State can't overlook store that undersells(more Lib whining about mean old Wal-Marts)

Baltimore Sun ^ | Nov 25, 2005 | Michael Olesker

[sickoflibs]

By actual count, I went to a Wal-Mart once in my whole life. My wife and I found the section where they sell outdoor sporting goods. She needed a pair of those heavy-duty earplugs that hunters wear so they won't be deafened by the thunderclaps of their weapons when they're pulverizing wild animals. My wife uses the plugs strictly at night. She says she can almost blot out the sound of my snoring.

But I am not a regular Wal-Mart customer, and I will not be among the hordes arriving there today, the day after Thanksgiving, when Americans begin celebrating their bountiful national gifts in the traditional patriotic ritual of searching for holiday bargains.

I do not shop at Wal-Mart for a couple of reasons. One, because there's no Wal-Mart particularly close to my house. But also because of the ambivalence that so many of us feel about this corporate behemoth whose revenues are now an astonishing 2 percent of the entire U.S. gross domestic product and whose dominance of the business world is now larger than GE, Ford, GM and IBM combined and eight times larger than Microsoft's. It's a behemoth that now prepares for a showdown with its own work force at this winter's Maryland legislative session.

[CurlyBill]

Olesker is a hopelessly ignorant leftist who whines constantly about anything and anyone he feels is to the right of Bernie Sanders.

[RJL]

The report also estimates that a 200-employee Wal-Mart store costs federal taxpayers $420,750 a year, or about $2,103 per Wal-Mart employee. That translates into a total annual welfare bill of $2.5 billion for the company's 1.2 million U.S. employees.

I knew Wal-Mart was big but I didn’t know they could write national legislation and sign it into law. That is exactly what is required to force taxpayers to fund welfare benefits.

If you want Wal-Mart to pay more in wages and benefits, fine, but don’t tell us lies by simply publishing the Democrat and Union talking points. This is exactly why the old media is losing.

[silverleaf]

It's too bad WalMart doesn't just buy Baltimore and make all the denizens WalMart employees.

[OldSmaj]

She needed a pair of those heavy-duty earplugs that hunters wear so they won't be deafened by the thunderclaps of their weapons when they're pulverizing wild animals.

Reading that part told me the writer is a moralizing, birkenstock-wearing, warm and fuzzy, damn stinking liberal, therefore I read no further.

If he had something of worth to spew about, I'm sure it got lost in the whining.

To hell with him and his kind.

They nauseate me.

[Lion Den Dan]

I used to love Woolworths - the lunch counter had a 39 cent banana split :-)

In those days I was making .90 an hour. The 5&dime was a good institution.

[wolfcreek]

WM is just filling the niche. They employ 1000's of people who might otherwise be dumpster fishing their day away. They also keep these other places, with their 200% markup in check. My Wife and I have always had a problem with the amount of "made in China" crap but, you know what, We still visit on occasion.

[RTINSC]

Walmart Fear once again raises it's ugly head.

It's too big. It's too profitable. And it's too successful. And it rejects the anti-capitalist, Marxist creation called unions. A great American success story.

[IronJack]

But I am not a regular Wal-Mart customer

"I like to buy my frilly panties at this exotic little boutique just down the street, or over the internet where I can be assured of discretion. Besides, Wal-Mart is just so ... pedestrian ... not at all the thing for an enlightened metrosexual like me."

[RTINSC]

You need to change your moniker to IroningJack..

[VeniVidiVici]

WalMart's profit margin is around 4%.

Maryland can KMA.

[PAR35]

Who would have bet just 5 years ago that Montgomery Wards would go out of business?

That was actually fairly easy to see. At that point they were only a month from starting the liquidation process (announced Dec 28, 2000) and they had already shut down hundreds of stores.
http://www.answers.com/topic/montgomery-ward-1

[rockabyebaby]

Hunters wear earplugs????? News to me, when did this start???? Must be a lefty liberal wacko thing!

[KC_Conspirator]

I know this place by another name - Chairman Mao's General Store.

[Phantom Lord]

Alright, I was a little off in my recolection of when they went under. How about 10 years ago?

[The Great RJ]

I'm sure Wal Mart uses "press gangs" to "Shanghai" its workers and has armed goon squads rounding up customers at gun point. Despite all the criticism people are willing to voluntarily work at Wal Mart and customers similarly shop there of their own free will.

Why did this writer shop at "evil" Wal Mart? Could it be that the Mom & Pop stores that Wal Mart supposedly runs out of business do not carry the earplugs he was looking for?...or that other stores were selling them at a price he didn't want to pay?

[xarmydog]

I have a very close relative who worked directly with Sam Walton.She said he was a good man.She worked there for thirty years,buying stock every week.Wal Mart allows their employees to.She said she never really noticed because she got used to having the money automatically deducted from her paycheck.She retired at 58 by selling her stocks and lives very well.With a little planning of course.

[GWB00]

I decided to open the door on the floor model, found it had a manual, took the manual and never went there again.

I am no lawyer, but I believe that is illegal./off sarcasm

[PAR35]

That's a bet you could probably have won.

[ridesthemiles]

I used to love Woolworths - the lunch counter had a 39 cent banana split :-)""
Now you went and did it!!!!
Now I want one, also, and it's too far to town/store and the wind is blowing about 40+ mph.
But, you sure made me want a banana split........

[ridesthemiles]

As of last year, the average pay of a Wal-Mart sales clerk was about $14,000 a year - about $1,000 a year below the government's definition of the poverty level for a family of three.
Riight, that's usually because the average Wal-Mart clerk is an uneducated part time worker."""

Most of the workers I see at Wal-Mart are elderly, hence probably no longer a "family of three", or they are quite young.