Why the war against Wal-Mart?

Oak Lawn (IL) Reporter ^ | 4/1/04 | Michael M. Bates

[Mike Bates]

Chicago aldermen are taking a break from whatever it is they usually do to save the city’s populace from a fate that’s apparently at least as bad as death.

They’re fighting to keep Wal-Mart from defiling the toddlin’ town.

Aiding them in this valiant struggle are labor unions. The president of the Chicago Federation of Labor outlined a terrifying scenario for the Chicago Sun-Times: "Once this first Wal-Mart comes, you’ll see two more pop up quick and, within a year, you'll probably see 10 of ‘em. This is Public Enemy No. 1 in the eyes of labor."

What he should have said is that Wal-Mart is Public Enemy No. 1 in the eyes of union labor. Almost 90% of American workers don’t belong to a union. Their Public Enemy No. 1 possibly, just possibly, might not be a giant retailer offering a large selection of merchandise at good prices.

Who knows? There may even be a union member or two who wouldn’t mind saving a few bucks.

Opening a Wal-Mart means jobs and plenty of them. Many of them would be at entry-level positions, which are so badly needed in the inner city.

But they’re not union jobs. It must be an alderman’s sacred duty to protect Chicago’s unemployed from the humiliation of earning less than what union bosses dictate.

Those who would have been hired by Wal-Mart may be impoverished. They may be dependent on public assistance of one kind or another. They may have to ask for help from relatives and friends.

But, thanks to Chicago’s city council, they’re able to hold their heads high and proudly proclaim, "No, I don’t have a job, but if I did, it’d pay union scale."

One of the aldermen blocking the proposal to build a Wal-Mart told the Chicago Tribune, "I’m here for union labor." How very comforting. Can you spell "lapdog", boys and girls?

Not to be overlooked are the millions of dollars in tax revenue that a Wal-Mart or two would bring to the city’s coffers. Certainly Chicago has a reputation for fiscal prudence. It’s renowned for having absolutely no fraud, waste, mismanagement or kickbacks. Still, I’m sure that city officials would have found a way to spend all that additional revenue.

Wal-Mart seems to aggravate the heck out of some liberals, and it’s not just the company’s non-union policy. There are other problems.

John Kerry’s wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, said a few weeks ago that Wal-Marts "drive me crazy" because "they destroy communities."

The same week in a Los Angeles debate, her husband also disclosed his revulsion for the retailer: "And you've got companies like Wal-Mart . . . that hire part-time people, that have actually advertised to come and work, so they won't do their health care."

Not all of us are as wealthy as the Kerrys, who own five multimillion-dollar homes. We weren’t raised in an affluence that permitted shopping at the most exclusive and expensive stores.

There is, I suspect, an element of elitism in some of the opposition to Wal-Mart. I recently heard from a reader critical of a column I wrote about Costco executives giving large contributions to defeat President Bush.

Wal-Mart wasn’t even mentioned in the column, yet the reader wrote how the store "pays miniscule wages, offers lousy health benefits, and stabs consumers with voodoo pricing," whatever that is.

What particularly interested me was the way he finished his communication: "I'll stick with Costco, you go ahead and fill your double-wide with Wal-Mart crap." For those of you not familiar with the James Carville School of Deprecating Remarks, the double-wide reference is a suggestion I live in a trailer.

Again, there seems to be some snobbery at work in all the Wal-Mart loathing. Is it because the stores provide decent goods at affordable prices to the great unwashed, thereby improving their living standards even to the point of having some of the same conveniences as their betters?

Perhaps a reason is the chain has a policy of not selling CDs with sexually explicit lyrics. Maybe the irritation is the senior citizens hired to be greeters. Wal-Mart sells religious literature, even Bibles. Possibly that’s an annoyance.

Or is it because Wal-Mart is a prime example of how free enterprise can benefit millions of Americans, including the more than one million who work there? Capitalism can just be so unbridled sometimes.

[Mike Bates]

Another example of government "protection."

[EggsAckley]

Public Enemy #1 = Labor Unions

[Agnes Heep]

God save us from low prices.

[BigSkyFreeper]

When the Chicago city government is comprised of crooks and frauds, I'd hate to think crooks are "protecing" me, if I was living in Chicago.

