Wal-Mart Watch Year in Review

walmart watch is funded by the ufcw union?wow the same union that tells their grocery workers to accept crappy contracts with tiny to no wage increases and less benefits than they had in the late 80sand early 90s.the same union that feeds you the propaganda and garbage on wm cant get decent living wages and benefits for their grocery workers,especially the ones at the bottom end of the wage scale.that should make you think twice before you buy any of the garbage the put out on here about walmart.

vantress-

“ Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.” Aesop

shut up sdv

HA HA! Matthew Vantress in Gresham Oregon you stupid shit! UFCW members all get better pay and benefits than Walmart you stupid asshole!

bull they get better pay.if thats true then why do very few of them get full time work then?also why do they still have a very high turnover rate and numerous workers on food stamps and govt assistance at the bottom end bud?if the pay is so great then ryan myself and numerous others would never have left then.obviously you never looked at www.supermarketswindle.com dude.ryan i am a former ufcw union member and that is one crappy union.that same union you love so much supports criminal illegal aliens stealing jobs and peoples identities to work,plus they support criminal activity by encouraging illegal aliens to steal jobs and they really could care less about the well being of all the folks at the bottom end in their grocery stores who struggle like hell to make it because of the poverty level wages that they are paidand lack of enough hrs..i would watch who you support and believe in the future.ufcw union unions sold out their so cal members in 03 and regularly sell out their hard working members during contract negotiations i worked in union grocery unlike you ryan and know what im talking about

bull they get better pay.if thats true then why do very few of them get full time work then?also why do they still have a very high turnover rate and numerous workers on food stamps and govt assistance at the bottom end bud?if the pay is so great then ryan myself and numerous others would never have left then.obviously you never looked at www.supermarketswindle.com dude.ryan i am a former ufcw union member and that is one crappy union.that same union you love so much supports criminal illegal aliens stealing jobs and peoples identities to work,plus they support criminal activity by encouraging illegal aliens to steal jobs and they really could care less about the well being of all the folks at the bottom end in their grocery stores who struggle like hell to make it because of the poverty level wages that they are paidand lack of enough hrs..i would watch who you support and believe in the future.ufcw union unions sold out their so cal members in 03 and regularly sell out their hard working members during contract negotiations i worked in union grocery unlike you ryan and know what im talking about

To all the WalMart ass kissing lackeys-

Sants died on a cross for your all your previous Mastercard/creditcard debt.

Merry Christless Consumersim Holiday Season from all the other

Looks like Ryan got Matthew upset. Are you ok Matthew?
Try to relax and get yourself together Matthew.
Yes relax.
That’s good Matthew. Your doing good. Remember your stress exercises.

John

That’s funny! But what’s even more humorous is that I had thought the very same thing earlier today when I read that. I wonder if Matt stutters and repeats himself in life when he gets upset. I see that quite often with people with low two digit I.Q.’s when they get angry or upset. There feeble brain gets overloaded and they start sounding like a scratched record.

You guys have Matthew pegged alright.  He walks around in public stuttering to himself and has these weird twitches and facial ticks.  Really freaks some of the locals out.  I’ve seen him do this numerous times.  Think he has the tourette’s sydrome or some type of autism.

From an anti Wal-Mart perspective 2007 was another great year. Even before we get the heavily massaged year-end numbers, I think it’s safe to say it wasn’t a particularly good year for the Beast of Bentonville.

WMT stock spent most of the year below $50, we had another round of gloriously stupid PR blunders, a couple of major class action suit losses, the continuation of some old problems plaguing the Beast and a few new ones to boot.

All this in the context of a weak dollar and weakening economy and it looks like ‘08 may be a banner year for the Anti Wal-Mart Movement!<b>

<b>Happy New Year!

“weakening economy”

A weakening economy plays right into Wal-Mart’s hands.  Given the choice between a robust economy with plenty of good paying jobs, and what we have now, my bet is that Wal-Mart is hoping things don’t improve too much.  Let’s hope 2008 brings us some REAL leadership in Washington to get this country on the right track!

Instead of fighting the immigration battles along our border to the south and talking about building more fences, let’s build a solid wall of factories along the border, hire all the Mexicans that want to work there, and make them “honorary taxpaying citizens.” Who says we can’t compete with China?  Let’s start to make things in America again.  That’s my wish for the new year.

Peace.  Joy to the World!

Well there you go Screwed… the solution to the shrinking manufacturing base in the US.  Build factories just inside the US border, hire cheap labor from Mexico all the while touting that you are “Made in America” in order to fool the average consumer to think they are helping fellow US citizens with a manufacturing job.

You should be working for a Fortune 500 company because that’s brilliant on the financial and marketing level.  Bravo!

mary is right thats the same way that i feel.

A weakening economy plays right into Wal-Mart’s hands.

That’s the conventional wisdom OK, but it doesn’t seem to pan out. What does become apparent is the inherent power of consumer spending*. More folks may be shopping but they are spending less and loss leaders eat profit like candy.

