Wal-Mart Continues to Focus on Expansion Abroad

its good to see walmart expanding around the world

Even “Always Low Prices” Has A Limit!

Just ask Bill Simon.

RDS is contantly whining why other stores don’t “compete” with Wal-Mart.  It seems Wal-Mart is the company that’s afraid to step up to the plate!

Since Robert J. Trenwick is such a big fan of quotes, here’s another one.

“Free is a price that is not a long-term sustainable proposition.”

-- Bill Simon, Wal-Mart’s chief operating officer, explaining that, unlike some of its competitors, the retailer will not offer free generic drugs at its in-store clinics as part of its discounted prescription drug program

Screwedby,

“RDS is contantly whining why other stores don’t “compete” with Wal-Mart.  It seems Wal-Mart is the company that’s afraid to step up to the plate!”

If Wal-Mart is #1 and pays better than most of their competitors, wouldn’t that show that they have already “stepped up to the plate”, your problem is, they have not stepped up to the ‘plate’ you desire them to, which is to go out of business!!

Take the $4 generic prescription program for instance, that move, caused others to respond and lower their generic prices as well, the winners, are the customers!!

Screwedby,

One thing more, to ‘compete’ for customers, a store has to ‘Do better’ than Wal-Mart, not play ‘Follow the leader’!!  That’s how Wal-Mart got to where they are today, they “Did better’ than their competitors, which caused customers to move from their ‘old’ retailer, to them!!  You tend to look at things ‘backwards’!!  To get ‘ahead’ a company has to ‘Build a better mousetrap’, not wait until the leader does it first!!

Take the $4 generic prescription program for instance, that move, caused others to respond and lower their generic prices as well, the winners, are the customers!! ~RDS

How can anyone, including whiney liberals, complain about that?!?!

Shouldn’t that be...How can anyone, including whiney liberals on medication, complain about that?!?!

I’m all for the $4 drug policy. Grab up all the Wal-Mart loss leaders you can. Just don’t buy anything you can get cheaper elsewhere.

“I supported this company. I’d bleed Wal-Mart blue for them, but come Thursday night, whenever I was terminated, I’ve lost all respect for Wal-Mart.” ~ Mark Neeley (12 yrs)

Ken V,

“Grab up all the Wal-Mart loss leaders you can.”

And, just how would people do that if Wal-Mart were ‘Out of business’, like you want?

Do West Virginia Voters and Wal-Mart Defenders Think the Same?

This was heard yesterday during a news report on the West Virginia primary:

“I don’t care what the experts say, I don’t care what other politicians say, I don’t care what the media says, I’m supporting Hillary until the end.” ~West Virginia Voter

I wonder if the woman who made this statement was a graduate of the RDS School of Critical Thinking?

where is the same level of complaining about the other stores matching walmarts 4 dollar prescriptions.why are ken and screwed by so dam quiet on that?

...just how would people do that if Wal-Mart were ‘Out of business’...(?)

If people would buy nothing but loss leaders from Wal-Mart it would put them out of business.

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” ~ Warren Buffett

“why are ken and screwed by so dam quiet”

mv needs to learn the difference between “quiet” and “ignore.”

Monday April 7, 2008
by Justin D. Anderson
Daily Mail Capitol Reporter(West Virginia)
Since 1979, the state has never ranked higher than 44th in the nation when it comes to the income level of its average citizen.

For the last quarter-century, the state’s per capita income has been ranked next to last among states with the exception of five years when it ranked 48th.

Last year the average West Virginian had income of $29,537, a 4.7 percent increase over the previous year, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

That was $10,000 less than the national average.

“We’re in a vicious cycle,” said Cal Kent, an economics professor at Marshall University.

Kent says the state is in a precarious situation: many members of its labor force lack education beyond high school.

That makes some high-paying businesses wary about locating here.

“The real secret in getting per capita income up is improving the quality of the labor force that’s there,” Kent said.

Statistics gathered by West Virginia University show that about 21 percent of the people in the workforce have earned a bachelor’s degree or above. The national average is 28 percent.

Industrial and mining jobs are declining, Kent said. That means fewer good-paying jobs for people without higher education.

Tom Witt, an economics professor at WVU, pointed to the high percentage of West Virginians who simply don’t participate in the workforce.

“West Virginia has the lowest labor force participation rate in the country,” Witt said. “This has been a chronic, long-term statistic in our state. I see no reason for that to change.”

Witt said the high number of citizens who are able to work but don’t is a serious drag on the overall average income.

Since 1979, the state has never ranked higher than 44th in the nation when it comes to the income level of its average citizen.

Last year the average West Virginian had income of $29,537, a 4.7 percent increase over the previous year, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

That was $10,000 less than the national average.

“We’re in a vicious cycle,” said Cal Kent, an economics professor at Marshall University.

Kent says the state is in a precarious situation: many members of its labor force lack education beyond high school.

That makes some high-paying businesses wary about locating here. Kent said there’s a strong correlation between per capita income and the level of education in a workfor

Statistics gathered by West Virginia University show that about 21 percent of the people in the workforce have earned a bachelor’s degree or above. The national average is 28 percent.

