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Wal-mart A Political Target

https://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060817/pl_nm/walmart_dc_1

It seems that the Democrats have decided to change their tactics. For the last few years, they have been targeting Haliburton, painting that company as a huge, heartless, monstrous corporation. Of course, a large part of that has been an attempt to pull down VP Cheney, as he was once part of Haliburton.

Since that tactic never really paid off for them, now they are focusing on Wal-Mart. Democrats apparently don't like Wal-Mart's pension, health care, or wage plans. So, they will use those things as ways to stir up voters this year.

I think that this is a very bad idea. Over 1.2 million people in the US are employed by Wal-Mart. Over 80% of the people in the US have shopped in a Wal-Mart in the last 12 months. It is very obvious that many, many people like the fact that they can get a wide variety of goods, at a relatively low price, with a single stop. I think that the Democrats are going to alienate a lot of the "working class" people by using this tactic.

What do you think?

Target Political Wal-mart

I shop at Wal-Mart quite a bit. Everything is cheap and is beneficial to the community of shoppers. However, there have been action groups against Wal-Mart for years. This isn't some new democrat scheme, even though they may be jumping on a band wagon. It really has to do with understanding just Wal-Mart does to a community and what it does to competition. I know at least two die hard republicans who won't shop at Wal-Mart and haven't for years because of this. But most people don't know why Wal-Mart is bad.

To start, Wal-Mart literally creates neighborhoods of lower resale value, often when they leave. Because Wal-Mart is so shrewed, it often will simply not sell its former property to any type of competitor. Thus is slowly turns into an eye sore abandoned lot, lowering surrounding properties values. I have seen this happen allot.

Wal-Marts ability to mass produce allows them to be cheaper than everyone which is a good thing. The problem is that Wal-Mart is literally putting the rest of the competition out of business by selling their products so low. Microsoft did much of what Wal-Mart is doing, but Wal-Mart won't be touched. It is THE largest company in the world.

As for providing jobs, thats really a trick of mirrors so to speak. Most Wal-Mart employess make less than poverty level of $15,000 per year. Benefits are not available until you work a full two years full time. Of course, thats hard to do because as stated earlier, most full time employees make less than poverty level and the benefits are just to expensive anyway. Wal-Mart aggressively prevents unions into their stores, opting often to close entire departments rather than let the union in.

Wal-Mart is simply bad for the world as most Wal-Mart products are made and produce in countries that don't have restrictions on child labor laws, or they are very slight. They go to where the cheapest labor is and thus are able to lower prices drastically. Unions also would break them of using child labor or producing in countries that allow it. China is one of their biggest producing countries.

Wal-Mart does not empower it workers, rarely promoting from within while it says it does. Nearly 90% of its managers are hired from outside the company. Wal-Mart does not enrich the community as it claims. Percentage wise, Wal-Mart gives less to the community that any other fortune 500 company including Exxon Mobile. With so much profit from the community, you would think they would give more. But whats even more deceiving is that the majority of the money given to the community is not from the corporation. It is from employee giving and donations by patrons to their charity buckets. Wal-Mart the corporation applies for little of the actual money given to the community.

To summarize, Wal-Mart supports child labor and cheap labor abroad. Wal-Mart decreases the value of the neighborhoods they move into. Wal-Mart provides thousands of jobs that are below poverty level, providing expensive benefits if someone can wait two years making very little. Wal-Mart promotes very little within its own company at the worker level and management is generally hired from outside the company. Wal-Mart doesn't give very much back to the community and aggressively fights unionization.

There are tons of websites and organizations that have been fighting against Wal-Mart for years. Google them and you will find much more information. My favorite was a special on public TV.


Here is a PBS show you can watch on Wal-Mart, its very revealing, and scary.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/

Wal-mart A Political Target History & Civil Business Politics

I am not trying to be an apologist for Wal-Mart. I am just pointing out that the store affects a LOT of people.

Nobody FORCES people to work at Wal-Mart. So, the argument that people don't make a liveable wage there is very weak. So is the "empowerment" argument.

I just think that it is very foolish for Democratic politicians to work at tearing down the single largest employer in the entire world.

Finally, I fully support the idea of anyone at all who decides not to even cast their shadow upon the door of Wal-Mart - or any other business.

Target Political Wal-mart

At the heart of the matter, we agree on this issue, its the side matters, where the issue gets fleshed out that we disagree. I have worked at Wal-Mart before. I needed a job, I had a family. Wal-Mart does not pay a livable wage. I made less there working full time than at a car wash. I had to work two full time jobs to make ends meet. But thats not entirely Wal-Marts fault. Indeed, if we raised the minimum wage in this country, it might be better. But Wal-Mart is economically not good for the neighborhood it moves into. Study after study show that Wal-Mart takes more than it gives from every thing around it. Its prices are cheap because their products are cheap. By selling lower quality for much cheaper, they dog competition, which is over all not good. By doing this, they are lowering prices, sure, but they are forcing down quality as well. So we save on price, but suffer in quality, which means we spend more in the long run.

I'm not saying Wal-Mart should shut down. But you would think a company that takes so much would be able to do things to promote competition and not prevent it. I still shop at Wal-Mart because I have to, but Wal-Mart deserves the pressure being put on it, it is the corporate super power in its industry.

Target Political Wal-mart

What you have going on is just simple election time politics. Wal-Mart makes too much money for the average person. Oil companies make too much money. If by saying it, the candidates will get a few more votes...they will. When it comes time to do something after the elections, there will be very little done. Why? Because Wal-Mart is huge and has a great big budget going to political activists committees to help ensure that they do not get slapped too hard with any rulings from the government. Remember, the government gets a small slice of those Wal-Mart dollars too and they do not want to give those up too easily. Let's not even talk about campaign contributions.

A couple of years ago, everyone wanted the heads of all the CEO's. It was very popular with the average person, but what has happened...nothing. Fuel prices are coming down, but not by any legislature that was passed by congress.

Unless Wal-Mart has some kind of accounting issues (ENRON), they will do just fine. Wal-Mart is a bohemath. They are incredibly smart about business. Trust me (as some one who worked in a business that supplied to Wal-Mart), if people stop buying a product on Wal-Mart selves because of inferior quality, that item wont last but a couple of months on any Wal-Mart shelve.

Is it smart of the politicians to single Wal-Mart out? Well, we have just heard from a former employee. There does not appear to be a lot of love loss there and I am pretty sure this goes for many former and current Wal-Mart employees. It seems like a good strategy from here! It definitely wont hurt them, unless they were looking for big campaign contributions.