5:11:30 PM PDT by Jim Noble (Pas d'ennmis a droit)
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To: GOP_Lady

Awww man. Wal-Mart is a habit I’ll now have to break. Shoot a monkey!


19 posted on 07/05/2009 5:11:39 PM PDT by Jemian (PAM of JT ~~ Caligula is pure evil.)
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To: TCats

Actually in inflationary times industrial sized amounts of a product are one of the best defenses against galloping inflation.

Pugsley’s Alpha Strategy is a great hedge against what the Obamao and the Fed is doing to the dollar, especially with imported items.


20 posted on 07/05/2009 5:13:13 PM PDT by padre35 (You shall not ignore the laws of God, the Market, the Jungle, and Reciprocity Rm10.10)
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To: GOP_Lady

Shopko! Please, no one tell me they’re Lefty affiliated... I have to drive 30 miles to get to one, but they’re really a great store.


21 posted on 07/05/2009 5:15:02 PM PDT by mplsconservative
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To: Kansas58

I used to like Target but they do not carry
all I need so I go to Wal-mart for all else.

Looks like I’ll be going to over-priced
Kroger or TT as much as I hate to.

Damn, our choices are dwindling.

They say we’re obese now, wait til 0 gets
through. We’ll either be over weight, on welfare with
only enough money for beans and gravy
or skinny as hell, dying on the hospital doorsteps.


22 posted on 07/05/2009 5:17:45 PM PDT by TribalPrincess2U (The plan... 0 in power for life. At least that's what they told him.)
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To: manc

They’ve been hand in hand with the Chinese Reds for fifteen years. Effectively bankrupting KMart and forcing American companies to open shop with the Maoists.


23 posted on 07/05/2009 5:18:04 PM PDT by xkaydet65
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To: padre35
Industrial Sized amounts are fine as long as they can be used before they degrade. Miejer has comparable per/unit costs in quantities that you can use up without wastage.

Ever buy the large size Mayonnaise at Costco? Takes a year to use up, occupies too much refrig space and, in the end, is not much cheaper on a per unit basis than what you can get at other discount type stores.

This is but one out of literally hundreds of examples.

24 posted on 07/05/2009 5:19:10 PM PDT by TCats
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To: GOP_Lady

i just spent $100 on a new phone, but not at Walmart where all my other phones came from

i dont care if a have to pay a little more, but even there i dont think i did

thanks for the tip from FR


25 posted on 07/05/2009 5:19:41 PM PDT by Piers-the-Ploughman (Just say no to circular firing squads.)
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To: Jim Noble

This isn’t capitalism. This is a big corporation embracing socialism. The entrepreneur is the engine of capitalism, not massive global corporations.

Some call it corporatism when the government picks winners and losers in the market. That is not good. The point of economic activity is getting the consumer goods he uses. It is not to protect certain producers. It is not to do what “big business” says to do.

The consumer is the one who is screwed by corporatism through higher prices and lower quality goods.

A free market would be one in which the government would not interfere in health care, would not impose food and drug regulations, would not impose wage limits.

All the bad economic news comes down to one root cause: government intervention in the economy.

The government is, was, and always will be the problem.


26 posted on 07/05/2009 5:19:42 PM PDT by MichiganConservative (Just say "No" to socialism.)
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To: GOP_Lady

So what else is new? Wal-Mart, the emporium for Chi-Com products, had the Hilde-Beast on its board while actively driving American companies to manufacture in China. I don’t set foot in Wal-Mart.


27 posted on 07/05/2009 5:19:42 PM PDT by Malesherbes (Sauve Qui Peut)
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To: Steamburg

One commenter on the fForbes site said Soros bought a lot of Walmart stock a couple monmths ago. Yikes.

While I don’t know what Walmart does or doesn’t offer for benefits, if they want to keep out the unions and continue to be Toyota and not a GM then they just need to be like Toyota and undercut any appeal of unionizing and just up the benefits available plus a unique level of profit sharing, etc.

But if Walmart is making this gesture (and that is what it is as of now right now) to grease the wheels of healthcare mandates that will hurt smaller competitors then I will be done with Wally World too.


28 posted on 07/05/2009 5:19:55 PM PDT by torchthemummy (Patriotism: "Looking out for yourself by looking out for you country." - Calvin Coolidge)
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To: GOP_Lady; All

“The carefully worded letter does not commit Wal-Mart to anything other than support of a bipartisan effort to reform health care.”

Calm down, everyone. ;)


29 posted on 07/05/2009 5:20:33 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: Gabz

Ping To #29. Meant to include you. :)


30 posted on 07/05/2009 5:22:03 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: TribalPrincess2U
we’re obese now, wait til 0 gets through. We’ll either be over weight, on welfare with only enough money for beans and gravy or skinny as hell, dying on the hospital doorsteps.

I think the cap and trade bill was supposed to clear that up. It was the east and west coast liberals way to literally tell flyover country to die.

Soon when you show up on the hospital door, you will have to wait three or four months for an exam. But strangely, abortions will be done right away.