Industrial and mining jobs are declining, Kent said. That means fewer good-paying jobs for people without higher education.

And there’s a Catch-22. The lack of high-paying jobs that require advanced skills causes West Virginians who earn advanced degrees to migrate to other states for work.

Tom Witt, an economics professor at WVU, pointed to the high percentage of West Virginians who simply don’t participate in the workforce.

“West Virginia has the lowest labor force participation rate in the country,” Witt said. “This has been a chronic, long-term statistic in our state. I see no reason for that to change.”

Witt said the high number of citizens who are able to work but don’t is a serious drag on the overall average income.

WVU research shows that in 2005, only about 55 percent of able-bodied people aged 16 and older participated in the workforce. Nationally, the average was 65.9 percent in 2005.

Another factor in the state’s low per capita average is the high population of retirees. Witt said unless a person has a healthy investment nest egg by the time he or she retires, their income level decreases, and that affects the state average.

Fifty years ago, the Charleston and Huntington metro areas were ranked in the top 100 in the country as far as economic success, said McCabe. Both have slipped.

“West Virginia has the lowest labor force participation rate in the country,” Witt said. “This has been a chronic, long-term statistic in our state. I see no reason for that to change.”

Witt said the high number of citizens who are able to work but don’t is a serious drag on the overall average income. “~

Well,so much for racial stereotyping in a state that has only 6&#xmi;nority population.  Last night I heard that 74% of those who voted for Hillary had incomes of $30,000. or less.

WEST VIRGINIAWal-Mart tops the list in West Virginia for the largest number of workers with children receiving state-funded health benefits. According to data released in December 2004 by the West Virginia Bureau for Children and Families, 452 Wal-Mart employees get health coverage for their children through the State’s Children Health Insurance Pro-gram (SCHIP).127 Wal-Mart has more than three times as many employees with children covered bySCHIP than the next highest-ranked employer,Asplundh, which had 146 employees with children participating in the plan.128Even as Wal-Mart shirks its responsibility for pro-viding its workers with basic health care, forcing taxpayers to pick up the tab, Wal-Mart has bene-fited from more than $9.7 million in taxpayer-financed economic assistance in West Virginia since 1989, with most of the benefit accruingsince 1998.129The Wal-Mart Tax: Shifting Heath Care Costs to TaxPayers,March 2006

I’d rather hear this from someone who lives in/near West Virginia (rather than further north).

Nick—are you listening???

ddrb,

“Tom Witt, an economics professor at WVU, pointed to the high percentage of West Virginians who simply don’t participate in the workforce.

“West Virginia has the lowest labor force participation rate in the country,” Witt said. “This has been a chronic, long-term statistic in our state. I see no reason for that to change.”

Witt said the high number of citizens who are able to work but don’t is a serious drag on the overall average income.”

Are these the ‘poor unfortunates’ that the Liberals are always trying to HELP, with ‘freebees’ at the taxpayers expense?

“Last night I heard that 74% of those who voted for Hillary had incomes of $30,000. or less.”

Ever notice, that Democrats usually get their highest number of ‘votes’ in the ‘poorest’ areas of the country and Democrat controlled areas usually ‘remain’ the poorest?

ddrb,

The Liberal MOTTO:

If it doesn’t work, throw money at it and if it does work, tax it to death!!

RDS: Well.another take would be"If they (West Virginians) don’t work,Hillary will throw money at them,and if they do finally go to work,John Mc Cain will tax them to death!!"~~~~~~~Actually ,according to the news article, able bodied citizens have a history of REFUSING to work,in West Virginia.

BTW: George Bush was voted for heavily in West Virginia.especially in the western border regions of the state. That’s why its called a swing state.

Speaking of poor and historically Democrat states-example-Arkansas:The per capita household median income for 2004 was $35,295. It ranks 40th in Labor. In addition to state tax, there are 300 local taxes;however only 20% of property value is used as tax base for property tax.  The current Governor of Arkansas is Mike Beebe, a Democrat. He was elected on November 7, 2006.

Both of Arkansas’s U.S. Senators are Democrats: Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor. The state has four seats in U.S. House of Representatives. Three seats are held by Democrats—Marion Berry, Vic Snyder, and Mike Ross . The state’s lone Republican congressman is John Boozman.
The Democratic Party holds super-majority status in the Arkansas General Assembly. A majority of local and statewide offices are also held by Democrats. This is rare in the modern South, where a majority of statewide offices are held by Republicans. Arkansas had the distinction in 1992 of being the only state in the country to give the majority of its vote to a single candidate in the presidential election—native son Bill Clinton—while every other state’s electoral votes were won by pluralities of the vote among the three candidates. In 2004, George W. Bush won the state of Arkansas by 9 points, leading some to speculate that the state was shifting toward the Republicans. In 2006, however, Democrats were elected to all statewide offices by the voters in a Democratic sweep that included the Arkansas Democratic Party regaining the governorship.

