Wal-Mart China Unionized, Collective Contracts Signed

Within two months of starting an intense campaign to get Wal-Mart China stores to sign collective contracts, the Chinese labor union has declared success.  All Wal-Mart store contracts include provisions on yearly wage and hour increase consultations in addition to including many, if not all, of the following provisions on: break time, holiday time, contract supervision, insurance, worker safety, women workers’ special rights and benefit protections, worker discipline, worker training, work quotas, etc.

Congratulations to the Wal-Mart China workers and their unions for negotiating and safeguarding their rights!

Wal-Mart China’s 108 Stores Sign Collective Contracts [Xinhua]

Wal-Mart’s 108 unionized stores in the China have all agreed to and signed collective contracts.  This historic breakthrough was the result of the legal push by China’s labor union to organize Wal-Mart.

China’s national labor union’s collective contract department head Zhang Jianguo said that one of the major roles of the labor union is to provide collective contracts which substantively better workers’ interests.  Since this year, the national labor union has met with Wal-Mart U.S.’s vice-chairman three times and has met many times with Wal-Mart China’s management to establish the foundation for collective agreements.  On July 14, Shenyang’s two Wal-Mart stores agreed to and signed Wal-Mart China’s first collective agreement contract.  On July 18, two Wal-Mart stores in Quanzhou, Fujian province signed collective contracts.  On July 24, Shenzhen’s 16 Wal-Mart stores signed collective contracts with the labor union.

On August 14, the national labor union’s “push Wal-Mart to sign collective contracts” conference convened, demanding that all Wal-Mart China stores agree to and sign collective contracts.  By September 16, all 108 Wal-Mart China stores had agreed to and signed collective contracts.

Posted by Research Team on Friday, September 19, 2008

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COMMENTS

Of course Wal*Mart is bending over for China. The Elephant in the room is that no-one is addressing the hundreds of thousands of good paying union and non union manufacturing jobs that Wal*Mart aparently colluded in to handing over to the Chinese Government. This was a planned and well timed attack on the economic stability of the United States. So what if Wal*Mart gets a union in the US. Is that going to make our Country Stronger?

Bobby in someplace else
Friday, September 19 at 03:03 PM

Bobby: “So what if Wal*Mart gets a union in the US. Is that going to make our Country Stronger? “

I agree.  It will only hurt the economy.  Walmart will have to raise prices, hire fewer people.  It would be devastating to the US economy.

Big Tex in Rogers
Friday, September 19 at 04:12 PM

Big Tex in Rogers

Walmart will have to raise prices, hire fewer people.  It would be devastating to the US economy

Well lets see what’s worse for the economy…
Reaganomics and Sending Manufacturing to Authoritarian Regimes, Bush’s Tax cuts on the stock market then when the stock market takes he take a trillion dollars of the Tax Payer’s money and gives it to the very people who sent all the good paying jobs overseas.

Believe Me, If Wal*Mart want’s to be the biggest employer in America then they are going to get a Union. And they shouldn’t have to raise prices at all. The company makes plenty of profit.

Bobby in someplace else
Friday, September 19 at 04:31 PM

“Believe Me, If Wal*Mart want’s to be the biggest employer in America then they are going to get a Union. And they shouldn’t have to raise prices at all. The company makes plenty of profit. “

Last time I read their profit margin was around 3.4% which is so much smaller than most other businesses.  So you think Walmart getting a union will NOT raise prices?  How niave can you get Bobby?

john in
Friday, September 19 at 09:19 PM

john in

Then I guess that they should admit that with the amount of market saturation, and perfectly legitimate competition, Wal*Mart will have to face up to the fact that their business model isn’t viable. Maybe the poor suffering company can find sympathy in China?

Bobby in Someplace else
Friday, September 19 at 09:52 PM

So the lesson is (courtesy of Wal-Mart) the bigger you get the less profitable you become.  Yup, that makes perfect sense.  This is why Wal-Mart keeps expanding and expanding and expanding - they are trying to make less and less money.  Don’t you know that they’re just trying to help Joe and Jane Sixpack live better?  I feel bad for them - at the rate they’re going they won’t make ANY profit at all - all because they are providing a charity service to the consumer.  All of you jerks are condemning Lee Scott to only make twenty FOUR million instead of twenty FIVE million.

Generic Wal-Mart Wageslave in Michigan
Saturday, September 20 at 12:30 AM

when are you fools like bobby going to get it a union like ufcw only wants more money to throw in political campaigns.they dont care one dam bit about the workers well being im an ex ufcw union member and i know how much that union really values and cares about its members well being

MATT IN in gresham,oregon
Saturday, September 20 at 05:07 AM

So you think Walmart getting a union will NOT raise prices?

john, john, john...everything raises prices. Why should the employee be left out? Labor costs raise prices but management salaries don’t?

It’s time to drop all pretenses, we are a socialist country now and collectivism is a ‘fundamental’ of socialism. If you capitalists are going to rely on American labor to bail your asses out, the least you can do is give ‘em a raise.

What’s good for Wal-Mart is BAD for America!

Ken V in Texas
Saturday, September 20 at 07:23 AM

Ken V: Guess we’ll have to come up with a new name for the gargantuan bailout of the Wall Street welfare queens.You know,the “Free Marketeers” who privatized the profits,but are now socializing the losses? Amazing that the government denied health care for poor children, but could find a trillion or so for AIG.( BTW,AIG sold WalMart millions of $$$ worth of dead janitor policies.And WalMArt lost a huge bundle in lawsuits because of it.)

ddrb in
Saturday, September 20 at 07:56 AM

Ken V in Texas
We are one of the worst run socialist Countries by far. It looks like the “Commies” may have won the cold war after all. The thing that I can’t get over is our elected officials refusing to answer questions about Insider energy deals and outing CIA agents. The current administration is working above the law and getting away with it with total impunity. Now we have Sarah Palin pulling the same crap in Alaska… So what if we have freedom of speech? These criminals just laugh and do what they want anyway. I am really hoping this country gets its act together. Too many people have gotten comfortable with mediocraty. I want things to be GREAT!!!! If this bail-out doesn’t wake up this Wal*Mart nation then It’s done. The Corporate Ranchers will just instruct their Politician Cowboys, to lead the heard of Citizen Cattle wherever they see fit. If you stick your head outside you can here the Mooing! Get along there little Wal*Mart Doggies! Yeee Hah! Hell to the Chief.

Bobby in someplace else
Saturday, September 20 at 03:47 PM

Dear Matt,
I hear you mooing, but I don’t speak “cow”

Bobby in someplace else
Saturday, September 20 at 03:50 PM

John,
Wal*Mart makes plenty of profit. I don’t care what their books say. Why would anybody believe wal*Mart’s bookkeeping anyway. Then again, maybe they aren’t profitable at all and lying to their share holders…
Neither scenario would surprize me. Maybe they are the next Enron… Now that would be funny!

