Posted on 12/07/2022 10:59:31 PM PST by gattaca
If Kroger and Albertsons thought Republicans would rescue their plan to merge, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) made it clear last Tuesday that support for the merger among Republicans is anything but certain.
What is the background? Kroger announced in October plans to acquire Albertsons for $24.6 billion.
The plan was not exactly celebrated. Instead, it triggered immediate antitrust concerns, especially among Democrats who are suspicious of massive corporations. After all, Kroger is the nation's second-largest grocery store chain and Albertsons is the fourth-largest.
If the acquisition were approved, Kroger could potentially rival Walmart.
What happened with Cotton? At a hearing before Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights last Tuesday, Cotton blasted Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen for running to Republicans for support while at the same time enacting woke corporate policies.
Specifically, Cotton grilled McMullen over a religious discrimination lawsuit the federal government brought against his company for forcing two Arkansas employees to wear a uniform adorned with a rainbow heart. The employees were eventually fired because they refused to wear a uniform with an LGBT symbol on it. In October, Kroger settled a religious discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of the fired employees.
Don't miss out on content from Dave Rubin free of big tech censorship. Listen to The Rubin Report now. Shockingly, McMullen told Cotton that he was not aware of the case.
Going even further, Cotton zeroed in on Kroger's "allyship" guide, in which employees are told not to use words like "sir" and "ma'am" because they are not "inclusive."
Tom Cotton Grills CEO Over Firings Of Employees Who Refused To Wear 'Gay Pride' Symbol www.youtube.com
At every point, McMullen defended Kroger. That decision — to force woke policies onto employees — will not earn Kroger any sympathy from Republicans, Cotton said.
"This situation reminds me a little bit of the situation Big Tech companies have found themselves in. ... They come to Washington because they fear regulation from our Democratic friends or action by the Biden administration, and they expect Republicans, who are traditionally more supportive of free enterprise, to come to their defense," Cotton said.
"I've cautioned them for years that if they silence conservatives and center-right voters ... if they discriminated against them in their company, they probably shouldn't come and ask Republican senators to carry the water for them whenever our Democratic friends want to regulate them or block their mergers," he continued.
After explaining that he knows Democrats will highly scrutinize Kroger's acquisition, Cotton then dropped the mic.
"I'll say this: I'm sorry that's happening to you. Best of luck," he said.
That's the biggest lie of the article. The same old propaganda bs that democrats are for the little. people.
Cotton was running his mouth just to hint at his support for walmart, which of course is hq and from Arkansas. Merger would challenge them.
Employees discouraged from using “sir”and “maam” in the south.
Sorry, but southerners are raised that one cannot say “yes” or “no” unless it is accompanied by sir or maam. It’s called showing respect. Is Kroger company policy now for employees to disrespect customers asking questions?
“People will shop there no matter what the corporation does or says. We’re so screwed.”
The problem is that the Left plays by one set of rules, the right by the other.
We think of a boycott being like us not shopping there, and if we tell enough people, they’ll stop shopping and will affect the bottom line. In a few months, they’ll see a dip in sales and listen to our side.
The Left knows that doesn’t work, so they don’t bother with those ‘niceties’:
I remember even 30 years ago what a ‘boycott’ meant in The Hood, in Los Angeles. It meant that ‘locals’ stood guard, in front of a liquor store aggressively telling the customers (often elderly black shoppers) that they best not shop there. Needless to say, no one had a problem with this type of ‘boycott’, which was very close to being a blockade. Of course the media, which should be horrified, simply called it a ‘boycott’, and the customers, like Chicago murder victims, didn’t exist regarding the media.
Now ‘boycotts’ are more modern - a ‘boycott’ is announced and then the Soros-funded people get to work. They tie up phone lines with bots and annoying calls, do the same on-line, add-in a few threats to the families of the management (who almost always thought stuff like that can’t happen in the US, so they’ll have listed phone numbers, etc.). But the one thing they won’t do in significant numbers is affect their sales...since, in most cases, the Left never bought anything from the companies they’re ‘boycotting’ in the first place.
One guess as to which side wins. The Left gets what they want, and we are laughed at. Example - Chick-a-Fill goes woke and their customer lines stay just as long as before going woke. Disney gets into grooming and STILL is cleaning up with families that otherwise agree with us.
Some 30 years ago when most companies were still sane, The union in PA, or at least western PA threatened to strike Kroger. Kroger said if you do we will leave. They striked, Kroger shut all their stores in PA and never seen one since. This is before Walmarts were even in PA, (at least the western half of the state) this was fresh off all the steel mills closing in the 80s and the idiot unions still did not get it.
You go into an HEB here in Texas and it’s “yes sir, yes mam” and “Merry Christmas” .
We’re so screwed
Nearest town is 5 miles, population about 8,000. It has a WalMart Super Center, a Kroger and a filthy bag youself, off-brand store...and that's it for groceries aside from convenience stores. So yes, we ARE screwed
The Republicans wouldn’t even stop their own merger with the Democratic Party.That's what the headline appears to say.
They are suspicious of large corporations who don’t pay up at donation time. Since virtually all of them now do, they have become valued partners in the quest to bring about the Revolution.
Saw this in a post yesterday. The guy’s grimace was uplifting, what Cotton said got to him. Not only that but the guy is a CEO? Why? He is either stupid or obstinate or both, a bad combination. Didn’t know about a $180.000 EEO settlement? I seriously doubt that unless things in the board room have changed a lot.
I am surprised the putz can get anyone to work for him. I wouldn’t. Not if it was the last job on earth.
On exactly what planet or in what world is that happening?
Certainly not here in the USA where massive corporations reliably funnel massive amounts of money to democrats in the form
of campaign funds, kick-backs and payoffs of every type imaginable.
If democrats are opposed to a merger it only means that they have not yet received enough payoff or promises of under-the-table
kickbacks and they believe they can extort more from the corporations involved.
Kroger could potentially rival Walmart.
So they are going to gouge less than Walmart here in Ca. Walmart jacked up prices by at least 20% some items more and don’t expect the them to go down.
All due to Biden’s stupidity for causing inflation in the first place.
Sh*t for brains Biden strikes again.
I worked for Kroger in 1957 doing accounting.
WAS a great company & a VERY GOOD JOB.
Must b e very different in different parts of the USA.
My local grocery with the best meat, etc, is affiliated with Kroger. MANY Kroger brand items there.
Store is ALWAYS clean & staff are always helpful.
Right? A Kroger store has about all the appeal of a gas station restroom .
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