Consumer Spending: Purchase of goods and services by U.S. individuals, accounts for about 2/3 of the Gross Domestic Product.

<---(((taps))) the microphone: Is this thing on?

Paging WMW janitor! We have a Spam cleanuphere, here, here, here, and here.

Seeing is Believing!

Consumers spending less?  To me this is meaningless unless it translates into fewer Chinese Super Cargo ships trying to squeeze through the Panama Canal laden with shipping containers loaded with cheap plastic crap destined for America’s store shelves.  You wouldn’t happen to have those stats would you, Ken?

Well Mary… somehow I knew this would get a rise out of you!  Did you pull the short straw and get stuck with monitoring the WMW blog over the holidays?

“...in order to fool the average consumer...”

That’s not too hard to do Mary.  The “average” consumer is dumber than a sheep.

Where did you see me say in my “brilliant” plan that these manufacturing companies would only hire Mexican workers?  And since this is my fantasy, I would imagine all of these manufacturers selling to everyone but Wal-Mart.  Wal-Mart doesn’t believe in buying American anymore.  Besides, Wal-Mart has it’s Chinese supply chain in place.  We wouldn’t want them to have to go back on any agreements they’ve made.

Feliz Navidad!

WalMart ass kissing lackeys mary and vantress are seeking to unite WalMart patriots for the American manufacturing workforce?

What psychiatric ward of deluded propagandists in northwest Arkansas offers that group therapy besides the ‘war room’?

Let us now remember WalMart shifting manufacturing jobs away from Mexico at the outrageously burdensome $1.20/hr over to China at $.35/hr and avoid reality of what they already did to the U.S. manufacturing workforce.

Surely you remember Lee Scott doing Rockette style kick dancing arms akimbo with the Chinese Communist while singing the The Star Spangled Banner. Any tears falling from him or the multibillionaire Waltons as they recite the Pledge of Allegiance?

The effort to obliterate national distinction is born and bred in the corporate and international ‘love of money’ boardroom interest, not in the charitable interests of Americans. Because Americans fail and refuse to deal with the origin of the problem, the American people and now our conflicted congregations are stuck with the fallout of deliberately misguided government policy and their multinational corporate artisans on illegal immigration and labor. Global Labor Arbitrage brought to you by Bentonville ‘love of money’ psychopaths that know not national loyalty.

Speaking of procurement difficulties…

My offer still stands to you both mary and vantress-

Just so you know my approval of unrestrained capitalism and the rights of capital’s interests over labor’s interests, I am willing to pay you each $.35/hr to learn and speak the Chinese phrase for “2 American WalMart quislings betraying their countrymen with their heads up Bentonville’s ass.”

WalMart- We are a 21st century global plantation poverty engine and must preserve the poverty economic ecology we create. We are ‘love of money’ psychopaths that recycle the poor and scam the taxpayer suckers. We profit off impoverished customers and a poverty workforce of economic conscripts as we betray America with Global Labor Arbitrage.

This may be the most severe case of secular consumerism on record!

Georgia woman spends 3 days inside Wal-Mart

A 70-year-old woman reportedly spent three days shopping inside a suburban Atlanta Wal-Mart.

The woman’s name and what she ended up purchasing have not be identified.

You buy, buy, buy people are playing with fire.

The idea with the factories just inside the US border sounds good. Mexicans are often much better at some jobs than Americans, so why not hire them for such jobs?

San Diego: Wal-Mart does not receive taxpayer subsidy except rarely. Tax breaks are not subsidies: they are merely the government choosing to rob someone less. WMT workers receiving government health care is not the fault of Wal-Mart at all, but of workers who have such poor skills that they end up earning low wages for long periods of time.

Ken: What is happening to Wal-Mart is nothing more than the company running out of places to expand to, and increased compeition from other companies that are now catching up with Wal-Mart and its better ways of business.

As for the bad PR, nobody outside of this site and one or two similar web sites really cares about it.

...Wal-Mart and its better ways of business.

Thanks for the chuckle, economic surrealist.

...nobody outside of this site and one or two similar web sites really cares about it.

According to a 2004 McKinsey & Co. study, 2 to 8 percent of Wal-Mart customers surveyed stopped shopping at the chain because of its negative image. Do you really think things have gotten better?

Please share some more of your delusions with us.

That Name’s Gonna Stick!

“Economic Surrealist,” that works for me!

While you’re refreshing yourself on the basic principles of economics and how Wal-Mart really functions “surrealist,” you might want to read up on what all the money you’re spending at Wal-Mart is buying you these days. 

All you Wal-Mart lovers should realize you are aiding and abetting China in building some of the largest commerical ships in the world...ships too large to get through the present day Panama Canal.

You’re also helping China build up a massive military arsenal, which if not technically superior to that of the United States (yet), will soon dwarf us in sheer numbers.

Live Better!  Keep sending your money to the People’s Republic of China via Wal-Mart.

Here we go, again!

Whassamatter, Mr. Screwed—didn’t get what you wanted for Christmas (and was forced to stand in the customer service line at Wal-Mart)?