[So Cal Rocket]

One of the reasons that WalMart is a target of Leftist Legislators:

     

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2004 ELECTION OVERVIEW
Top Overall Donors

Breakdown to display:

Rank	Contributor	Total Contributions	To Dems	To Repubs	Contributions Tilt
1	Goldman Sachs	$2,656,413	51%	49%	On the fence
2	National Assn of Realtors	$1,464,806	51%	49%	On the fence
3	Wal-Mart Stores	$1,372,840	16%	84%	Strongly Republican
4	Lehman Brothers	$1,272,063	45%	55%	On the fence
5	Citigroup Inc	$1,262,072	46%	54%	On the fence
6	Time Warner	$1,100,781	71%	29%	Strongly Democratic
7	SBC Communications	$1,093,935	32%	68%	Strongly Republican
8	Assn of Trial Lawyers of America	$1,047,499	91%	9%	Solidly Democratic
9	Morgan Stanley	$1,039,883	37%	63%	Leans Republican
10	National Assn of Home Builders	$1,034,500	38%	61%	Leans Republican
11	United Parcel Service	$1,024,271	28%	72%	Strongly Republican
12	Merrill Lynch	$1,016,789	20%	80%	Strongly Republican
13	Laborers Union	$997,880	82%	18%	Strongly Democratic
14	Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers	$979,330	96%	4%	Solidly Democratic
15	Carpenters & Joiners Union	$970,000	63%	37%	Leans Democratic
16	Machinists/Aerospace Workers Union	$942,011	98%	1%	Solidly Democratic
17	National Auto Dealers Assn	$936,300	30%	70%	Strongly Republican
18	PriceWaterhouseCoopers	$925,108	14%	86%	Strongly Republican
19	Microsoft Corp	$914,882	56%	44%	Leans Democratic
20	UBS Americas	$912,738	28%	71%	Strongly Republican
21	National Beer Wholesalers Assn	$888,618	26%	74%	Strongly Republican
22	MBNA Corp	$875,647	23%	77%	Strongly Republican
23	Credit Union National Assn	$873,063	41%	59%	Leans Republican
24	Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu	$841,135	25%	75%	Strongly Republican
25	Ernst & Young	$806,077	29%	71%	Strongly Republican
26	Blue Cross/Blue Shield	$805,032	37%	63%	Leans Republican
27	Teamsters Union	$801,500	85%	14%	Strongly Democratic
28	American Fedn of St/Cnty/Munic Employees	$797,089	97%	2%	Solidly Democratic
29	General Electric	$794,690	40%	60%	Leans Republican
30	Verizon Communications	$794,339	34%	66%	Leans Republican
31	Service Employees International Union	$779,800	83%	17%	Strongly Democratic
32	JP Morgan Chase & Co	$778,281	50%	51%	On the fence
33	American Bankers Assn	$768,918	39%	61%	Leans Republican
34	Lockheed Martin	$768,589	39%	61%	Leans Republican
35	Credit Suisse First Boston	$739,500	36%	64%	Leans Republican
36	Air Line Pilots Assn	$718,250	78%	22%	Strongly Democratic
37	United Auto Workers	$715,930	99%	1%	Solidly Democratic
38	KPMG LLP	$713,585	23%	77%	Strongly Republican
39	Northrop Grumman	$702,522	37%	63%	Leans Republican
40	EMILY's List	$700,324	100%	0%	Solidly Democratic
41	General Dynamics	$667,825	38%	62%	Leans Republican
42	American Hospital Assn	$666,752	41%	59%	Leans Republican
43	American Postal Workers Union	$659,500	77%	22%	Strongly Democratic
44	Bear Stearns	$656,083	39%	61%	Leans Republican
45	BellSouth Corp	$650,560	40%	60%	Leans Republican
46	Operating Engineers Union	$645,619	75%	25%	Strongly Democratic
47	AFLAC Inc	$639,142	37%	63%	Leans Republican