Most Republican strength lies mainly in northwest Arkansas in the areas around Fort Smith and Bentonville, and especially in North Central Arkansas around the Mountain Home area where voters have often voted 90 percent Republican. The rest of the state is strongly Democratic, especially Little Rock and the areas along the Mississippi River. Arkansas has only elected one Republican to the U.S. Senate since Reconstruction, Tim Hutchinson, who was defeated after one term by Mark Pryor. The General Assembly has not been controlled by the Republican Party since Reconstruction and is the fourth most heavily Democratic Legislature in the country, after Massachusetts, Hawaii, and Connecticut. Arkansas is also the only state among the states of the former Confederacy that sends two Democrats to the U.S. Senate and the overwhelming majority of registered voters in the state are Democrats.

Note: It would seem that WalMart’s most famous and prosperous corporate citizen (and Tyson,a second) have not produced a” rising tide” to lift all income boats in their very own home state.  40th in labor? Where’s the trickle down? Looks more like trickled down and out and away!

To paraphrase Mick from Rocky I:

You are becoming a very dangerous person, dd!

(And I mean that in the nicest possible way:o)

ddrb… Once Again, RDS Opens His Mouth and Inserts His Foot!

“Democrat controlled areas usually ‘remain’ the poorest?”

You’d like to believe that wouldn’t you, RDS.  Too bad statistical date from the U.S. Census Bureau and a map of the so-called “red states” and “blue states” doesn’t back you up. You will notice that although the blue states are fewer in number, they are more heavily populated.  This is how elections are won!  There are 3 distinct regions of blue states… the West Coast, the upper Mid-West (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan), and the upper East Coast and the New England states.

Take a look at how Arkansas (a Red State in 2004) compares on several key metrics.  The number that follows is the national ranking.

PERSONS 25 YEARS OLD AND OVER WITH A BACHELOR’S DEGREE OR MORE, 2005
Arkansas 49
West Virginia 50

PERSONAL INCOME PER CAPITA IN CURRENT DOLLARS, 2005
Arkansas 47
West Virginia 48

Doctors Per 100,000 Population, 2004
Arkansas 44
West Virginia 33

There is one ranking where you don’t want to be ranked No. 1:

MOBILE HOMES, PERCENT OF TOTAL HOUSING UNITS, 2005
Arkansas 8

I guess it makes more and more sense why RDS says the things he says.

“I also get a charge out of ‘Sanford and Son”, “Green Acres” and ‘Good times” as well, because they show how people accept ‘poverty’ as being the best way of life.” ~RDS

ddrb,

“Hillary will throw money at them,and if they do finally go to work,John Mc Cain will tax them to death!!”

Seems to me, that John McCain wants to keep taxes low, Hillary and Obama, want to raise taxes!!

“however only 20% of property value is used as tax base for property tax.”

Sounds like a ‘good’ thing to me!!

“The current Governor of Arkansas is Mike Beebe, a Democrat. He was elected on November 7, 2006.”

He promised to remove the sales tax on food and necessities, hasn’t happened yet!!

“The Democratic Party holds super-majority status in the Arkansas General Assembly. A majority of local and statewide offices are also held by Democrats.”

Makes one wonder WHY Arkansas ranks “LOW’ in almost ALL economic areas, now doesn’t it?  If you look at Arkansas, there are pockets of economic growth, N.W. Arkansas, is one of those pockets of Republican voters!!

“Looks more like trickled down and out and away!”

Out and away to where?  Don’t ALL Wal-Mart’s profits trickle to Bentonville?

“It would seem that WalMart’s most famous and prosperous corporate citizen (and Tyson,a second) have not produced a” rising tide” to lift all income boats in their very own home state.”

They have to their HOME area, Northwest Arkansas!!  What has the rest of the Democrat controlled parts of the state done to bring itself up?  They are waiting for Wal-Mart and Tyson to do it for them, that’s what!!  It’s the old, “We can’t do it ourselves, so give us some of YOURS” senerio!!

Screwedby,

“You’d like to believe that wouldn’t you, RDS.”

Didn’t ddrb, just prove that for me?  And, don’t your comments prove the same thing, that Red States tend to be the ‘poorest’?

Do You Know the Difference Between a “Red State” and a “Blue State”, RDS?

I believe you tried to associate a state’s relative wealth with whether it was Democratic or Republican.

Weren’t all of the “red states” in the Republican camp in 2004?  Didn’t Arkansas vote Republican in 2004?

The Bush policies didn’t seem to trickle down to Arkansas did they?  Or then again, maybe they did!

Out and away to where?

China?  Mexico? Bangladesh? India? Cambodia?  Sri Lanka?

“… only 20% of property value is used as tax base for property tax.”

Of course this “sounds good” to you, RDS, you’re only interested in your pocket.  But how can this be good for the state of Arkansas which ranks No. 8 in the nation in terms of mobile homes?

Screwedby,

“Do You Know the Difference Between a “Red State” and a “Blue State”, RDS?”

You are right, I have a hard time remembering which one is ‘red’ and which one is ‘blue’!!