All you Wal-Mart lovers should realize you are aiding and abetting China in building some of the largest commerical ships in the world...ships too large to get through the present day Panama Canal.

Sounds like a Panamanian problem, to me (if memory serves me correctly, the canal zone was formally turned-over to the Panamanians nearly 8 years ago).

You’re also helping China build up a massive military arsenal, which if not technically superior to that of the United States (yet), will soon dwarf us in sheer numbers.

Do you have statistical proof of that, sir?  If not, it’s just another in a long line of “conspiracy theories”, to me…

And Ken, just so you don’t feel left-out, this holiday season, the numbers you speak-of were from 2004—I believe WM got a *little* bigger on a global scale, since the McKinsey & Co. study…

It sure it a better way of business, as it involves paying wholesalers fair prices for goods while discouring those that overcharge.

Nice to know that the great years-long efforts of the anti-Wal-Mart advertising campaigns have in all thise time managed to peel off 2% of the customers. Too bad the competitors who fund it won’t choose do business the honest way: by being better at retail.

Now what is the money I am spending at Wal-Mart getting me? A better deal, usually. Better than going to some place like K-Mart and spending 23% more for the same Chinese (or non-Chinese goods). Or any other place, including union favored and mom-and-pop stores that sell the same Chinese goods.

Screwed, by choosing to pay more for the same sort of goods at Wal-Marts’ competitors, you are probably sending more money to China. Any company that is sloppy enough to overcharge its customers is probably paying too much for t he imports it gets.

Wow Screwed, insinuating that I got the “short straw” on posting during a holiday....  5:57pm on Chistmas Eve… the last post of the day… and SDV tops it off with a post on Christmas Day… I sure hope WMW payed you two double- time for sitting on this site during a holiday!!!

And as far as the “Where did you see me say in my “brilliant” plan that these manufacturing companies would only hire Mexican workers?”..... hm… let me see....  I seem to remember you saying

“Instead of fighting the immigration battles along our border to the south and talking about building more fences, let’s build a solid wall of factories along the border, hire all the Mexicans that want to work there”

So Screwed and SDV, where did you shop this holiday season?

“Adjusted for inflation, the minimum wage is actually lower than it was in 1968, the year George Bush graduated from Yale. And that is unforgivable! And the wage thing is bad, too.

People like to tell themselves that these immigrants do the jobs Americans won’t do. Not true. Americans will pick fruit in the hot sun. But not at $5.15 an hour. Trust me. If some of these jobs paid real wages, your wife would be having sex with a Jewish gardener.

Americans want the contributions of the poor and the immigrant without having to actually see or be among them. Which is why I suggest, instead of building a wall on the border, we build a Wal-Mart. It would be 1,950 miles long, or the size of a normal Wal-Mart. And there would still be just the one register open. But it would solve this problem.

Because if we built this Wal-Mart exactly on the border, the Americans could come through the front door and shop, and the Mexicans could come through the back door and work. And then go home the same way at night, unless they got locked in. It is Wal-Mart.

In summation, I am not saying that raising the minimum wage is going to solve the illegal immigration problem. That can only be solved by arming Lou Dobbs.”

- Bill Maher, NEW RULES 04/07/2006

everything else sold at other retailers is made in china as well.funny we never hear screwed by or ddrb and their walmart hater buddies ever bitching and whining about that.i wonder why.

...fair...

As Bill Shakespeare would say: “Aye, there’s the rub!”

Who gets to define fair? You? Tell me, economic surrealist, aren’t there always more “inefficiencies” to be squeezed out of the system? Or should you stop squeezing when you hit the fair limit?

...managed to peel off 2% of the customers.

The numbers in the ‘04 Wal-Mart commissioned study were 2% to 8%. Let’s split the difference and call it 5%. Five percent of what Wal-Mart claims as their weekly customer count amounts to somewhere near a half a million people.

Drop in the bucket?

And just so you don’t feel left out, bbrd…

I believe WM got a *little* bigger...

Malignant tumors get ‘bigger’ but that wasn’t the question.
Do you really think things have gotten better?

The three lies return, this time brought to you by ‘economic realist’ aka Edelman ‘war room’ imbecile and internet fraud # 9-

Lie #1-
“Wal-Mart does not receive taxpayer subsidy except rarely.”

Wal-Mart’s Tax On Us
Greg LeRoy
November 09, 2005

Greg LeRoy is the author of The Great American Jobs Scam: Corporate Tax Dodging and the Myth of Job Creation and executive director of Good Jobs First . This piece originally appeared on Alternet.org.

Wal-Mart, the Alpha Dog of discount stores, has also become the Alpha Hog at the public trough.

The phenomenal growth of the world’s largest corporation has been supported by taxpayers in many states through economic development subsidies. A Wal-Mart official once stated that the company seeks subsidies in about a third of its stores, suggesting that more than 1,100 of its U.S. stores are subsidized. A national survey by Good Jobs First in 2004 looked at 160 stores and all of the company’s distribution centers—and found that more than 90 percent of them have been subsidized. Altogether, 244 subsidized facilities in 35 states received taxpayer deals of more than $1 billion.