48	Boeing Co	$638,976	40%	60%	Leans Republican
49	Blank Rome LLP	$636,350	23%	77%	Strongly Republican
50	Piper Rudnick LLP	$630,597	68%	31%	Strongly Democratic
51	Greenberg, Traurig et al	$617,754	61%	39%	Leans Democratic
52	Sheet Metal Workers Union	$607,100	96%	4%	Solidly Democratic
53	Union Pacific Corp	$605,548	18%	82%	Strongly Republican
54	American Dental Assn	$597,258	40%	60%	Leans Republican
55	American Maritime Officers	$589,500	43%	57%	Leans Republican
56	Associated Builders & Contractors	$587,800	1%	99%	Solidly Republican
57	Pfizer Inc	$581,729	35%	65%	Leans Republican
58	United Transportation Union	$573,650	82%	18%	Strongly Democratic
59	Southern Co	$568,900	19%	81%	Strongly Republican
60	Wachovia Corp	$565,960	33%	67%	Strongly Republican
61	Bank of America	$559,440	45%	55%	On the fence
62	Viacom Inc	$557,300	72%	28%	Strongly Democratic
63	Akin, Gump et al	$550,278	55%	45%	On the fence
64	Boilermakers Union	$546,200	94%	5%	Solidly Democratic
65	National Air Traffic Controllers Assn	$545,750	61%	39%	Leans Democratic
66	Ironworkers Union	$537,225	85%	14%	Strongly Democratic
67	National Rural Electric Cooperative Assn	$529,673	43%	57%	Leans Republican
68	Skadden, Arps et al	$488,119	74%	25%	Strongly Democratic
69	International Assn of Fire Fighters	$476,600	74%	26%	Strongly Democratic
70	Cassidy & Assoc/Interpublic Group	$474,867	48%	52%	On the fence
71	Federal Express Corp	$457,700	29%	71%	Strongly Republican
72	Baron & Budd	$450,183	96%	4%	Solidly Democratic
73	Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance	$446,300	44%	56%	On the fence
74	American International Group	$438,663	38%	62%	Leans Republican
75	United Food & Commercial Workers Union	$436,550	99%	2%	Solidly Democratic
76	Bank One Corp	$434,336	46%	54%	On the fence
77	Wells Fargo	$429,116	41%	59%	Leans Republican
78	Comcast Corp	$426,373	41%	59%	Leans Republican
79	Patton Boggs LLP	$419,583	70%	29%	Strongly Democratic
80	Natl Assn Insurance & Financial Advisors	$416,700	33%	67%	Strongly Republican
81	Metropolitan Life	$414,711	57%	43%	Leans Democratic
82	GlaxoSmithKline	$409,500	31%	69%	Strongly Republican
83	Americans for a Republican Majority	$409,278	0%	99%	Solidly Republican
84	Altria Group	$405,550	41%	59%	Leans Republican
85	United Technologies	$403,465	37%	63%	Leans Republican
86	National Rifle Assn	$402,123	14%	86%	Strongly Republican
87	WPP Group	$401,648	45%	54%	On the fence
88	Communications Workers of America	$397,708	99%	1%	Solidly Democratic
89	Simmons Firm	$391,750	100%	0%	Solidly Democratic
90	Walt Disney Co	$381,210	62%	38%	Leans Democratic
91	Holland & Knight	$377,537	57%	43%	Leans Democratic
92	International Longshoremens Assn	$377,400	93%	7%	Solidly Democratic
93	American Financial Group	$369,849	4%	96%	Solidly Republican
94	AFL-CIO	$367,400	87%	13%	Strongly Democratic
95	Exelon Corp	$365,418	43%	57%	Leans Republican
96	Cigna Corp	$362,294	17%	83%	Strongly Republican
97	HSBC USA	$360,500	39%	61%	Leans Republican
98	Eli Lilly & Co	$359,927	29%	71%	Strongly Republican
99	Amalgamated Transit Union	$359,750	85%	15%	Strongly Democratic
100	Winston & Strawn	$353,404	30%	69%	Strongly Republican