Bobby in someplace else
Saturday, September 20 at 03:56 PM

ddrb

Looks like we have a mass outbreak of Mad Cow disease.

Where’s Denny Crane and Alan Shore? They’d do the right thing… Light up a stogie(not really my thing) Grab a single Malt, Shake their heads in disbelief and plan a fishing vacation.

Mad Cow… Denny Crane.

Bobby in someplace else
Saturday, September 20 at 04:10 PM

Dear Matt,
I hear you mooing, but I don’t speak “cow” ~Bobby.....Note: Bobby,I thought Matt spoke only BULL!

ddrb in
Saturday, September 20 at 04:23 PM

dear ddrb,
I didn’t want to give the impression that matt had any “balls”

Bobby in someplace else
Saturday, September 20 at 04:37 PM

Hey Larry!!!!
A federal judge on Saturday ordered Dick Cheney to preserve a wide range of the records from his time as vice president.

Dick Cheney and the Bush administration were sued to ensure that presidential records are not destroyed.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly is a setback for the Bush administration in its effort to promote a narrow definition of materials that must be safeguarded under by the Presidential Records Act.

The Bush administration’s legal position “heightens the court’s concern” that some records may not be preserved, said the judge.

A private group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, is suing Cheney and the Executive Office of the President in an effort to ensure that no presidential records are destroyed or handled in a way that makes them unavailable to the public.

In a 22-page opinion, the judge revealed that in recent days, lawyers for the Bush administration balked at a proposed agreement between the two sides on how to proceed with the case.

Praise Jesus!~ God may be bipartisan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bobby in someplace else
Saturday, September 20 at 06:02 PM

Coming Soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My list of compnies that suck!
Feel free to start adding to the list.
Any company that has grown on the backs of the US Taxpayer’s that don’t take care of America. Their employees.
I’m going to dinner and a movie. New Living Room all Pro American!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m gonna sleep Well. How about you?

Here’s a preview:
Wal-Mart

Our Owners
Dunkin’ Brands, Inc. is owned by a consortium of global private equity firms: Bain Capital Partners LLC, The Carlyle Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P.

Holy Sh*t!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had no idea until just now that Dunkin Donut’s, who recieved $310 Million in 9-11 aid was bought by the Carlyle Group!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When I’m done throwing up, I my post somrthing if I don’t just shoot myself......................

Bobby in someplace else
Saturday, September 20 at 06:52 PM

The Partnership
Carlyle has only allowed two outsiders to buy into its partnership.[7] The first is the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), who “own a 5.5% stake in the company that is estimated to be worth about $1 billion."[7] The second is Mubadala Development Company - “an investment group owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, which is part of the United Arab Emirates."[7] In September of 2007, they bought a “7.5 percent share of [Carlyle’s] general partnership for $1.35 billion."[7]

Current portfolio and major acquisitions
Though known for its expertise in aerospace and defense, Carlyle invested more than thirty percent of its assets in telecommunications and media. Noted portfolio companies are Dex Media, the former directories business of Qwest Communications; Willcom, a Japanese wireless company; Casema, a Dutch cable company; and Insight Communications, the ninth largest cable company in the U.S. The Carlyle Group was once a major investor in US Investigations Services, which is the privatized arm of the United States Office of Personnel Management’s Office of Federal Investigations, but has since divested itself, selling its stake to Providence Equity Partners in 2007.[citation needed]

Brand-name companies that Carlyle owns include: Dunkin’ Brands, which owns Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, and oral hygiene company Water Pik. Carlyle also recently took rental car company Hertz public.

On January 29, 2007, Carlyle announced that it would acquire Synagro Technologies, Inc, which according to Synagro’s website is “the largest recycler of biosolids and other organic residuals in the United States”. The total enterprise value of the transaction, including the assumption of debt, is $772 million.[8]

On June 28, 2007, Carlyle announced that it would partner with Onex Corporation to buy the Allison Transmission unit from General Motors for $5.6 billion.[9]

On July 2, 2007, it was disclosed that the Carlyle Group was looking to buy Virgin Media UK cable business.[10] Richard Branson is the largest shareholder, and the Virgin Group own the name Virgin, and Virgin Media have the rights to use the name Virgin for 10 years[citation needed].

On July 28, 2007, Carlyle announced the acquisition of Applus+ from its shareholders Agbar, Unión Fenosa and Caja Madrid for an enterprise value of €1,480 million.[11]

On December 18, 2007, David Rubenstein, representing the Carlyle Group, purchased the Magna Carta (one of seventeen copies) at Sotheby’s Auction House in New York City. He paid the Perot Foundation $21.3 million. Mr. Rubenstein expressed his intent for it to be returned to the National Archives for display.

On August 2008, Carlyle Group bought IRIS Unified Ag through FRS Global.

ddrb in
Saturday, September 20 at 07:03 PM

Carlyle Capital Corporation
In March 2008, Carlyle Capital Corporation, established in August 2006[12] for the purpose of making investments in U.S. mortgage-backed securities, defaulted on about US$ 16.6 billion of debt as the global credit crunch brought about by the subprime mortgage crisis worsened for leveraged investors. The Guernsey-based affiliate of Carlyle was very heavily leveraged , up to 32 times by some accounts, and it expects its creditors to seize its remaining assets.[13] Tremors in the mortgage markets induced several of Carlyle’s 13 lenders to make margin calls or to declare Carlyle in default on its loans.[14] In response to the forced liquidation of mortgage-backed assets caused by the Carlyle margin calls and other similar developments in credit markets, on March 11, 2008, the Federal Reserve gave Wall Street’s primary dealers the right to post mortgaged-back securities as collateral for loans of up to $200 billion in higher-grade, U.S. government-backed securities. [15] On March 12, 2008, BBC News Online reported that “instead of underpinning the mortgage-backed securities market, it seems to have had the opposite effect, giving lenders an opportunity to dump the risky asset” and that Carlyle Capital Corp. “will collapse if, as expected, its lenders seize its remaining assets."[16] On March 16, 2008, Carlyle Capital announced that its Class A Shareholders had voted unanimously in favor of the Corporation filing a petition under Part XVI, Sec. 96, of the Companies Law (1994) of Guernsey[17] for a “compulsory winding up proceeding” to permit all its remaining assets to be liquidated by a court appointed liquidator.[18]

The losses to the Carlyle Group due to the collapse of Carlyle Capital is reported to be “minimal from a financial standpoint”.[19]~~~~~~~~~~~~~Wikipedia~~~~~~~~

ddrb in
Saturday, September 20 at 07:05 PM

When did they “aquire dunkin’?
This is F*cking unbelievable!