The subsidies Wal-Mart lobbies for run the whole gamut: free or reduced-price land, infrastructure assistance, tax increment financing (TIF), property tax abatements or discounts, state corporate income tax credits, sales tax rebates, enterprise zone tax breaks, job training funds, and low-interest tax-exempt loans. The most deals and dollars were found in Texas (30 deals worth $108 million) and Illinois (29 deals worth $102 million).

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/27864

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2005/11/09/walmarts_tax_on_us.php

Lie #2-
“Tax breaks are not subsidies: they are merely the government choosing to rob someone less.”

Tax breaks are subsidies. Corporations stealing from the taxpayers and claiming the right as ‘being robbed less’ is typical propaganda aimed at the taxpayer suckers who are being robbed by corporations with complicit indifference by some public officials.

In this case they are the preferential treatment of one corporation over another. Or better illustrated, the granting of governmental monies to WalMart while denying monies to Mom and Pop retailers like Red Esrys-

“The sweetheart deals given to two Wal-Mart Supercenters in Hamilton, Missouri undermined Red Esry’s four family-owned grocery stores. Esry watched his sales plunge as soon as the Supercenters opened—he couldn’t compete with Wal-Mart’s prices and lost almost half of his business virtually overnight.

In the film, Esry’s wife ruefully recounts how her husband went to City Hall to ask for a property tax abatement to match Wal-Mart’s subsidy, but was turned down. Esry cut costs, but refused to stop paying his employees a good wage and continued to provide them with full health-care benefits and a pension package. Red Esry’s story is being played out in thousands of communities across America.”

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/27864

Paying your taxes is not a form of robbery. It is the duty of citizens to fund a proper government. Being a tax cheat has no nobility about it even in your ‘WalMart patriot’ attitude and scamola of your fellow Americans. Perhaps in your tax ecology you can cast the entire tax cost of government onto the lest able to pay and allow the wealthy and corporations who use government the most to not pay at all. Even the wealthy and corporations begin to consume each other in your poverty engine ‘unaccountable and irresponsibility’ tax theory.

The ‘love of money’ psychopath specie(s) begins to consume each other and itself after having destroyed those that foolishly gave them the right to exist.

Continues-

Lie #3-
“WMT workers receiving government health care is not the fault of Wal-Mart at all, but of workers who have such poor skills that they end up earning low wages for long periods of time.”

So, according to this claim, janitors, cashiers, stockers etc are not entitled to health care. Because the jobs at WalMart are ‘poor skills’ jobs and of such low grade that the people who perform these tasks must not be worthy of ‘Living wages’ or ‘Health care’ in the atittude and economy of ‘love of money’ psychopaths and multibillionaires who reap the profits but did not earn the money themselves by working for it. Apparently ‘economic realist’ sees no need for these ‘poor skill’ people at all, and as disposable labor, can do without them. Try that reality. No labor at all for WalMart. So, it is labor that does all the work and that WalMart actually needs the most. What we really have in WalMart is a psychopathic attitude and exploitive ‘love of money’ management and business model that simply resents having to pay labor at all.

You have not read the Susan Chambers memo from WalMart corporate about health care. Your admission that WaMart workers receive government health care is outside the scope of proper WalMart propaganda and Bentonville bullshit etiquette. Other retailers pay a complete benefits package including health care, why won’t the WalMart ‘love of money’ slobs? Living wages are not within the attitude of WalMart management for these people while at other retailers they are.

WalMart (Slave More. Lie Better.)- We screw people over and then take a huge propaganda dump on America’s front lawn. We are a poverty engine always in need of public relations spin.

Oh, boy!

Lie #1 - Isn’t “Good Jobs First” one of Wal-Mart Watch’s “partner organizations”?

Lie #2 - the Red Esry story...where have I heard that name, before?  Oh, that’s right—he’s one of the “poster children” used in Greenwald’s movie!

I should’ve known better…

Lie #3- “Bentonville bullshit etiquette”—spoken like a real dyed-in-the-wool “Christian”, SanDiegoView.

Rereading those two posts tell me it is you that is the internet fraud, my friend!

Just keeping follow that trail of “dump”, folks…

bbrd

Is that your best response to more facts? Question the source?

SanDiegoview is right. You Walmart propaganda guys really are full of shit

Yesterday, our son was eager to cash in his Christmas gift cards, but I preferred to wait awhile before we headed out to any of the stores.

“How about if we go later in the afternoon,” I suggested as a compromise.

At our first stop, he purchased a video game and a DVD with a Circuit City gift card and a portion of his VISA debit card without incident.  He encountered an unexpected glitch at Wal-Mart, our second stop.  Sahib, the Indian checkout clerk who spoke a very fractured English, told us, as far as we could understand, that the computer wasn’t accepting gift cards today.  While we were waiting in line, I had heard the clerk at the station next to us offer a similar explanation to a customer.

