Free Republic

Breaking from his party, Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter on Friday issued his first veto, rejecting a controversial labor bill that had prompted a large and vocal campaign from business interests who said it would hamstring the state economicially. House Bill 1072 would have eliminated one of two votes needed for unions to negotiate all-union shops. The Democratic governor campaigned as a pro-business moderate but also indicated to labor that he would sign such a measure. "We are obviously extremely disappointed that Gov. Ritter felt it necessary to break a campaign promise under pressure from big business," Steve Adams of the...

Welcome, Wal-Mart Wal-Mart (has) grown from a single shop in a small Arkansas town into a world-wide colossus with 4,000 stores, 1.3 million employees, $245 billion in annual sales and 100 million customers each week. The company's success isn't built on exploiting. It's built on providing. Wal-Mart can't force anybody to work at its stores, nor can it force anybody to shop there. Through relentless cost-cutting and technological innovation, the company offers low-cost goods to consumers, jobs for willing employees and solid returns for shareholders. Yet Chicago...The City Council killed the prospect of a Supercenter in Chicago's South Side Chatham...