Bobby in Someplace else
Saturday, September 20 at 07:40 PM

I may be gone for a while......
Keep up the good work. /Love to you all even the misguided cows.
XOX

Bobby in Someplace else
Saturday, September 20 at 07:43 PM

Dunkin’ Donuts, along with Baskin-Robbins, is owned by Dunkin’ Brands Inc. (previously Allied Domecq Quick Service Restaurants, a part of Allied Domecq). Dunkin’ Brands used to own the Togo’s chain, but sold this in late 2007 to a private equity firm. Dunkin’ Brands was owned by French beverage company, Pernod Ricard S.A. after it purchased Allied Domecq. They reached an agreement in December 2005 to sell the brand to a consortium of three private equity firms, Bain Capital Partners, the Carlyle Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners.

In the U.S., Dunkin’ Donuts is sometimes paired with Togo’s sandwich shops (sometimes called Dunkin’ Deli) and Baskin-Robbins ice cream shops. Most of their business competition comes from small locally owned stores, Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Starbucks; in Canada and parts of the Great Lakes region, Tim Hortons is a major competitor. Mister Donut had been its largest competitor in the United States before the company was bought by Dunkin’ Donuts’ parent company. The Mister Donut stores were re-branded as Dunkin’ Donuts.~~~~~~~~~~Wikipedia~~~~~NOTE:BOBBY,DON’TSTAY GONE for TOO LONG. TAKE CARE,AND WE’LL LEAVE THE LIGHT ON FOR YOU,OKAY?

ddrb in
Saturday, September 20 at 08:21 PM

Since tomorrow is Sunday and some celebrate the Sabath on Saturday and/or Sunday. I thought I would leave our Wal*Mart supporting Onward Christian Soldiers with a bit of Spiritual Writings to ponder when looking at their churches, and day to day lives of themselves and the leaders that theuy support. I think its perfectly relevent and worth pondering “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”
1 platinum Star to the 1st person to Identify the Author. And a Silver Pentagram to any Christian that can Justify the current American Economic Policies VS the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Bobby in Someplace else
Saturday, September 20 at 10:30 PM

Look at where we are at today?  I can remember those who always said that we don’t government to run anything.  Let the corporations do it all.  Let them teach our child, pave our roads, fight our wars, sell our homes.  Look at this landscape now. Most of the banks and Insurers are now Socialized.  They get themselves into trouble they run to uncle sam and beg for help.

yet these are the same people who say they want government there to help them when they need it, but to hell with those 50million americans with no health insurance.  those nasty black mothers with 5 kids who live off the backs of the tax payer, those damn illegal mexicans who move up here just to mooch off of our system.  disgusting those people are! 

but those multibillionaires who screwed up because of their own greed and mistakes, now say its okay for uncle sam to help them out.  Typical Conservative Republican!---Its okay if I do it, but its different for everyone else.

jack twist in jerk ville, VA
Sunday, September 21 at 05:06 AM

The ‘NEW’ Liberal ‘work ethic’:

If you pay me 110%, I will give you 100% work, but, if you only give me 100%, I’ll give you 80%!!

I will be able to teach your children, if you give me more money, until then, I can’t teach your children the way they should be taught!!

The gratuity has been ADDED to your bill!!  It doesn’t matter what kind of service you got!!

Give me the ‘tip’ up front and I’ll decide on how much service I’ll give you!!

You get what you pay for, as opposed to, you pay for what you get!!  You give me a ‘raise’ and then I’ll work, rather than, raising my pay based on my performance!!

I should get paid based on my need, just because you can afford it, my job performance doesn’t have anything to do with it!!

It doesn’t matter what you said you would pay me when I took the job, now that I have the job, you need to pay me more!!  Why?  Because you can afford it, that’s why!!

Benefits Don’t count, as part of my pay!!

You need to pay me based on what ‘I’ think my labor is worth, not what ‘YOU’ think it’s worth!!

BTW, I need more PAID time off!!

And, I need to work when I want to, not when you need me!!

RDS in
Sunday, September 21 at 10:24 AM

A University of California at Berkeley study finds Wal-Mart could raise wages without compromising its low price strategy. While Wal-Mart touts its “average” wage of $10.83, most researchers conclude that the average worker at Wal-Mart makes around eight dollars an hour. A key study from the Center for Labor Research and Education at the University for California at Berkeley concludes that:

Increasing Wal-Mart’s minimum wage wages to $10 per hour would contribute to a payroll of $2.38 billion a year, a 9.3 percent increase over the retailers’ current payroll.
Poor and low-income Wal-Mart workers could expect to earn an additional $1,020 to $4,640 a year in pre-tax income, depending on what they earn now and whether they work part-time or full-time.
If Wal-Mart shoppers were asked to absorb all of the wage increase, the average impact would be a price increase equivalent to 36 cents per shopping trip or $9.70 per year, for the store’s average consumer, who spends $1,088 per year at Wal-Mart.
High-spending Wal-Mart shoppers, (the 12.5 percent of store customers who account for 54 percent of all Wal-Mart sales and average expenditures of $9,775 per year) would see an additional cost of $1.47 per shopping trip, or up to $87.98 a year. The study estimates that 3.4 percent of Wal-Mart shoppers are both high-spending and low-income. [“Living Wage Policies and Wal-Mart,” UC Berkeley Center For Labor Research And Education, December 2007]
The Council of Better Business Bureaus criticizes Wal-Mart advertising. The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus found that recent Wal-Mart ads are misleading to consumers. “The group found that the ads — which imply that savings from Wal-Mart allowed the families to take the vacation and buy the car — could lead consumers ‘to quite reasonably take away the message that families that shop at Wal-Mart will save $2,500 per year more than families that shop at other stores.’” [New York Times, 3/31/08]

Wal-Mart is responsible for lower wages.  A robust set of research findings shows that Wal-Mart’s entry into local labor markets reduces the pay competing stores. This effect is greatest in the South, where Wal-Mart expansion has been greatest. [EPI, “Wrestling with Wal-Mart”, 6/15/06]

Global Insight study findings are “implausible.” A widely quoted figure from a study by the consulting firm Global Insight (GI) indicates that Wal-Mart’s expansion has resulted in $263 billion in savings to U.S. consumers. We find this to be implausible. The statistical analysis generating this highly influential result fails the most rudimentary sensitivity checks.  [EPI, “Wrestling with Wal-Mart”, 6/15/06]

Global Insight study relies on internal, unverifiable data.  BusinessWeek reported of the Global Insight study, “Wal-Mart hired Global Insight to conduct its own study of the retailer’s economic impact. It gave Global what it says is unprecedented access to its internal data about wages, benefits, and other employment issues.” [BusinessWeek, 10/20/05] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~WMW~~~~~~~~

ddrb in
Sunday, September 21 at 10:56 AM

Back to China. You remember our old friend melamine? The chemical contaminant that turned up in Chinese wheat gluten. Well it’s back and this time in Chinese diary products.