31 posted on 07/05/2009 5:22:45 PM PDT by MichiganConservative (Just say "No" to socialism.)
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To: Kackikat

We need to beware of “Buy American”. Just because it says it, don’t mean it’s true, just like “organic” may or may not be organic.

Also some American producers will now raise their prices even more but it don’t make the product any better. I’m just saying.


32 posted on 07/05/2009 5:23:10 PM PDT by TribalPrincess2U (The plan... 0 in power for life. At least that's what they told him.)
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To: All
OH PLEASE ALL OF YOU POSTING “I AM NOT SUPPORTING LEFTISTS”... unless you make everything yourselves, you are supporting leftists in this country. Get real, whether it is Walmart trying to survive under this behemoth in D.C. or the companies they buy from (which are the same companies all of the other retailers buy from), they are leftists in some way. This holier than thou, I am not going to support this, is a JOKE.

Until we change government in this country and companies can stop playing political games to survive, nothing will be different.

Walmart takes the flack because they are so big and get reported on. How many other companies are going along with this and not getting press?

33 posted on 07/05/2009 5:23:22 PM PDT by ican'tbelieveit (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team# 36120), KW:Folding)
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To: TCats

I don’t buy the large mayo and such from Costco as it would spoil before the three of us would use it. I do love their olive oil, soy sauce and Parmesano Regianno in large sizes. It is a good deal if it is a product that keeps well.


34 posted on 07/05/2009 5:24:16 PM PDT by mplsconservative
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To: TCats

Here in Michigan Spartan foods is pushing grown in Michigan produce.


35 posted on 07/05/2009 5:25:07 PM PDT by cripplecreek (The poor bastards have us surrounded.)
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To: TCats

We noticed a LONG time ago that bulk is not cheaper for households on staple items. Noticed that bigger packaging actually has a higher per unit price a lot of the time. Many people are being taken with bulk.


36 posted on 07/05/2009 5:26:12 PM PDT by ican'tbelieveit (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team# 36120), KW:Folding)
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To: Gabz

Gabz, where are you?

I miss you! :-)


37 posted on 07/05/2009 5:26:49 PM PDT by GOP_Lady
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To: MichiganConservative
But strangely, abortions will be done right away.

And gladly paid for by the guvmint with taxpayer's money.

38 posted on 07/05/2009 5:27:26 PM PDT by TribalPrincess2U (The plan... 0 in power for life. At least that's what they told him.)
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To: GOP_Lady

Here’s an article regarding this from the WSJ:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124649408574683287.html


39 posted on 07/05/2009 5:28:13 PM PDT by GOP_Lady
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To: mel
People called me a troll here when I badmouth walmart

Me too. Among other things. But I don't mind. Eventually, people realize the truth and fall in line. Don't feel bad because you are years ahead of the others. You are in esteemed company. ;)

40 posted on 07/05/2009 5:28:34 PM PDT by Captainpaintball (It appears we DON'T wish to keep our Republic, Mr. Franklin!!!)
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To: TribalPrincess2U

I might add that we will be paying for other countries abortions aren’t we?


41 posted on 07/05/2009 5:28:41 PM PDT by TribalPrincess2U (The plan... 0 in power for life. At least that's what they told him.)
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To: GOP_Lady

I thought these guys were pretty much with the left since the Clintons.


42 posted on 07/05/2009 5:33:54 PM PDT by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote.)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin
"One letter, however, does not a lifelong friendship make. Even though SEIU and Wal-Mart have been working cooperatively on their health care initiative since 2007, SEIU remains a harsh critic of Wal-Mart when it comes to other matters."

Well, isn't that interesting?

43 posted on 07/05/2009 5:34:38 PM PDT by GOP_Lady
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To: GOP_Lady

Bookmark


44 posted on 07/05/2009 5:34:50 PM PDT by dragnet2
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To: mel
People called me a troll here when I badmouth walmart

You don't know the half of it. I was on a thread recently where the Walmart warriors were out in force, attempting to convince all that Walmart, a company that pushes Communist Chinese goods by the train load, is just wonderful..

45 posted on 07/05/2009 5:38:44 PM PDT by dragnet2
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To: mel; GOP_Lady; All

People called me a troll here when I badmouth walmart

I did aswell. China most likely owns the USA.

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html


46 posted on 07/05/2009 5:39:00 PM PDT by katiekins1 (Obama=DickTater N Chief)
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To: GOP_Lady

Here’s the letter from Wal-Mart’s website:

http://walmartstores.com/FactsNews/NewsRoom/9238.aspx


47 posted on 07/05/2009 5:39:11 PM PDT by GOP_Lady
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To: katiekins1

Don’t you know that nearly everyone here is a “troll” or a “bot” of something simply because you disagree with something or someone. LOL.


48 posted on 07/05/2009 5:40:29 PM PDT by GOP_Lady
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To: GOP_Lady

another reason to shop elsewhere


49 posted on 07/05/2009 5:40:59 PM PDT by pointsal
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To: JustTheTruth

Thanks for the excellent analysis.
I think they are trying their best to stay alive in the era of Baraq. If they can trade healthcare support for staying non-union, that may be the best they can hope for in this environment.


50 posted on 07/05/2009 5:45:28 PM PDT by nascarnation
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