“What a scam,” I whispered to my wife.

And then Sahib had the nerve to ask our son if he wanted to make the purchase in cash.

It looks as though Wal-Mart discovered a way to improve its bottom line during what has been a disappointing holiday shopping season for all retailers.  Get their gift-card-bearing customers to part with some cash on their first post-Christmas visit.

In Wal-Mart’s (weak) defense, the company issued a statement that placed the blame on an inadvertent processing error of a third-party card-verifying system.  A story on CNN’s website indicates that the problem is limited to Wal-Mart.  Wal-Mart’s statement posted on its own website adds the phrase “and other retailers”.  So far, I haven’t found any evidence that supports Wal-Mart’s sharing of the blame.

“Do you have statistical proof of that, sir?” ~bbrd

I’m always happy to oblige pro Wal-Mart lackeys like you and “Economic Surrealist,” bbrd.  Don’t take my word for it, start by reading some of the “highlights” from the 2006 Department of Defense Report to Congress If this isn’t enough reading for you, the long awaited 2007 report was released last August.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is in the process of long-term transformation from a mass army designed for protracted wars of attrition on its territory to a more modern force capable of fighting short duration, high intensity conflicts against high-tech adversaries.

Several aspects of China’s military development have surprised U.S. analysts, including the pace and scope of its strategic forces modernization.  China’s leaders have yet to adequately explain the purposes or desired end-states of their military expansion.

·By late 2005, China had deployed some 710-790
mobile CSS-6 and CSS-7 short-range ballistic missiles(SRBMs) to garrisons opposite Taiwan. SRBM deployment continues to expand at an average rate of about 100 missiles per year.

·China is modernizing its longer-range ballistic missile force by qualitatively upgrading and/ or replacing older systems with newer, more survivable ones.

·Naval Power. China’s naval forces now include 75 major surface combatants, some 55 attack submarines, about 50 medium and heavy amphibious lift vessels (an increase of over 14 percent from last year).

·China’s SONG-class diesel electric submarine is in serial production. The SONG is designed to carry the YJ-82, an encapsulated ASCM capable of submerged launch. In 2004, China launched a new diesel submarine, the YUAN-class. China’s next-generation nuclear attack submarine, the
SHANG-class (Type 093) SSN, is now entering the fleet.

So I ask,” where is China getting all the money to modernize its military capabilities?  Can you name 1 country right now where China has been bogged down for over 4 years, having to spend $billions and $billions on an intractable war?

In case you are stumped for an answer, here’s what the 2006 report had to say:

“China’s impressive economic growth has enabled Beijing to make ever-higher investments in the defense sector. Real growth of China’s official defense budget, for example, has average ddouble-digit annual growth every year for the past decade.”

As China’s economy expands, so too will its interests and the perceived need to build a military capable of protecting them.

“You fight your way and I fight my way.”
- Mao Zedong

Richard,

Do you have anything better to offer??

I didn’t think so, either.

As for “questioning the source”, hell, yeah—especially when it’s a “SDV Special”.

Mr. Screwed,

Your post regarding China’s “buildup” sounds a little....er…

...panicky??

Particularly, since it’s been documented on this site that you’re not exactly “pro-military”, to begin with…

Paul,

Not to say you’ll ever return to read this, but, what the heck…

This from the Associated Press:

In a statement, Wal-Mart said once it discovered the problem, it investigated and found that a “third-party verifier’s systems had an inadvertent processing error.” The retailer said the error caused delays in gift card verifications.

“We are working with the supplier to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and we apologize for the inconvenience to our customers,” the store said in the statement.

Better be careful before you start throwing “bait and switch” barbs around.

There’s a lesson in here for gift-card givers - maybe you stick with a “one-size fits all” Visa/MC/AmEx gift card from your bank or credit union.

sd - “The subsidies Wal-Mart lobbies for run the whole gamut: free or reduced-price land, infrastructure assistance, tax increment financing (TIF), property tax abatements or discounts, state corporate income tax credits, sales tax rebates, enterprise zone tax breaks, job training funds, and low-interest tax-exempt loans. “

This is easy to fact-check. You named 12 situations. Of these, only 4 are actually subsides. One of them may or may not be (the first one). The rest involve $0 subsidy dollars: all of the money involved is Wal-Mart’s, and none is being given by the government.

sd - “Tax breaks are not subsidies.”

This is very true A subsidy is gift of money. Choosing to steal less from someone is not a “gift” to the person being stolen from. It’s their money to begin with. The fact is that no tax break meets the definition of subsidy. No money is givern by the government to those getting the break.

sd -"Corporations stealing from the taxpayers”

Keeping more of what you earn is not stealing.