It turns out if you drink melamine laced milk for awhile you get kidney stones and/or renal failure.

Got milk?

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSPEK7937520080921

“The free market for all intents and purposes is dead in America.” Senator Jim Bunning, (R) Kentucky ~ NYT

Ken V in Texas
Sunday, September 21 at 10:58 AM

Bobby: In regards to Bain Capital(mentioned above in conjunction,along with Carlyle Group, in purchase of Dunkin’ Donuts,)here’s a bit of info-courtesy Source Watch:~~~~~~~~~~~"Bain Capital is a private equity and venture capital firm founded by Mitt Romney in 1984. It has holdings in Domino’s Pizza, pharmaceutical group Warner Chilcott, Toys “R” Us, sportswear distributor Broder Bros., and SunGard Data Systems. Bain Capital, along with Thomas H. Lee Partners, made a nearly $20 billion offer for broadcasting giant Clear Channel, and with another group purchased for $33 billion HCA, the largest for-profit hospital chain in the U.S.


Lobbying
Bain Capital spent $100,000 for lobbying in the first half of 2007. The lobbying firm Public Strategies was used.

Personnel
Selected Managing Directors:

Andrew Balson, Previously at Morgan Stanley and in the leveraged buyout group at SBC Australia
Steven Barnes, Held several senior management positions in the Mergers & Acquisitions Support Group of PricewaterhouseCoopers
David McCarthy, Worked for GE Medical Systems and GE Appliances, and spent five years as a nuclear submarine officer in the United States Navy ~~~~~~~~~Sourcewatch

ddrb in
Sunday, September 21 at 11:26 AM

August 19, 2008
#2008-084
The Carlyle Group Announces that Louis Gerstner Will Retire as Chairman, Become Senior Advisor to Buyout Funds

Washington, DC – Global private equity firm The Carlyle Group today announced that Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. will retire as Chairman, a post held since January 2003, and become a Senior Advisor to Carlyle’s Asia, Europe, Japan and U.S. buyouts funds, effective September 30, 2008. A successor has not been named.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ddrb in
Sunday, September 21 at 11:52 AM

Bobby: This may be of interest tou you,also.A few additional words about Bain Capital(founded by Mitt Romney), and the Hospital Corporations of America,(HCA ) acquisition:~~~~~~~The founders of HCA included two members of the Frist family, which became very wealthy as a result. The former majority leader of the U.S. Senate, Bill Frist is a member of the family but sold all his HCA shares in 2005. Most of his $20 million (or more) personal fortune was made through his holdings in HCA.
In 1989, the hospital operator was acquired for $5.3 billion in a management buyout led by Chairman Thomas J. Frist and completed a successful initial public offering in the 1990s. In the late-1990s, after a merger with Louisville-based Columbia Hospital Corporation which formed Columbia/HCA, the company was investigated by the government for Medicare and Medicaid fraud and paid a settlement of $1.7 billion, the largest fraud settlement in US history at the time.

On July 1, 2005, Senator Frist sold all of his HCA shares two weeks before disappointing earnings sent the stock on a 9-point plunge. Frist claimed that he sold his shares to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest if he ran for president. Other executives sold their stock at the same time. Shareholders sued HCA in a lawsuit alleging that the company made false claims about their profits to drive up the price which then fell when the company reported disappointing financial results.  In 2006, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Bain Capital, together with Merrill Lynch and the Frist family (which had founded the company) completed a $31.6 billion acquisition of the hospital company, 17 years after it was taken private for the first time in a management buyout. At the time of its announcement, the HCA buyout would be the first of several to set new records for the largest buyout, eclipsing the 1989 buyout of RJR Nabisco.The shareholder lawsuit was settled in August 2007 with HCA agreeing to pay $20 million to the shareholders.~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~WIKIPEDIA

ddrb in
Sunday, September 21 at 12:10 PM

The Spend and Borrow and Spend Some More Republicans have really screwed the pooch! They have put us right where the USSR was about 18-20 years ago. There are a lot of angry tax payers saying no to the bail out. I can’t say I disagree. What is the country going to do do if we bet the farm and lose? I was playing with a couple of my kids today and the were trying to “dig a hole to China”. There’s something about sitting on the ground with a shovel that brings back the simple joys of childhood. 
I think the supply-sider’s may have succeeded where my kids failed. They dug a hole to China and our “Trickle Down” Economy, Trickled right down that hole! I wonder what the government’s plan “B” is? Do you think they have one? America Celebrated it’s Bicentenial in 1976. We were suffering very high inflation in no small part to the debt left by the Vietnam War. Reaganomic’s kicked in arround 81-82. He deregulated the banking industry and just about every other industry. He also crushed the Unions. here is an excerpt from his speach at his inauguration:

The business of our nation goes forward. These United States are confronted with an economic affliction of great proportions. We suffer from the longest and one of the worst sustained inflations in our national history. It distorts our economic decisions, penalizes thrift, and crushes the struggling young and the fixed-income elderly alike. It threatens to shatter the lives of millions of our people.

Idle industries have cast workers into unemployment, causing human misery and personal indignity. Those who do work are denied a fair return for their labor by a tax system which penalizes successful achievement and keeps us from maintaining full productivity.

But great as our tax burden is, it has not kept pace with public spending. For decades, we have piled deficit upon deficit, mortgaging our future and our children’s future for the temporary convenience of the present. To continue this long trend is to guarantee tremendous social, cultural, political, and economic upheavals.

You and I, as individuals, can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time. Why, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we are not bound by that same limitation?

We must act today in order to preserve tomorrow. And let there be no misunderstanding—we are going to begin to act, beginning today.

The economic ills we suffer have come upon us over several decades. They will not go away in days, weeks, or months, but they will go away. They will go away because we, as Americans, have the capacity now, as we have had in the past, to do whatever needs to be done to preserve this last and greatest bastion of freedom.

Do you think he realized what people would do? And again I ask you, do you think We have a plan “B”?

