Posted on 01/18/2006 10:18:18 AM PST by Graybeard58
If politicians owned companies and ran them the way they run their governments, they'd be out of business in short order. Reckless and impulsive, they are famous for spending wastefully, charging too much for what they deliver and maxing out their credit lines, and then having the gall to dictate repeatedly how private businesses should be run.
Overriding a gubernatorial veto, Maryland lawmakers last week passed the Fair Share Health Care law, which orders companies with 10,000 or more workers to spend 8 percent of their payrolls on employee health benefits or put equivalent sums in the state Med-icaid fund.
This law is an unsubtle shot at Wal-Mart, the bane of unions and others who believe profits are evil health-care insurance is an entitlement. Among their allies is WakeUpWalMart.com, which is dedicated to "changing the way Wal-Mart" does business by substituting failed socialism for spectacularly successful capitalism.
Wal-Mart won't abandon Maryland over this, but it certainly will be less eager to expand there, and it will have to restructure its work force and rework its employment practices. Layoffs, hiring and wage freezes, and job losses for lower-income workers will be among the consequences. Price increases also are possible.
The law also will hamper economic development by sending a message to large employers that labor-loving legislators are gunning for them. This law is bad for business, but worse for low-wage workers.
All this is relevant to Connecticut because it will be one of the 30 states where Fair Share will be introduced this year.
Recall last year how our socialist legislature failed to approve an anti-jobs bill that would have taxed employers of 20 or more if their health benefits were not as generous as those of state employees. A bill more specifically targeting Wal-Mart would have a better of passage chance in a state renowned for its anti-business attitude.
Fair Share is the first step toward forcing businesses to bestow costly public-employee-style benefits on all their workers. Once enacted, the law can be amended to capture smaller companies, dictate coverage throughout the private sector and increase the amounts companies must spend on insurance.
Politicians may be horrendous fiscal administrators, but they are skilled incrementalists.
America is overdue for a sane, comprehensive discussion of health-care reform. Fair Share only makes a bad situation worse and hurts the very people it is supposed to help.
I would close up if I were Wal-Mart and leave them to their wares.
if I was Wal-Mart, i'd layoff all but 9999 employees, close the stores that would bring the worst impact, and publicly add a 10% state surcharge on every item sold.
and I'd inform the people that unless the law was repealled, i'd never hire another employee until one quits, retires, or is fired.
Someone is going to pay for this healthcare...That's an American given...
Wal-Mart hire millions of 'part time' employees to avoid paying any benefits...That includes insurance and unemployment benefits...
We're going to pay for healthcare thru higher prices, or higher taxes...That's a given...
I'd just as soon have the choice of paying or not paying...If I don't buy, I don't pay sounds better to me...Just like the 'fair tax' everybody seems to like lately...
This is a great country...It costs to do business here...
"Wal-Mart hire millions of 'part time' employees to avoid paying any benefits..."
BS. Fact: Wal-Mart offers affordable health care coverage to both its full and part-time associates.
http://www.walmartfacts.com/newsdesk/wal-mart-fact-sheets.aspx#a22
Bingo - Walmart will close enough stores to go under 10,000 - guaranteed.
Trust me I am no fan of Wal-Mart, but once Padora's Box is open what other kind of assinine laws will be see targeted at specific retailers who are just smarter than their competitors.
Whats your definition of socialism? A program paid for using public funds (Social Security, Medicaid, aka sittin on the couch)or employment based / funded program aka working for you benefits?
How about a government mandated social program.
and i would select carefully those to close making sure they made the worst possible impact upon the local economies.
WM needs to see this as the opening salvo of a bigger attack, and tailor it's response to the idea of making other states think tqwice before doing the same thing.
kinda like the insurance companies in california after that state required them to lower rates.
The Peoples' Republic of Maryland is at it again...
Yes, only by the fact that it is government mandated not competition driven. Health care enrollment must be boosted to lower costs, thats the only cure for the health care problem.
A tax deduction for paying your own health care? Isn't that a contradiction.
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