“Weren’t all of the “red states” in the Republican camp in 2004?  Didn’t Arkansas vote Republican in 2004?”

But, as ddrb stated in her post:

“The current Governor of Arkansas is Mike Beebe, a Democrat. He was elected on November 7, 2006.

Both of Arkansas’s U.S. Senators are Democrats: Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor. The state has four seats in U.S. House of Representatives. Three seats are held by Democrats—Marion Berry, Vic Snyder, and Mike Ross . The state’s lone Republican congressman is John Boozman.
The Democratic Party holds super-majority status in the Arkansas General Assembly. A majority of local and statewide offices are also held by Democrats.”

And, don’t forget that Bill Clinton was the governor before the Republican Huckabee!!  This state has always been near the bottom, even when the Democrats are in control!!

And before Bill Clinton was the Republican,Winthrop Rockefeller.It occurred to me that the Rockefeller family has a presence in both Arkansas AND West Virginia.Re: Arkansas: ~~~~~~~~The election of 1966 was a watershed in Arkansas political history, for it not only saw the election of the state’s first Republican governor since 1872, as well as a Republican U. S. congressman in northwest Arkansas, but it was an election in which black voters cast the deciding vote. The segregationist wing of the state Democratic Party mustered a final victory by nominating former Supreme Court Justice James D. (Jim) Johnson, a protégé of segregationist presidential candidate and Alabama governor, George C. Wallace. While Rockefeller welcomed black votes, Johnson refused to shake hands with them. In the end, Rockefeller won with fifty-four percent of the vote.

Promising an “Era of Excellence,” Rockefeller submitted considerable reform legislation, but the results were mixed. Rockefeller’s major achievements as governor include several laws enacted during the 1967 legislature: adopting the state’s first minimum wage, tightening lax insurance regulation, and adopting a law to guarantee freedom of information. He ordered the Arkansas State Police to close illegal gambling operations in Hot Springs (Garland County). Black Arkansans found state government more accepting under Rockefeller, with the integration of the State Police being a signal accomplishment,

It did not take long for Rockefeller to attract the attention of Governor Orval Faubus. Desperate to build Arkansas’s stagnant economy, Faubus named Rockefeller to the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission (now the Arkansas Department of Economic Development) in 1955. Rockefeller took this work seriously, and by the time he left the commission after nine years, Arkansas had undergone a remarkable economic transformation. He claimed credit for bringing more than 600 new industrial plants to Arkansas, providing 90,000 new jobs. Industrial employment grew by 47.5 percent, and manufacturing wages grew by eighty-eight percent, compared to a national rise of thirty-six percent.~~(Winthrop’s son Win served as Lt. Governor of Arkansas many years later,and died very young,recently ,in his early 50’s.)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ddrb,

Thanks for the article that shows how the Republicans have tried to help the economy and race relations in Arkansas, and how the Democrats have held it back!!

RDS: Your welcome. Perhaps you could post some info as to what legislation to help the state that the Waltons have done to assist in creating new industrial and manufacturing plants,and in elevating wages across the state. Also,perhaps you could include their efforts re “race relations"(?) in Arkansas?I have been unable to locate ANY info as to the Waltons in regard to these efforts.

“how the Republicans have tried to help” ~RDS

Yeah, just look at how the Republicans have tried to “help” America in the last 8 years.

This is your major malfunction, RDS.  You think one of the two existing parties in this country is better than the other.  If you can’t get anywhere by touting your Libertarian crap, you revert to your backup plan, and spout your Republican rhetoric.

As long as either party presents itself as the “better” choice for getting America’s problems solved, there will continue to be gridlock in Washington.

So you may ask, “what about Obama?” What about him?  I’m willing to give him a chance, but only as the lesser of ALL the evils.  I suspect if he makes it to the White House, the “honeymoon” with Capitol Hill will be exceptionally short-lived.  You don’t think the Republicans will allow him take credit for fixing the problems they caused do you?

RDS:BTW,are you saying that Bill Clinton didn’t help Arkansas as Governor? As President? Nor Hillary as First Lady oF Arkansas? While on the Board of WalMart? They are BOTH Democrats,and to hear them(and Sam Walton in old video) tell it,they (Clintons) did a LOT for Arkansas.

Screwedby,

“You think one of the two existing parties in this country is better than the other.”

I have never said that, to me, one is just as bad as the other in some respects, it’s getting hard to tell them apart!!  Problem is, as they say, they are the only ‘viable’ choices in town!!

“as the lesser of ALL the evils”

That’s what ‘voting’ has come down to, picking the ‘lesser of 2 evils’ and even at that, what the candidate said ‘before’ being elected, is seldom what they do ‘after’ being elected, no matter what party they belong to!!  So, it really comes down to most people voting for the candidate, that will do the LEAST damage or possibly NOTHING!!  Gridlock, at least ends up NOT making things worse!!

“You don’t think the Republicans will allow him take credit for fixing the problems they caused do you?”