Bobby in someplace else
Sunday, September 21 at 03:06 PM

Hi ddrb,
As you can see, I didn’t stay away long ; )
A while back I posted that Only 8% of the small business recovery Loans went to businesses in NYC and Washington DC. I pointed out that Dunkin Donuts got $310 Million. Do you see the Irony that the Carlyle Group wound up owning a big chunk of the company? Does it bother anybody on this board besides me that while we’re arguing about a few bucks an hour in better wages and medical benefits for American worker’s, That the Bush Family, The Saudi Royals and Dick Cheney have made incredible ammounts of money off of 9-11 and the War in Iraq? I’m all for honest entrepreneurship. But this is insanity. We are now going to give this same group of people a trillion dollars of our tax dollars, so they can “take care of our country”? I can’t think of a single reason why we should trust these people. I don’t care if you are a pro or con Wal*Marter. The “Do What Thou Wilt” Group have clearly hijacked our country. They have no Shame and no Morals. Yet they hold themselves up as Beakons of Morality. Some say that they believe that they were sent by god and some voters believe them. Well “Do what thou wilt” is what these people practice. I asked if anyone could attribute that quote to an author. His name was Aleister Crowley. I don’t know about the rest of the people reading this board but I’ll take the “Golden Rule” Any day over the Satanic crap that has been coming out of our White House, Capital Hill and Business Circles for the last 28 years. I don’t feel very good about giving these kinds of people a Trillion Dollars.
AMEN!!!!

Bobby in someplace else
Sunday, September 21 at 03:44 PM

Bobby: By “trickle down” ,do you mean the “Free Market” enthusiasts peeing on OUR legs and telling US its “raining”?

ddrb in
Sunday, September 21 at 03:49 PM

Booby: Yes. I am somewhat familiar with Aleister Crowley, and the Golden Dawn.. NOT to be mistaken in ANY way for the Golden Rule.

ddrb in
Sunday, September 21 at 03:54 PM

Sorry,that should have read” Bobby”.

ddrb in
Sunday, September 21 at 03:56 PM

Bobby : Get a copy of “The Family” by Jeff Sharlet,or go to the net and type in “Christian Mafia”,by Wayne Madsen.Read the WHOLE thing.Holy Moly,what a read!

ddrb in
Sunday, September 21 at 03:59 PM

ddrb,
As I once told another poster on this board my friends can call me “Booby”. As far a Reaganomics, with any great idea there will always be people to came along and corrupt them. Some would call them “smart business people”.  With Reaganomics that’s what they were. With a bit of a tweek, the Best and the Brightest could move to the top. And the rest could go to jail. Reaganomics aided by Rumsfeld, Bush and Cheney Left the door open for what we are living through today. I honestly wonder if good ole Ron, whom I voted for and did some work for, knew what a scary bunch of people he had fallen in with… I think one of the major factors that divide most of us on this board is just how long it takes to realize that you are no longer being trickled down on, you’re being pissed on. Divide and conquer. The Country is under siege. We are making history right now. I’ve been to plenty of other countries they’re not that bad.. Well some are. But the Flag waver’s are in for a really hard landing. Unlike some people on this board who claim to have foudgt in WWII, my dad actually did. I really wish he was here with me to see my family and give me his opinion on things. I know he voted Republican his whole life. One of the last conversations I ever had with him, he said “ These Reagan People really have me scared for the first time. Interestingly I met Carter and Reagan. I find it odd that the Christian “Right” went with Reagan… Carter was a pretter Moral Guy. Not that Reagan wasn’t, even if Nancy used an astrologer to make decisions after he was too messed up to himself…

Thank you God for this beautiful day. My kids are healthy, smart and good looking like there dad. I thank you for my life and all of its ups and downs. A roller Coaster would be boring too with out them. Thank you also for alowing me to be born into an amaizing country. Please protect us in this time of need.

Amen

PS: Dad, if you are watching down, could you talk somebody into a few well placed bolts of lightning?

Bobby in someplace else
Sunday, September 21 at 04:38 PM

Good Gosh my Grammar Sucks!
Dear God,
Please forgive my grammar and spelling I accept responsibility and will not try to blame it on public schools.
Amen Again,
and please bless the people who are even dumber than I am…

Bobby in someplace else
Sunday, September 21 at 04:44 PM

Dear God,
I realize I have asked for much today, but I do have one last request: Will you please help enlighten the Walton Family, The Stock Holder’s, Management and the rest of the “Do What thou Wilt” group at Wal*Mart, that once they are done Raping the United States they may not find the “Global Economy” or the “New World Order” as accepting as they seem to believe? (on cue a Wal*Mart commercial comes on the radio). I know that your plan is divine and I accept that we all must face up to our sins. I hope there is room for me in heaven and please don’t bunk me with any of the Christian Right. And thank you for the excellent Chinese food that my family is about to consume. Please bless all small businesses as Joseph was himself a simple carpenter.
Amen

Bobby in someplace else
Sunday, September 21 at 04:58 PM

RDS,
Forgive me any womoen who are on the board. I love women and have the highest respect for you.
RDS you are a F*cking Pussy!!!! You are either on Wal Warts payroll or you are a total maroon! (Iluv bugs) What an A*s Hole!!!!!! You are everything negative ever said about you on this board. If you are real, which I doubt, Then you Suck.
Have fun, you Army of One.

Bobby in someplace else
Sunday, September 21 at 05:18 PM

RDS you are a F*cking Pussy!!!! You are either on Wal Warts payroll or you are a total maroon! (Iluv bugs) What an A*s Hole!!!!!! You are everything negative ever said about you on this board. If you are real, which I doubt, Then you Suck.
Have fun, you Army of One.~~~~~~Bobby~~~~~That’s PURE POETRY,Bobby!

ddrb in
Sunday, September 21 at 06:23 PM

P.S.: And its a helluva lot better “poetry” than the “Anonymouth in USA” blog bludgeoning poetic efforts of late.

ddrb in
Sunday, September 21 at 06:27 PM

Bobbo,for all you do,this one’s for you!---"Today marks a sad milestone. Today is the final game at the famed Yankee Stadium, the House that Ruth Built.  And in this transition from tradition over generations (even I speak in awe of my first trip to see a game at Yankee Stadium) to a taxpayer-funded corporate behemoth, Bill Moyers finds parallels to our current financial crisis.

“But when it came to paying for the new, $1.3 billion pleasure dome, the millionaires on the field and King Midas in his skybox came up with some razzle-dazzle plays to finance their new wealth machine - tax-free bonds, requiring ordinary citizens to subsidize the construction, and hundreds of millions more for new parking garages, a train station and parks that supposedly will replace the ones seized by the city to make room for the new stadium. The Little League games that used to flourish on sandlots just outside the old ballpark have been moved miles away, sent down to the minors on a long road trip.[..]

Meanwhile there will be more luxury suites and party rooms where fat cats can gather, safely removed from the sweaty masses. Corporations and wealthy individuals will be able to rent the luxury suites for anywhere from $600,000-$850,000 a year - tax deductible - assuming they haven’t filed for bankruptcy this week.

