Posted on 09/16/2006 6:51:22 AM PDT by bitt
Liberal campaign hurts people who need bargains
Evergreen Park, Ill., a suburb contiguous with Chicago's western edge, is 88 percent white. A large majority of the customers of the Wal-Mart that sits here, less than a block outside Chicago, are from the city, and more than 90 percent of the store's customers are African-American. One of whom, a woman pushing a shopping cart with a stoical 3-year-old along for the ride, has a chip on her shoulder about the size of this 141,000 square-foot Wal-Mart. She applied for a job when the store opened in January and was turned down because, she said, the person doing the hiring "had an attitude."
So why is the woman shopping here anyway? She looks at the questioner as though he is dimwitted and directs his attention to the low prices of the DVDs on the rack next to her.
Sensibly, she compartmentalizes her moods and her money. Besides, she should not brood. She had lots of company in not being hired: More than 25,000 people applied for the 325 openings.
Which vexes liberals like John Kerry. (He and his helpmeet last shopped at Wal-Mart when?) In 2004 he tested what has become one of the Democrats' 2006 themes: Wal-Mart is, he said, "disgraceful"and symbolic of "what's wrong with America."
By now, Democrats have succeeded, to their embarrassment (if they are susceptible to that), in making the basic numbers familiar: The median household income of Wal-Mart shoppers is under $40,000. Wal-Mart, the most prodigious job-creator in the history of the private sector in this galaxy, has almost as many employees (1.3 million) as the U.S. military has uniformed personnel.
A McKinsey company study concluded that Wal-Mart accounted for 13 percent of the nation's productivity gains in the second half of the 1990s, ...
(Excerpt) Read more at cmonitor.com ...
It's Walmart's support of the Republicans which is what I think is really driving this issue.
While living in the Baton Rouge area, Walmart was by far the cheapest. The other alternatives were Winn Dixie, Albertsons, and the big box Target. All of these stores were way more expensive.
In addition a good number of college students from LSU and Southern University not only depended on Walmart for shopping, but also for part time jobs(most were on parents health insurance plan). We always shopped at Walmart while living there. Now that we live in TX we still sometimes shop at Walmart.
Answer me this if Walmart is so expensive and horrible why did a vast majority of college students not only shop there, but also work there. Prospective employees are already aware of pay and the benefits that come from working there. If they don't like it they shouldn't apply for the job.
My girlfriend put herself through college working at Walmart. She says when she retires she wants to go back to Walmart to work.
I agree in Baton Rouge, they had a good number of Walmart stores. Walmart contributed a lot to the local community and provided the college students from LSU and Southern University with part time and full time jobs. Some of them even secured higher positions within the company once they graduated from college. No Walmart is not perfect, but it is not the villain some people make it out to be.
I love shopping at Walmart also.
One could draw an analogy between a community and its Main Street merchants versus Wal-Mart and a country or national community versus illegal immigration. Of course it wouldn't be a perfect analogy, but it would indicate some aspects that Will leaves out.
Someone who really is a localist would react to Will's arguments as one assumes Will or the rest of us would react to those of a liberal or radical globalist for whom nations and borders are meaningless.
I have been to Wal-Mart and appreciate the low prices, but I can understand why someone deeply committed to a particular local community would strongly dislike Wal-Mart, an aggressive chain store.
I am not big fan of BA either.
"You sound just like an activist for Wal-Mart. Or, perhaps, a lobbyist spending a few hours on FR to help your client. I do not buy your arguments either."
I haven't made many arguments defending Walmart.
Usually a thread like this would consist of some people not liking Walmart, and many that do.
This is the first time I have seen a left wing anti-Walmart activist jump in and try to run an FR thread.
I ask anyone that has not read all the posts, to look at the links you promoted, and then to read my posts revealing them as a part of a national publicity campaign against Walmart by the Democrat party, and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.
By the way, like most Walmart shoppers would be, I am flattered that someone would think I am a lobbyist, thanks.
By stating that WalMart "passes it's health care cost off to the federal government" you disingenuously misframe the debate. WalMart has no obligation, moral nor legal, to provide anyone with health insurance. No business has any obligation to provide health insurance to anyone whatsoever. That some choose to provide such fringe benefits in order to recruit and retain employees is entirely their own business decision to make.
Since WalMart has no obligation to provide health insurance to its employees, the fact that it does/doesn't, how much it does/doesn't, or to whom it does/doesn't is completely beside the point. That the government chooses to pay for some peoples' health care based on criteria written into the law, and that some of those people may work for WalMart while some others may work for the Mom and Pop business down the street, is completely superfluous to the argument, since neither Walmart nor the Mom and Pop is obligated to provide insurance.
This is still a market economy where businesses are free to offer benefits or not. If you've got an issue with the government paying for WalMart employees' health care, take up your beef with the government, where it rightly belongs.
WalMart Ping.....
Thanks for the pings!.....Sorry so late to the party folks.
About 70% of WM employees (and their children) are dependent upon upon government for Medicare or Medicaid.
Why do you subscribe to this leftist, union backed crapola?
"Local folks are angry today and fighting back"
Holy crap, ex-texan! Lemme tell you a little story. A few years ago, WM built a store in an impoverished community just north of here. Well, SOME of the local folks were angry there, too. BUT, there were THOUSANDS who were tickled sh**less!
NOW that community (Jane, MO) is booming!
"By stating that WalMart "passes it's health care cost off to the federal government" you disingenuously misframe the debate" . . .
Your post hoc ergo propter hoc nonsense is all a lot of Bovin Squate. You ought to know better. You are smarter than you pretend. 'Nuff said.
That's bullcrap. Wally flopped in Germany. Michigan has 20 Wally grocery stores-in the state. Meijer's, Kroger, and Farmer Jack rule the grocery business here.
'Most people feel this way'
Hardly. Ever compare the working innards of a fishing reel or firearm bought at wally vs. a sporting goods store. Wally's is inexpensive plastic junk vs. metal from the sporting store. This is the basis of wally's low prices.
"That's bullcrap. Wally flopped in Germany. Michigan has 20 Wally grocery stores-in the state. Meijer's, Kroger, and Farmer Jack rule the grocery business here."
Wal-Mart in Michigan
As of May 2006, Wal-Mart employed 29,136 associates and owned and operated the following facilities in the state of Michigan:
• Supercenters: 41
• Discount Stores: 36
• SAM’S CLUBS: 25
• Distribution Centers: 2
Germany sure didn't like wally as well.
Thanks. I knew that figure of 20 had to be way off.
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