That statement applies to the Democrats as well, both parties do things to make the other side look bad just before ‘election time’, look how the great ecomony of the Clinton era, went south about Sept. of his last year in office, it was blamed on the Republicans controlling the congress, even though, those same congressmen were in office during the ‘good’ years too!!

ddrb,

“are you saying that Bill Clinton didn’t help Arkansas as Governor?”

What exactly DID he do? I didn’t live here (I moved here in 1990), during most of his governorship, but do know that he said he wouldn’t run for President, while Governor and then did, and he was known as “Slick Willy”, here in Arkansas, while running for President!!  Also, people were really glad when he was elected and no longer was the Governor and they elected Huckabee as his replacement!!

RDS: Perhaps some of your pro-associates could provide info on the Clintons And/Or WalMart’s efforts to elevate the wages and quality of life issues for all residents in the state of Arkansas.

ddrb,

“WalMart’s efforts to elevate the wages and quality of life issues for all residents in the state of Arkansas.”

Why should 1 company be responsible to elevate wages and quality of life for an entire state?  Would you claim that General Motors should be responsible for the quality of life for ALL of the residents of Michigan?

“Perhaps some of your pro-associates could provide info on the Clintons”

I asked you first!!  Guess Bill Clinton will always be best known for his womanizing!!

RDS: Why should all residents of the entire state elevate the quality of life for one family?~~~~~~~~Without Special Exemption, State Law Mandates Sales Tax on Art. Tim Leathers, the Arkansas revenue commissioner, said all the state’s museums, like other nonprofits, are subject to sales tax on items they purchase.  Even if they buy them in a state that exempts art from sales tax, they still have to pay the tax in Arkansas, he said.  [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 3/16/05]-------------------------------------
But New Arkansas Legislation Exempts Walton Museum from Sales Tax. “An act passed this year by the Arkansas Legislature helped solidify plans for the new Walton museum. Arkansas Act 1865, sponsored by Rep. Horace Hardwick, R-Bentonville, provides sales and use tax exemptions to nonprofit museums for the building construction and art purchases. To qualify, the museum must open to the public before Jan. 1, 2013, cost more than $30 million to build and house more than $100 million worth of art.” The Walton Foundation museum is scheduled to open May 2009. [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 5/20/05]-------------
Walton Family Widely Considered To Be Behind Exemption Legislation. Alice Walton and the Foundation lobbied for passage of a bill that exempts the Foundation from having to pay Arkansas’ 6 percent sales tax on the acquisition or sale of artwork. [Bill sponsor Rep. Horace] Hardwick wouldn’t identify the nonprofit organization mentioned in the bill, but sources who requested anonymity told the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal that it’s the Walton Foundation and that Alice Walton, daughter of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, was behind the museum plan.  [Arkansas Business, 5/19/05; 3/14/05]--------------------------------------------------
Special Treatment: Little Rock Arts Center Not Eligible for Walton Exemption. “The [sales tax exemption] law didn’t exempt the Walton museum by name, but was written in such a way to apply to it and no other.” For example, the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock has to pay sales tax on its acquisitions, and is not eligible for the exemption, because the legislation passed this year it only applies to museums opened between Jan. 1, 2005, and Jan. 1, 2013. [Arkansas Times, 5/19/05; Arkansas Business, 3/14/05]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tax Law Secrecy Masks Tax Payments, But Waltons Could Choose to Disclose. The Arkansas Times reported, “Because of tax law secrecy, it’s likely Arkansans will never know if [Alice Walton’s $35M purchase of the Durand] painting was taxed or even if an effort was made to collect the tax. The Waltons could say if they chose.” [Arkansas Times, 5/19/05, emphasis added]---------------------------------------------------