Why aren’t the fans and taxpayers giving the Yankees a Bronx cheer? They did, but city officials rolled over them while making sure local politicians stay in the lineup. The pols are getting their own luxury suite at the new stadium for free - and first shot at buying the best available seats."~~~Crooks and Liars~~~~~NOTE: The more things change, the more they stay the same-----in the meantime,in between time,ain’t we got fun?(I mean none, right? ) Are we savin’ money and livin’ better,yet?

ddrb in
Sunday, September 21 at 08:01 PM

Don’t get me started… The Stadium needed to be replaced and at least they haven’t stuck some stupid corporate sponsor name on it. I think the super skybox thing is a bunch of crap. They probably put those things up there so they can “trickle down” on the people in the cheap seats. I’ve met a couple of the players, David Wells was a cool guy. I even travelled on a few games. My favorite baseball field that I’ve been to and I haven’t been to many, is the one in Baltimore… Camden Yards… We had teem seating, but I walked the place and I don’t think there’s a bad seat in the house. This Yankee thing… Time will tell. I judge a stadium and a team by how well they take care of the dads and moms trying to turn there kids on to base ball. These are the real VIP’s!

Bobby in Someplace else
Sunday, September 21 at 10:43 PM

The title of this thread is about unionization. Hence, this timely article~~~~~~~~” Biden: McCain helped cripple labor movement “
Posted on Sat, Sep. 20, 2008
By BOB LEWIS

CASTLEWOOD, Va.—Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden said Saturday that Republican John McCain has helped President Bush destroy regulatory safeguards for the middle class in general and the labor movement in particular.

Biden, a Delaware senator, told hundreds of cheering coal mining families at a United Mine Workers picnic that McCain went along with Bush in putting anti-labor, corporate interests in charge of the U.S. Labor Department and the National Labor Relations Board.

“Do any of you doubt that this administration has anything else in mind than doing in the labor movement?” Biden asked.

Biden’s visit was the third since June by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama or him to the rural, blue-collar southwestern tip of Virginia, now a battleground state. It hasn’t backed a Democrat for president in 44 years.

Biden linked McCain and Bush in blame for high fuel costs, declining health benefits for workers and veterans, and a troubled stock market.

“This president has us engaged in three wars - one of necessity in Afghanistan and one of choice in Iraq,” Biden said. “But he also has been at war on labor’s house since the day he was elected.”

He said veterans have faced substandard medical care and educational benefits under the administration, and that when Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., sought to improve them by introducing a new GI Bill, McCain said the bill was too generous.

McCain said he opposed the bill because it might encourage people to leave the military while the country is fighting two wars. He joined Republican colleagues in proposing a bill to tie increased education benefits to length of service, but Senate Democrats blocked it from coming to a vote.

Biden also read comments attributed to McCain in a trade publication in which he called for reducing regulation for health insurance markets the way the banking industry was deregulated in the past 10 years. Obama referred to the same comments during his appearance in Florida.

That approach, Biden said, would expose health coverage for workers to the disastrous results that subprime mortgages wrought on the lending industry.

McCain spokesman Ben Porritt responded to Biden’s criticisms by saying Obama supports “taking away a worker’s right to secret ballots. John McCain wants to protect the democratic rights of those who unionize by preserving their ability to choose and vote freely.”

Actually, the bill supported by Obama and opposed by McCain would make it easier to unionize. The bill would allow employees to form a union when a majority in the workplace sign union cards, without having to go through a second step - a secret ballot vote that companies now can demand.
Biden voiced economic populism in an Appalachian region that takes in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia where Hillary Rodham Clinton dominated Obama in the primaries. Obama crushed Clinton in Virginia’s primary, but in the rugged “Fightin’ 9th” Congressional District in the state’s southwestern tip, she beat him by a 2-to-1 ratio.~~~~~~~~~~ AP via Miami Herald

ddrb in
Monday, September 22 at 08:48 AM

Normally I post under another name but I would lose all credibility if I were to post under my usual name.  Hopefully I can reach as many people as I can before this is deleted.  The dollar is about to CRASH.  It will be worth about as much as the peso or a pretty rock that you find on the beach.  What’s worse is that this is being done intentionally.  They are trying to establish the North American Union and establish a single currency called the Amero.  Bush already signed this into agreement, along with the President of Canada and the former President of Mexico.

Pray/visualize/think positive thoughts, whatever your inclination is that things will remain stable.  Also, be nice to each other.  The quantum field is about to shift and it is imperative that everyone does this.

I know that I sound like an absolute lunatic but just remember that you don’t know everything there is to know about reality.  Tell a friend or loved one.  Even if you don’t believe me why would you risk it?  Do this now.

Anonymous in The Universe
Monday, September 22 at 10:40 AM

Two Things...

“...I would lose all credibility...”

No. 1:  You never had any “credibility” if you are one of the Pro Wal-Mart Trolls who hang out here.

“… I sound like an absolute lunatic...”

No. 2: That’s because you are one, “Anonymous in The Universe!

ScrewedbyWalMart in Anytown, America
Monday, September 22 at 12:52 PM

Screwed: Compared to Anonymous in USA,Anonymous in the Universe is an Einstein,IMHO....I DOUBT that they are one and the same.

ddrb in
Monday, September 22 at 02:27 PM

You never had any “credibility” if you are one of the Pro Wal-Mart Trolls who hang out here.

Best be careful, Mr. Screwed—I see this board has become little more than a “Boobie-n-Booby” love-fest, as of late…

Participation by all your favorite foils is down to an all-time low (we all have better things to do with our lives).

In other words, though I don’t agree with the viewpoints of the resident WMW poet (and the lunatic you responded to), you people need all the posters you can muster!

bbrd in
Monday, September 22 at 03:05 PM

bbrd in
Pro-Wal*Marters and their ilk have brought the United States to its knees. Funny in that some of the smarter ones are just trying to make a buck off the dumber ones, and NO DOUBT there are a lot of you. The chickens are coming home to roost. The irony of the Pro-Wal*Mart contingency, is that even if they Win, they Lose. Mooing happily along to the killing floor. I hope that you enjoy your new economy, you created it.

Bobby in someplace else
Monday, September 22 at 03:15 PM

...you people need all the posters you can muster!

The last time bb predicted the eminent demise of WalMartWatch, they did a format upgrade.  What I think is noteworthy is despite the fact the pages of the blog are a shambles people continue to comment.

(we all have better things to do with our lives)

I just hope you’re better at these other ‘things’ than you are at this.

The genius of our ruling class is that it has kept a majority of the people from ever questioning the inequity of a system where most people drudge along, paying heavy taxes for which they get nothing in return. ~ Gore Vidal

Ken V in Texas
Monday, September 22 at 03:34 PM

When I’m done throwing up, I my post somrthing if I don’t just shoot myself......................
Bobby in someplace else

HEY BOOBY/Bobby
Sounds like the best thing you ever wrote- Just DO IT! The citizens of Manhattan will be better off.