“So, according to this claim, janitors, cashiers, stockers etc are not entitled to health care”

They should be entitled to government-provided welfare health care, just like if a paperboy chooses to support a family on a paper route. It is not a wise choice, but it can happen. That is ONLY IF THEY ARE POOR.

sd “Because the jobs at WalMart are ‘poor skills’ jobs and of such low grade that the people who perform these tasks must not be worthy of ‘Living wages’”

Exactly. No one is worthy of a handout “living wage”. Nobody is worth a wage more or less than the value of the work. Period.

sd “Your admission that WaMart workers receive government health care is outside the scope of proper WalMart propaganda and Bentonville bullshit etiquette”

OF course, since I have nothing to do with Wal-Mart or Bentonville. The social safety net, quite simply, should apply. I would not require any company to pay more than the value of the work. Every single “living wage” law, or minimum wage law, is forcing companies to pay welfare to the rich. Since none of them are means tested, rich kids earning a litlte money for CDs get paid the same “living wage” as needy folks.

What is insane is to pay everyone a meaningless “living wage”, because what each person needs varies wildly according to their life situation. It is far better to take care of any problems using the welfare system, which is means tested.

san diego - “Living wages are not within the attitude of WalMart management for these people while at other retailers they are.”

Companies that overpay like that tend to lose out.

“:Who gets to define fair? You? Tell me, economic surrealist, aren’t there always more “inefficiencies” to be squeezed out of the system? Or should you stop squeezing when you hit the fair limit? “

It is not for me to decide. It is not for the government to decide. Whether or not a deal is fair or not is up to the two parties making the deal. If it isn’t, either party is free to walk away from it.

And Your Post bbrd?

Your post regarding my post on China’s “buildup” sounds a little....er…

...naïve!

“My post” was taken mainly from the 2006 Department of Defense report to Congress.  Take it up with them if you feel it’s too “panicky.” I hear the 2007 report was somewhat “watered down” for precisely that reason.  They did not want to cause “panic.” Kinda makes you wonder what they are holding back from the American People,doesn’t it?

By the way...nice attempt to dodge my questions!

It’s their money to begin with.

Shades of Newt Gingrich, Batman! Tell me, exactly when is it ‘their’ money?

If Wal-Mart marks an item up 10% and sells it for $11, is that $11 ‘theirs’? Nope. They owe the supplier 10 bucks, so that’s not ‘theirs’.

OK, but the $1 left over is ‘theirs! No! First we have to deduct what Wal-Mart has contracted to pay (overhead) and the other costs of doing business. Paying taxes is merely another known cost of doing business.

If a company like Wal-Mart doesn’t want to pay taxes they should quit doing business.

If it isn’t, either party is free to walk away from it.

We’re not in Kansas anymore, economic idealist.

“If a company like Wal-Mart doesn’t want to pay taxes they should quit doing business.”

I like that one Ken.  How about this one… “if a person doesn’t want to pay taxes they should just die"… that should elimininate a huge portion of our population…

or do like most people and corporations do and follow tax strategies to keep taxes to a minimum..... hm, now that’s an idea!

Let’s see…

December 26th, one of the “new-age” busiest shopping days of the holiday season (thanks to gift cards)—where’s Wal-Mart Watch?

Speaking of gift cards, Wal-Mart has a major glitch in their namesake gift card redemption on December 26th - many disappointed customers, out there.  Very newsworthy stuff—where’s Wal-Mart Watch??

Wal-Mart and Hewlitt Packard exits the movie download business - all the videophiles are certainly chatting it up—again, where’s Wal-Mart Watch???

We know where they are...but, if you ask me, whoever is funding WMW, these days certainly isn’t getting their money’s worth!

Ken -

Why do you ask when it is their money? Such an odd question. Or are you one of those who think that everything we own and earn and create is not ours, but is really a gift from the government? I could not get anything out of the rest of your post, in which you babbled about Batman and Kansas.

bbrd: Give them a break, come on. A lot of businesses, charities, operations nearly shut down or slow down a lot during the holidays.

Screwed - I am less pro-Wal-Mart than pro-freedom, and believe that the way to deal with businesses that you don’t like is to just not go there (rather than impose draconian regulations). You did provide some good information about China, which applies to the overall economic and trade picture… of which Wal-Mart is just a small part.

Walmart rocks.

What… this can’t be true… Walmart to have better same store sales than Target for the holiday season?  Target taking their “eye off of the ball”?  Walmart being credited for hiring a top tier marketing firm and new chief marketing officer?

I for one am absolutely shocked.  I thought Ken said their sales were suffering.  What is this world coming to…

http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/28/news/companies/walmart_target/index.htm?postversion=2007122811

<Here’s What Shocks Me, marym</b>

I’m “absolutely shocked” at how uninformed you are about “The Beast.” How long did you have to scrounge around to find some “good news” about WMT?

Do a little more “research” and maybe we’ll let you play with us!

If you build it...pile it high with everyday low prices...they will come. That’s the formula that’s worked for Wal-Mart over the years.  But sales growth is stalling.  Rivals are grabbing a share, and Wal-Mart keeps building. Add lawsuits, PR problems, rising costs, and a disenchanted Wall Street to the mix, and the picture isn’t pretty.