Walton Family Gives $600,000 To Lobbying Firm To Save Billions On Estate Tax. Lobby disclosure record show the Walton family paid Patton Boggs LLP, an influential lobbying firm located inWashington, DC, $600,000 dollars since 1999 in an effort to repeal the estate tax. In 2005, the Waltonfamily would have saved $32.6 billion if the estate tax were repealed.[Public Citizen, “Spending Millions toSave Billions,” April 2006]The Food Marketing Institute Spends $3.2 Million On The Estate Tax. DONATIONS: Walton Family Gave $2.6 Million to Fund Conservative Progress for America. TheUSA Today reported, between August and October 2004, Alice Walton personally poured at least $2.6million into the right-wing, pro-Bush 527 group Progress for America. The donation was Progress forAmerica’s “sixth-biggest gift.” Larry Noble, head of the Center for Responsive Politics, said Walton’sgift makes her “a political force to be reckoned with.” Progress For America was behind the 527committee Swift Vets and POWs for Truth attacked Sen. John Kerry during the 2004 Presidentialelection.[USA Today, 4/6/05; http://www.publicintegrity.org/527/search.aspx?act=com&orgid=714]• Progress for America is Committed to Promoting Conservative Causes. Progress for America“promotes nonpartisan, conservative policies that improve the quality of life for the American people.During the 109th Congress, PFA will advance a conservative legislative agenda to reform SocialSecurity, confirm President Bush’s judicial nominees, overhaul the tax code and end lawsuit abuse.”[http://www.progressforamerica.com/1101-110.html]Key Quotes99.7% of the Population Will Pass Along Assets Untaxed. “In reality, only the wealthiest one-fourth of1 percent of all people who die in the United States in 2006 will pay any estate taxes. That leaves theother 99.7 percent of the public free to pass on 100 percent of their assets untaxed. And the AmericanFarm Bureau, a member of the anti-estate tax coalition, has been unable to cite a single instance where afamily was forced to sell its farm because of estate tax liability. The same goes for small businesses,which have rarely faced taxation as the exemption rate on the tax has been increased.”[Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 6/6/06]Estate Tax Is Not Double Taxation. “He (Henry Aaron, a leading tax economist) said that not allincome was taxed, so the estate tax acts as a backup to prevent tax-free living by the richest Americans.He argued that the tax discouraged dynastic wealth and thus encouraged economic vitality. And he said
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 3
that ‘whatever distortions’ taxes caused, less harm came from those imposed after death than during life.”[New York Times, 6/7/06]Estate Tax Repeal Would Cost $600 Billion Over 10 Years. “Full repeal would cost more than $600billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, although supportersinsist the actual cost would be much lower. The full cost would start to hit the Treasury in 2011 — thesame year that the nation’s oldest baby boomers will turn 65 and start a sharp rise in spending on SocialSecurity and Medicare.”[New York Times, 6/7/06]Term “Death Tax” Created To Scare Public. “Proponents of full repeal have dubbed the estate tax thedeath tax to scare Americans. But local philanthropist Bill Gates Sr. prefers to call it a grateful heirs tax,one the wealthiest among us should be happy to give back to society in recognition of the publicinfrastructure, education and technology that made their families’ success possible.”[Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 6/6/06]The Rich Get Richer. “On the other hand, an estate tax repeal would save the estate of Vice PresidentCheney between $13 million and $61 million, according to the publicly available data on his net worth. Itwould save the estate of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld between $32 million and $101 million. Theestate of retired Exxon Mobil chairman Lee Raymond would pocket a cozy $164 million. As for the lateSam Walton’s kids, whose company already makes taxpayers foot the bill for the medical expenses ofthousands of its employees, the cost to the government for not taxing their estates would run into themultiple billions.”[Washington Post, 5/31/06]

I thinl it was either Charles or Dave on another thread who stated that WalMart exploded its expansion under Bill Clinton’s Presidency. Herewith a token of remembrance from the Family in Bentonville:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sam Stein
The Huffington Post
Clinton Foundation Received $500,000 From Wal-Mart
March 18, 2008

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lost amid the blistering pace of campaign news was the announcement, made this past Saturday, that Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer had donated a half-million dollars to a project of former President Clinton’s global foundation.

The donation, which was made to the Clinton Global Initiative University, will be allocated for educational purposes, including funding college students and encouraging universities to engage on issues such as energy and climate change, global health, and poverty alleviation. And they reflect what some observers say is a growing effort by the retail giant to soften its image within progressive circles.

But Wal-Mart, to a large extent, still remains a pariah among Democrats for its poor labor and environmental practices. And a donation of $500,000 to an individual so closely associated with a leading White House candidate, is more than enough to raise the eyebrows of watchdog organizations.

“We are concerned with all contributions that are this large,” said Mary Boyle, the VP of Communications at the non-profit, Common Cause. “They are typically used to buy access and influence. Now I think the question here is what is Wal-Mart trying to gain here? Are they trying to gain access and influence to Sen. [Hillary] Clinton, or do they have another agenda, which could be trying to establish a track record of doing better in the causes of global warming and human rights and poverty. So, I don’t know what they are trying to do, but certainly any contribution that large should pique interest.”

Aides to the former presidents stressed that neither Clinton nor his foundation would see a dime of Wal-Mart’s money and, subsequently, would have no reason to be beholden to the company’s political interests.

“The money doesn’t go to the foundation. It comes from the Wal-Mart foundation and it will be used to fund those student made commitments and university made commitments,” said one aide. “CGI is the entity that makes this all happen. But they don’t collect money from Wal-Mart… They are a facilitator.”

It is a point watchdog groups concede, but not something that completely alleviates their anxiety. “Is [Wal-Mart] trying to use other vehicles to give large amounts to the other candidates?” asked Boyle. “Certainly Bill Clinton’s charity provides a unique vehicle for this.”

Complicating this donation is both the lengthy history the Clintons have with Wal-Mart. While serving as first lady of Arkansas, Hillary Clinton also held a position on the Wal-Mart’s board.  But, given the company’s scorned status among Democrats and union-members, Clinton hardly ever talks about this part of her resume.

The former president, in contrast, has not shied away from Wal-Mart. According to Michael Barbaro of the New York Times, he frequently speaks to the realtor’s chief executive, H. Lee Scott Jr., about issues like health care. And he has taken on a public presence in pushing for and praising the company’s new environmental practices.