Larry in USN WWII (Ret)
Monday, September 22 at 04:06 PM

Larry in USN WWII (Ret)
Larry,
You have to be one on the most computer literate 80+ year olds I have ever come accross. What does the (Ret) stand for? I bet it’s not “retired”. By the way I did “just do it”. I’m now a ghost! Wooooooo~! Bush just asked the Democrats to “act quickly” on the Trillion dollar tax give away. I hope for all of our sakes that it works out better than the last time he asked for that favor....
Anchor’s Away Old Chap!

Bobby in someplace else
Monday, September 22 at 04:28 PM

Hope it works out too.

Ben Stein: Stop the Wall Street Looting

Monday, September 22, 2008 9:18 AM

Ben Stein, economist, author, former presidential speechwriter, and occasional actor is angry about the current economic earthquake that has rattled U.S. and global markets and he wants everyone to know.

He’s particularly peeved with the $700 billion proposed Wall Street bailout and its architect, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

In a CNN interview, Stein said Paulson should be “fired yesterday.”

Paulson is a disgrace to the Republican Party and to his country, said Stein. Another target of Stein’s ire is Wall Street itself.

Stein says he’d like to see President Bush on national TV “with Mr. Obama to his left and Mr. McCain to his right and say we are going to make sure that you Americans are going to stop being looted by Wall Street.”

“It’s a first-class disaster. The worst Treasury regulation of the economy in my lifetime. ... The effect of this on the ordinary investor and pre-retiree ... is just catastrophic for the free enterprise system.”

John Gapper, the Financial Times columnist, has a simpler solution: Get Henry Paulson to give some money back.

“Mr. Paulson now declares himself shocked, shocked that structured finance was going on Wall Street but he was there at the time, and the $18.7 million bonus he received for the first half of 2006 presumably reflected it,” he wrote on his FT blog.

“I wonder if, as a public gesture, Mr. Paulson might consider handing that bonus over to the Treasury’s fund and lowering the U.S. taxpayer’s bill by $18.7 million?”

Larry in USN WWII (Ret)
Monday, September 22 at 04:41 PM

Ben Stein.... I alway’s liked his game show.

Bobby's Ghost in Heaven Now
Monday, September 22 at 05:00 PM

Larry in USN WWII (Ret)

Larry Did you know that I lost all ten toes in Vietnam?

G I Yow in
Monday, September 22 at 06:11 PM

...they (WMW) did a format upgrade.

Somehow, I don’t believe the use of mindless tags and links to Flickr qualifies as an “upgrade”.

BTW, wasn’t it you, yourself who recently posted something of a complaint to WMW, Kenbo—what’s up with that?

bbrd in
Monday, September 22 at 08:40 PM

Information from the UFCW Canada:

Wal-Mart members win historic contract

August 15 will be a long-remembered date for UFCW Canada members as the first day Wal-Mart workers in Canada were covered by a collective agreement. Just days before our union’s international convention opened in Montreal, UFCW Canada members at a Wal-Mart location in Gatineau, Que., about two hours to the west, have made history by becoming the only Wal-Mart workers in North America to have a union contract after a Quebec arbitrator imposed a collective agreement.

“Wal-Mart should now act as a good Canadian corporate citizen and live up to the terms of this contract,” says UFCW Canada National President Wayne Hanley. “We believe the arbitrator did a good job and that it is a fair contract, in line with similar workplaces in Quebec.”

The contract raises average wages of the Gatineau Wal-Mart members by more than 30%. Improved vacation provisions are also part of the three-year agreement. The terms of the collective agreement are effective immediately.

“It shows that, even after three years, workers at Wal-Mart, like all Canadian workers, can exercise their Freedom of Association rights and get a decent collective agreement,” President Hanley says.

The UFCW Canada Local 486 bargaining unit at the Wal-Mart Tire & Lube Express in Gatineau was certified in 2005. The collective agreement was the result of binding arbitration, following almost three years of legal delays and stalled negotiations with the company.

The last time Wal-Mart faced an arbitrated first contract in Quebec, it was in Jonquière. The day the Quebec labour board ordered binding arbitration to begin, Wal-Mart simply shuttered the store, throwing members there out of work. As reported in DIRECTIONS last week (8.33), the Supreme Court of Canada has announced it would hear the appeals of those workers as to the legality of Wal-Mart’s actions.

Two more Wal-Mart collective agreements are expected in Quebec before the end of the year, when binding arbitrations should be complete for bargaining units in Saint-Hyacinthe.

Alex in Ontario, Canada
Monday, September 22 at 09:02 PM

I love being dead!
As many of you know, I took my own life this weekend on the advice of Larry, a much more evolved being. Not only did Larry save us from the Naizi’s, but he lived on well into his 80’s/90’s and mastered the internet! His great words to us all: zthe Republicans are the best chance against the Walmartization of America! Well, realizing the error of my way’s. I did what any good American would do when faces with such a harsh reality. I put my 9 mm in my mouth and pulled the trigger. I went through my 72 vigins in about 48 hours… Sorry Girls… I’ll try to catch you on the rebound. Eternity is a very long time and I plan on making good use of the time. BTW, if you are not a virgin, please contact me ASAP! I was never good at giving directions. Anyway, Guess what?  Wal*Mart is consumate Evil! I swear! I always thought after meeting Lee Scott and his Minion, that things may be messed up. But now I Can tell you that Wal*Mart is the Spawn of Satan!!! That’s right!!! We all get a big laugh out of it up here. The government status quo, after years of Republican idealogical rule, has finally destroyed the last vestigages of Amirica the Idea have been devoured by totallitarionism. Not socialism (the Republican Dirty Word) but Something more sinister… But thankfully, I’m in Heaven now and the Republican VS Demecrat BS really doesn’t register much up here. Happy Roll Backs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bobby in Someplace else
Monday, September 22 at 10:23 PM

PS: If you are still putting your money in Wal*Mart stock…
You will have some serious explaining to do. Very anti-Christian. And all you Saudi’s? The virgins may not be female or even human. I’d sell ASAP if I were you. you’ve got 30-50 years left on earth and a very long time when you cross over. You know that Beatles Song? The one that say’s “ and in the End, The Love you Take is Equal to the Love you Make? Well if you are a Wal*Marter take a greater with irritable bowel syndrome and make it MUCH, MUCH worse and you aren’t even close!!!
I LOVE BEING DEAD!!!

Bobby's Ghost in Heaven Now
Monday, September 22 at 10:35 PM

Bobby,
Is that some really good weed your on or a fresh batch of mushrooms!

G I YOW in
Monday, September 22 at 10:39 PM

G I YOW: My guess is Chinese takeout and Chivas.

ddrb in
Tuesday, September 23 at 08:23 AM

Chinese paper urges new currency order after “financial tsunami”
Wed Sep 17, 2008 1:45am EDT BEIJING (Reuters) - Threatened by a “financial tsunami,” the world must consider building a financial order no longer dependent on the United States, a leading Chinese state newspaper said on Wednesday.