Oh yeah… I believe Ken once said, that for every Pro Wal-Mart story you come up with...we can find 3 that aren’t so favorable.  Care to try your luck?

Add lawsuits? Wal-Mart is just one of the companies plagued by frivolous lawsuits. How long before some old lady attempts to get rich because she spills hot Wal-Mart coffee on her own lap?

But I digress. If Wal-Mart falters as you hope, it will be because they are (or will be) lousy at doing stuff and some other company has learned to do it better. It will serve them right. The same way K-Mart faltered in the past. And I will enjoy shopping at whatever company is best in the future.... be it Wal-Mart, a current competitor on the rise, a company we don’t even know of yet… or all of the above.

You challenged MaryM to try her luck at coming up with favorable Wal-Mart stories. I will take up your challenge, and look at the first 10 Wal-Mart-related stories at news.google.com:

2 are favorable
8 are unfavorable (including news of mere business losses)

This is close enough to what you stated was 1 favorable story for 3 negative ones.

(Facts are facts, whether or not they fit a pro-WMT or anti-WMT agenda)

addendum:

Here is one of the negative stories. It appears to be rathe fresh, and has not made it into WMTW’s news cycle yet:

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hxpHQmyfTCIwrPBUdW_HE7cUnfmQ

“A man in Cookeville, Tennessee, is thinking about suing Wal-Mart because the MP3 video player he gave to his little girl for Christmas turned out to be loaded with explicit tunes and porn videos...”

Or are you one of those who think that everything we own and earn and create is not ours

Nope. I one of those people that believe everyone, including corporations, should pay their own way. You want to do business in a nice safe atmosphere protected by the law and accessible through a vbast infrastructure system, then pay your taxes and quit bitchin’ about it.

Tell me, economic idealist, why there are no Wal-Marts in Beirut or Baghdad?

,,,Wal-Mart is just a small part.

China’s 8th largest trading partner is a small part?

...follow tax strategies to keep taxes to a minimum...

Then don’t cry when those ‘strategies’ turn out to be illegal.

...in which you babbled...

Unfamiliar with Batman and The Wizard of Oz, economic idealist? What plantet are you from?

Bitching about being overtaxed, and seeking to have the burden reduced is a Constitionally-protected activity. The right of free speech, and the right to address the government concerning grievances.

“Tell me, economic idealist, why there are no Wal-Marts in Beirut or Baghdad?”

Both countries had/have fascistic governments that make it very difficult for people to do business. Baghdad has changed (and is no longer socialist), likely Wal-Marts will open there during this decade. After all, that is the most effective way now to stop Wal-Mart: have a fascist government that regulates, burdens, overtaxes, and blocks.

Wal-Mart is just part of the retail picture. The other companies trading with China all add up to far more than Wal-Mart’s share. If you look at any typical large retail strip, you might find 20 or so big box stores. Only one of which is Wal-Mart. All of which import massive amounts of Chinese goods.

Your references to Batman and Oz were so non-sequitur and inapplicable as to have been like blog Tourette’s outbursts.

“China’s 8th largest trading partner is a small part?”

Let us answer that by looking at the cold hard facts concerning this:

Worth of ALL US imports from China in 2004: $196 billion
(Source: US Census)

Worth of Wal-Mart’s Chinese imports in 2004: $18 billion
(Source: China Business Weekly)

That’s less than 10%. A small part. If you ended up destroying Wal-Mart, the trading picture would not change: this 10% would be imported by other US companies. What’s the point?

“How long did you have to scrounge around to find some “good news” about WMT? “

“But sales growth is stalling.”

Screwed, are you taking your denial pills again?  Did you even read the story.... a story IN A PROMINANT FINANCIAL” web site… a site I look at every day and have for years.  How long did I have to “scrounge around”.  Are you kidding me????

As for “stalling” growth… point that out to the senior writers at CNNFN who wrote this story and I can easily imagine the reaction of “who is this idiot and what the heck is he talking about”.

“Both countries had/have fascistic governments that make it very difficult for people to do business.” ~economic in

How would you describe the government of China?

“If you look at any typical large retail strip, you might find 20 or so big box stores. Only one of which is Wal-Mart. All of which import massive amounts of Chinese goods.”

And this is good?

...That’s less than 10%.

This is a perfect example, boy and girls, of why I repeatedly warn you to be careful when reading numbers put out by right wing-nuts. We used to have one such loon posting here who’s favorite cliche’ was “numbers don’t lie”. Maybe they don’t but some of the people that put them out do.

The fact is, economic illusionist, Wal-Mart’s share of US imports from China is more than 10%. (Wal-Mart’s 18 billion is included in the US total, so therefore it should be subtracted before figuring percentage.)

What’s the point?

Reducing our imports from China by more than 10% would be significant.

**You might consider signing up for Mary’s remedial math course, economic contortionist.

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Ken V.  Where did you learn your math.  “Wal-Mart’s 18 billion is included in the US total, so therefore it should be subtracted before figuring percentage.”