But not everyone is buying into the idea of a new-and-improved Wal-Mart. Some see donations like those the company made to the Clinton foundation as merely a ploy to distract attention from the company’s still far-from-progressive policies.

---------------------------------------

“...people were really glad when he was elected and no longer was the Governor and they elected Huckabee as his replacement!!”

So you’re saying Arkansas was glad to get rid of Clinton, RDS?  That doesn’t make too much sense considering Arkasas voted for Clinton in both the 1992 and 1996 elections.  If he was such a bad Governor, why help send him to the White House?

“ Guess Bill Clinton will always be best known for his womanizing!!”

Once again, your point is what, RDS?  What are Elliot Spitzer, Jimmy Swaggart, and Jim Bakker, all Republicans known for?  Oh yeah, let’s not forget William Bennett, Republican Party activist and author of “The Book of Virtues,” who admitted to having a gambling addiction.

Be careful when you start throwing stones!

Screwedby,

“So you’re saying Arkansas was glad to get rid of Clinton, RDS?”

Guess you missed the part of my post, about Clinton vowing not to run for President, while Governor and then broke his promise and ran anyway!!

“Be careful when you start throwing stones!”

I wasn’t throwing stones, I was just stating a FACT!!  Are you saying that when most people think about Clinton, they don’t think about Monica and BJ’s in the Oval Office?

As for the rest of those guys, corruption knows no party, modern government ‘breeds’ corruption!!

Screwedby: Eliot Spitzer, a REPUBLICAN?

Well, 3 out of 4 Isn’t Bad!

Ooops!  My bad!  OK… so Spitzer was a Democrat.  I’m surprised RDS didn’t jump all over that!

“modern government ‘breeds’ corruption!!” ~RDS

And how about “modern corporations” like Wal-Mart?

Screwedby,

“OK… so Spitzer was a Democrat.  I’m surprised RDS didn’t jump all over that!”

Like I said, “corruption knows no party”!!

“And how about “modern corporations” like Wal-Mart?”

There is one main difference, we only have one Federal Government to choose from, we have many corporations to choose from!!  And, the Government can FORCE you to do things, a ‘corporation’ can’t Force you to do anything!!  If you think Wal-Mart is ‘corrupt’, you can always choose another store to deal with!!

Prior to announcing his resignation as New York Governor on March 12th 2008 Eliot Spitzer issued this notification to the Bush legacy less than a month before. 

Predatory Lenders’ Partner in Crime

How the Bush Administration Stopped the States From Stepping In to Help Consumers

By Eliot Spitzer
Thursday, February 14, 2008

Several years ago, state attorneys general and others involved in consumer protection began to notice a marked increase in a range of predatory lending practices by mortgage lenders. Some were misrepresenting the terms of loans, making loans without regard to consumers’ ability to repay, making loans with deceptive “teaser” rates that later ballooned astronomically, packing loans with undisclosed charges and fees, or even paying illegal kickbacks. These and other practices, we noticed, were having a devastating effect on home buyers. In addition, the widespread nature of these practices, if left unchecked, threatened our financial markets.

Even though predatory lending was becoming a national problem, the Bush administration looked the other way and did nothing to protect American homeowners. In fact, the government chose instead to align itself with the banks that were victimizing consumers.

Predatory lending was widely understood to present a looming national crisis. This threat was so clear that as New York attorney general, I joined with colleagues in the other 49 states in attempting to fill the void left by the federal government. Individually, and together, state attorneys general of both parties brought litigation or entered into settlements with many subprime lenders that were engaged in predatory lending practices. Several state legislatures, including New York’s, enacted laws aimed at curbing such practices.

What did the Bush administration do in response? Did it reverse course and decide to take action to halt this burgeoning scourge? As Americans are now painfully aware, with hundreds of thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure and our markets reeling, the answer is a resounding no.

Not only did the Bush administration do nothing to protect consumers, it embarked on an aggressive and unprecedented campaign to prevent states from protecting their residents from the very problems to which the federal government was turning a blind eye.

Let me explain: The administration accomplished this feat through an obscure federal agency called the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC has been in existence since the Civil War. Its mission is to ensure the fiscal soundness of national banks. For 140 years, the OCC examined the books of national banks to make sure they were balanced, an important but uncontroversial function. But a few years ago, for the first time in its history, the OCC was used as a tool against consumers.

In 2003, during the height of the predatory lending crisis, the OCC invoked a clause from the 1863 National Bank Act to issue formal opinions preempting all state predatory lending laws, thereby rendering them inoperative. The OCC also promulgated new rules that prevented states from enforcing any of their own consumer protection laws against national banks. The federal government’s actions were so egregious and so unprecedented that all 50 state attorneys general, and all 50 state banking superintendents, actively fought the new rules.

But the unanimous opposition of the 50 states did not deter, or even slow, the Bush administration in its goal of protecting the banks. In fact, when my office opened an investigation of possible discrimination in mortgage lending by a number of banks, the OCC filed a federal lawsuit to stop the investigation.