METHODOLOGY: The numbers on this page are based on contributions from PACs and individuals giving $200 or more to federal candidates and parties as reported to the Federal Election Commission.

All the numbers on this page are for the 2004 election cycle and are based on data released by the FEC on Monday, March 01, 2004. Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics.

To view data for previous cycles, visit our Big Picture section.

[Iron Matron]

I actually do not like Wal-Mart because they DO run other grocery stores out of business, which lowers the amount of merchandise I have to choose from. In my town Lowes is a gonner, ALbertsons is next, and I hate to count the
wonderful "Mom & Pops" they have destroyed.

Would not be so bad but Wal-Mart has a HORRIBLE selection of food-colored,water filled meats, no real brand-name selection in canned and dry goods . .etc. If Wal-Mart had a better selection, I suppose it would be OK to run old mom and pop stores out of business, but they really stink in the food selection areas.

[adiaireton8]

This article makes some good points, but it does not present a fair portrayal of the opposing position. It reads like it was written by a libertarian, and it makes generous use of sophistry. It would be a much better article if the author actually dealt with (and refuted) the best objections to his position, instead of ridiculous speculation that the reason a number of communities oppose Wal-Marts is that, for example, Wal-Mart sells Bibles.

[Richard Kimball]

bump for later

[Notwithstanding]

I grew up in a small town with no Walmart.

It stunk.

The mom and pops never had any selection and never carried anything the least bit in style.

The mom and pops can't deliver the goods. Its called capitalism. But mom and pops can deliver boutique goods and services. And should do so rathe rthan blaming their woes on some big bad demon.

[Revelation 911]

fyi walmart bump

[BlazingArizona]

I actually do not like Wal-Mart because they DO run other grocery stores out of business, which lowers the amount of merchandise I have to choose from. In my town Lowes is a gonner, ALbertsons is next, and I hate to count the wonderful "Mom & Pops" they have destroyed.

Wal-Mart is hardly a threat to chain supermarkets, which use the same marketing model, nor to Lowes, which sells a lot of merchandise that Wal-mart doesn't carry. In this state, all of these stores have continued doing just fine when a Wal-Mart moves in down the street.

And does Wal-Mart nuke small shops? It killed the crappy little downtown stores that were dying anyway - good riddance. But right next to every WM in this state, new small stores are springing up, feeding on the traffic the supestore generates and offering merchandise that extends what is availble in the WM: specialized products, upscale products, ethnic food, special services. Groom your dog while you shop?

[international american]

Food?? Remember when their slogan was "made in America"? Their clothing disintegrates upon the first wash...Their pillows have feathers seeping out of them after one month...Everthing the sell..or damn near, is now made in China! Screw "Wall of China" Mart!!

[Mr. Bird]

I love having a WalMart nearby. The only regular item I buy there is dog food (and I save a fortune); but every couple of weeks I need something, for the house, car, work, whatever. It's great having this giant clearinghouse of everything; you almost faint when you find out you need an item they don't stock.

If the crowds are any indication, Wal Mart still has a lot of fans out there.

[TexasNative2000]

I missed the entry that said "Halliburton: $2 Billion: Exclusively Republican"

Halliburton is SO influential in Washington that they don't even rate the top 100 contributors.

/sarcasm off/

[ServesURight]

You hit the nail on the head. Whenever a new Walmart pops up there are at least a half-dozen smaller, specialized shops that spring up next to it.

Here in De Pere, Wisconsin (a suburb of Green Bay) a Walmart Supercenter opened up - there are also plans for a Menards (home improvement store) and there is a gas-station island with several fast-food chains.

Liberals absolutely despise Walmart.

[PRND21]

Public Enemy #1 = Labor Unions

Exactly, EggsAckley.

[PokeyJoe]

Why the war against Wal-Mart?

Cuz Wal-Mart sucks.

Go Target! (pronounced, Tarz-shay)

[PokeyJoe]

ya know, I hate it when people abuse the word "democratic" to mean the democrat party.

The column should say "Leans Democrat"

both Republicans and Democrats belong to the democratic cause, though there is a strong wing in the democrat party who are socialist progressive liberal democrats.

These socialist progressive liberal Democrats like to hide behind their party name, and take the term "democratic" as if they own it.

In the immortal words of Eric Cartman, "Democrats piss me off."

[elli1]

...Wal-Mart has a HORRIBLE selection of food-colored,water filled meats,...

The same meat that my home-town, non-Wal-Mart grocery stores have....bubble wrapped, water-drenched, sodium ''enhanced'' chickens & pork. It's not just Wal-Mart carrying that crap.

On a positive note, I drive to the next town to shop at a Wal-Mart SuperCenter in order to buy food items that my local grocery stores do not carry and other items that are priced much lower. Wal-Mart groceries aren't glitzy, but the selection is adequate and actually better than the stores in my city of over 60,000 population offer. So it really depends on where you live.

[EggsAckley]

~</;o)