The commentary in the overseas edition of the People’s Daily said the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc “may augur an even larger impending global ‘financial tsunami’.”

The People’s Daily is the official newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party, and the overseas edition is a smaller circulation offshoot of the main paper.

Its pronouncements do not necessarily directly reflect leadership views, but this commentary by a professor at Shanghai’s Tongji University suggested considerable official alarm at the strains buckling world financial markets.

China’s central bank earlier this week cut its lending rate for the first time in six years, a move analysts said was aimed at bolstering the economy and the battered stock market.

“The eruption of the U.S. sub-prime crisis has exposed massive loopholes in the United States’ financial oversight and supervision,” writes the commentator, Shi Jianxun.

“The world urgently needs to create a diversified currency and financial system and fair and just financial order that is not dependent on the United States.”

But Vice Premier Wang Qishan, on a visit to the United States, told U.S. trade officials in a meeting on Tuesday that China and the United States needed to maintain close economic ties with global markets going through such turbulence.

“The Chinese government is well aware of the fact that the United States, which is the world’s largest developed country, and China, which is the world’s largest developing country, should have constructive and cooperative economic and trade relations,” he said.

China is a major buyer of U.S. Treasury bonds, and through its sovereign wealth fund it has taken stakes in two large U.S. financial institutions.

In July 2005, China revalued the yuan and freed it from a dollar peg to float within managed bands. But the yuan and China’s trade remains tightly linked to the fortunes of the dollar.

The commentary suggested China must brace for grave economic fallout and look to alternatives, saying the crisis brings to mind the Great Depression of the 1930s.

“Lehman Brothers announced bankruptcy will not only have a domino effect on the global financial world, it will bring a shock to the world economy,” the front-page comment stated.

(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Ken Wills)

(© Thomson Reuters 2008 via Raw Story)

ddrb in
Tuesday, September 23 at 09:28 AM

“Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, spent nearly $1.4 million in the second quarter lobbying the federal government on union matters, cargo security and other issues, according to a recent disclosure form.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based company, which has 1.3 million domestic employees, lobbied on the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Wal-Mart and the Retail Industry Leaders Association mounted a successful legal challenge to a Maryland law that required companies with more than 10,000 workers to devote at least 8 percent of its payroll to paying for employee health insurance. The judge ruled that ERISA pre-empted the state requirements.

The Employee Choice Act, over which Wal-Mart has drawn criticism for having politically partisan sessions with employees, was also listed, as was the Family Medical Leave Act and the American with Disabilities Restoration Act, according to the form filed July 21 with the House clerk’s office.

Wal-Mart Vice President of Corporate Affairs Raymond Bracy is listed on the reporting form as the company’s lobbyist. The form shows he also lobbied regarding a variety of TAX issues and on legislation regarding Chinese imports and CHINA’s CURRENCY."~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~AP via MSN,August ‘08~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NOTE: This would be interesting to know just exactly what Mr. Bracy was lobbying FOR or AGAINST regarding Chinese currency ,in particular.

ddrb in
Tuesday, September 23 at 09:43 AM

ddrb,
Mr. Bracy is pissed off because we let the dollar slide so low, that the dollar pegged Chinese currency has got no place left to go. They can’t make stuff cheaper much longer. And to think a lot of people thought it was the Unions that made it so expensive to manufacture in the US. Wal*Mart’s smoke and mirrors economy. That’s what they are lobbying for. If America is smart (big if) then they’ll start modernizing our manufacturing base and bring some “ balance” back to America’s check book. Maybe we should send them a copy of “Quickbooks”?

Bobby's Ghost in Heaven Now
Tuesday, September 23 at 09:56 AM

ddrb,
A slight correction: After years of pressure to de-link the Yuan to the US Dollar, and not wanting to appear to be yealding to U.S. pressure, the Chinese quietly de-linked it about 2 years ago. This is one reason gas prices have gone up. Remember as you watch retail stocks, that the days of cheap Chinese manufacturing could very well be coming to an end. So companies that have used the something for nothing approach to economics, are scratching their heads and looking for a second act. I was speaking with a finance person this AM, getting my facts straight and he let slip the old, I can’t believe nobody saw this coming. I reminded him that not only did I see it coming, but many people in office and who have ran for office and lost, had predicted the nation’s current financial crisis. They were laughed at, and viciously attacked. The people that are upgrading Wal*Mart stock are the same people who brought us the financial melt down. Who to trust? NO BODY KNOWS WHAT’S GOING ON… Right now they are sitting in Washington rolling the dice and looking for a place to hide.

Bobby's Ghost in Heaven Now
Tuesday, September 23 at 10:40 AM

Booby’s Ghost: The next manufacuring base will be Vietnam. How convenient to have McCain as prez,would that be?

ddrb in
Tuesday, September 23 at 11:36 AM

Well at least we won’t be responsible for feed 2-3 billion Vietnamese. Jeeze I think we donated enough of our pensions and national Wealth to China. They should be able to take care of themselves now. I say clean energy, modern factories and good paying middle class jobs belong right here in America. And this “bail out” should only go to people who are going to make that happen. It is our tax dollars!! Let the globalist get their bailout from Wal*Mart.
Damn, I Luv being dead! Thank’s for the advice Larry!

Bobby's Ghost in Heaven Now
Tuesday, September 23 at 03:36 PM

China banks told to halt lending to US banks-SCMP
Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:52pm EDT
.BEIJING, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Chinese regulators have told domestic banks to stop interbank lending to U.S. financial institutions to prevent possible losses during the financial crisis, the South China Morning Post reported on Thursday.

The Hong Kong newspaper cited unidentified industry sources as saying the instruction from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) applied to interbank lending of all currencies to U.S. banks but not to banks from other countries.

“The decree appears to be Beijing’s first attempt to erect defences against the deepening U.S. financial meltdown after the mainland’s major lenders reported billions of U.S. dollars in exposure to the credit crisis,” the SCMP said.

A spokesman for the CBRC had no immediate comment. (Reporting by Alan Wheatley and Langi Chiang; editing by Ken Wills)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ddrb in
Thursday, September 25 at 09:21 PM

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houseelephan in London
Friday, September 26 at 12:39 AM

So 32 people -

cnn dot com -

sat before me -

I tell them of my dreams - for it is too late for me.

I wish for stability -

I pray for a family -

I pray to become old -

I pray - to contribute -

I pray to have children -

I pray to love and be loved -

I pray to impart this dream -

I cannot see it -

I am midway -

Allow me to dream.

This land great - just a part am i.

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juicygooglec in London
Thursday, October 02 at 10:27 AM

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