Throughout our battles with the OCC and the banks, the mantra of the banks and their defenders was that efforts to curb predatory lending would deny access to credit to the very consumers the states were trying to protect. But the curbs we sought on predatory and unfair lending would have in no way jeopardized access to the legitimate credit market for appropriately priced loans. Instead, they would have stopped the scourge of predatory lending practices that have resulted in countless thousands of consumers losing their homes and put our economy in a precarious position.

When history tells the story of the subprime lending crisis and recounts its devastating effects on the lives of so many innocent homeowners, the Bush administration will not be judged favorably. The tale is still unfolding, but when the dust settles, it will be judged as a willing accomplice to the lenders who went to any lengths in their quest for profits. So willing, in fact, that it used the power of the federal government in an unprecedented assault on state legislatures, as well as on state attorneys general and anyone else on the side of consumers.

The writer is governor of New York.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/13/AR2008021302783.html

“Blue states...Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan”

You can’t go by state to determine whether blue or red states are more wealthy.  All these states are democratic because of the big cities, and these big cities are the ones that get the majority of the handouts from the states.  Chicago has a ton of wellfare recipients and is heavily Democratic while the Suburbs around it are where the money is and the contributing members of society live and they are heavily Republican and nearly everyone is a college grad.  Michigan is Democratic and is the example that all Democrats use for how bad the economy is.  So I’m not sure that their Democratic leaders have helped them much.  In Wisconsin Milwaukee and Madison are holes with lots of wellfare, and low employment and they carry Wisconsin to the Democratic side.

Any statement about welfare is no longer universally true across the country.

President Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act in 1996, giving states autonomy to set eligibility rules and to determine how participants will meet federal work and time limit requirements. The Urban Institute’s Welfare Rules Database details how states’ cash assistance program — Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) — differs from the pre-1996 program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC).

In February 2006, Congress reauthorized TANF and required states to increase work participation among their welfare caseload or incur financial penalties. States will now have to rethink their welfare policies.

The reauthorized program requires that half of a state’s caseload participate in work activities for at least 30 hours per week, but what qualifies as work, who must be included in states’ work participation calculations, and how states will be credited for caseload reduction will all change.

Some states have already implemented the TOUGHER work requirements called for in the 1996 law — for example, nine states exceeded the minimum federal work requirement hours, with Iowa, MICHIGAN, Tennessee, WISCONSIN requiring 40 hours of weekly work activity. Still, most states will need to strengthen their work participation efforts to comply with new rules.

For more information:

Getting On, Staying On, and Getting Off Welfare: The Complexity of State-by-State Policy Choices~~~~~~~~Urban Institute

Stats on Kentucky income:Kentucky’s Wage Gap Now 5th-Largest in Nation
From Foresight, Vol. 5, No. 4

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Kentucky can either be a great place to work or a terrible place to work, according to a recent Lexington Herald-Leader article. Jobs are plentiful, skilled people are well paid, and living costs are a little below the national average. But low-skill jobs are being automated or exported, and some Kentuckians who work two jobs are unable to afford insurance or feel secure about their future. While average earnings are growing in Kentucky, the gap between Kentucky’s top and bottom earners is the fifth largest in the nation, according to Julie N. Zimmerman, a rural sociologist with the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture. “Less-skilled men have been facing a deteriorating job market,” she said. Ron Crouch, Director of the Kentucky State Data Center in Louisville, puts it more bluntly, “Bubba’s in trouble.”

Besides the widening gap between Kentuckians who earn a good living and those who don’t, Kentucky also is falling further behind the rest of the nation. Throughout the 1990s, average income in Kentucky has grown at the same rate as the average U.S. income. But since Kentucky wages were lower at the start of the decade, the same 3.5 percent annual raises don’t translate into as many dollars. And the wage gap keeps growing. As a consequence, even as the median income in Kentucky has risen, so has the poverty rate.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kentucky is a Commonwealth, meaning its government is run according to the common consent of its people. It is one out of only four states that call themselves commonwealths. The poulation is only 7.8% African American,the median income is $28,513.00,(43rd in nation). Mitch Mc Connell and Jim Bunning represent Kentucky in Washington. Sur doesn’t look like McConell’s wife,Elaine Chao,Secretary of Labor has done much for this state,neither has McConnell,both Republicans of high profile in this Bush administration.

ddrb,

Let’s see, if “Less-skilled men have been facing a deteriorating job market” and “Jobs are plentiful, skilled people are well paid”, wouldn’t it make sense to anyone with a brain, to get ‘better’ pay, they need to become ‘More Skilled’?  But, then again, we could just force companies to pay those Less-skilled people MORE, right?  But, then again, who would be left to fill those plentiful skilled jobs, if less-skilled people STAYED less-skilled?

RDS: Seeing how Mitch McConnell is from Kentucky,and he is married to Elaine Chao,Secretary of Labor, wouldn’t that be a slam dunk to motivate those two to help out Mitch’s home state?Why don’t you start by educating yourself? Go to Wikipedia and type in Kentucky? THINK,RDS,---it ain’t illegal ,yet!