If Walmart’s purchases are 18 Billion and the total is 196 billion, Walmart’s purchases are 9.2% of the total.  As a high school math teacher, I can assure you, that is the way it is done.

You just flunked.

You’re looking through the binoculars from the wrong end, John. We were discussing the world without Wal-Mart in which the ‘04* US total would have been $178 billion.

With Wal-Mart the total jumped to $196, or an increase of slightly more than 10%. A decimal difference one way or the other isn’t really the point though, is it?

...a high school math teacher...

That’s not all that intimidating.

*The ‘07 numbers will be substantially higher.

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

Under the heading of:

The Bumbling Beast of Bentonville

Wal-Mart cancels movie download service

Two partial quotes say it all:

Wal-Mart shut down the download site after Hewlett Packard Co discontinued the technology that powered it…
less than a year after the site went live...

And you wonder why the Bentonvillians make the big bucks!

---------------------------------------------
UPDATE

Teen charged in Yellowknife Wal-Mart blaze

Ken V

Go back and read what you said.  “The fact is, economic illusionist, Wal-Mart’s share of US imports from China is more than 10%. (Wal-Mart’s 18 billion is included in the US total, so therefore it should be subtracted before figuring percentage.) “

Not only do you flunk math, you also flunk English.

John,

Ken is actually right here, the amount is 1/10th of 1% MORE than 10%!!  So, in his twisted way of looking at things, that makes it the majority of imports from China!!  In the past, he has claimed that a one percent RISE in profits was a LOSS, because it was only a small amount!!  Guess it all depends on how he wants to SPIN the numbers!!

ken said: “Reducing our imports from China by more than 10% would be significant.”

Yes, it would be. However, without Wal-Mart, the consumer demand would still be there. Most, if not all, of that 10% would be imported and sold by other retailers.

Numbers may not lie, but I think Ken V does.

screwed said: “How would you describe the government of China?”

A fascistic government that makes it easy to do business.

You Fascist Pig, economic in e.g.

So the real issue for you isn’t whether a government is fascist or not.  It’s a matter of how easy it is to do business there, right?

I see the problem.  No wonder the anti Walmart crowd, thinks Walmart is doing badly.  They have absolutely no concept of basic math.

What I recommend you do is to go to a reasonably intelligent eighth grader and present this problem.  Walmart buys 18 billion from China.  The total the US buys from China is 196 billion.  Is the following statement by Ken V correct:  “The fact is, economic illusionist, Wal-Mart’s share of US imports from China is more than 10%. (Wal-Mart’s 18 billion is included in the US total, so therefore it should be subtracted before figuring percentage.)”

You might consider going to an Asian (Chinese, Japanese or Korean) or to an Indian (from India) and ask them.  They seem to have a better grasp of mathematics than most other US students.

Screwed: Er… no. I have issues with China that are similar to yours. You are so bent on seeing everything in black and white, and maintainng constant argument, that you have missed earlier agreemennt on China.

However, you won’t solve any of the China issues by bringing down Wal-Mart unless you also plan to bring down every other retail chain and store.

...you won’t solve any of the China issues...

The collapse of Wal-Mart would solve the Wal-Mart issues.

I love reading you math wizards dancing around the fact that Wal-Mart is the largest individual purchaser of Chinese products on earth which makes it the 7th or 8th (depending on who’s numbers you believe) trading partner ahead of countries like Belgium and Isreal.

9.8%, 10%, 10.2%, who cares? If Wal-Mart stopped buying from China tomorrow there would still be plenty of ‘issues’ to go around.

“If you care about a local economy, you will hate Wal-Mart,” ~Rosemary Atkinson

hey ken how about we shut down all the higher cost stores that cater to the elitists like you,then where would you shop?ken tell the stores you patronize to stop buying so much from china too.dont give me this china crap either because most other stores and retailers sell damnear all their merchandise that was made in china too.this crap about caring about the local economy is lame.every local store including the mom and pops most of their toys they sell are made in china with cheap labor too so that shoots your argument about caring about the local economy down.

Ken V

If you will actually read what I wrote, you will not find any spin in there whatsoever.  I merely corrected what you said.  You would be better off to just admit you made a mistake rather than compounding the error by accusing someone of something they did not do.

Ken, perhaps you might consider purchasing and using a calculator. It can help you avoid such arithmetic mistakes in the future. Wal-Mart happens to have a fine selection.

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There’s nothing wrong with my math. My English could stand to be tweaked with the word ‘increase’ but I’ll stand with my original numbers.

The point is numbers can be spun. If you want to minimize Wal-Mart’s role in our trade problems with China you say..

That’s less than 10%. A small part.

Taking the same numbers (’04) you can just as easily maximize Wal-Mart’s contribution to the problem by saying…

Wal-Mart imports from China increased the US total by more than 10% in 2004!

So what?

Most, if not all, of that 10% would be imported and sold by other retailers.

You know this how?

“Most, if not all, of that 10% would be imported and sold by other retailers.”

What if...?

What if Wal-Mart was taken out of the equation?

What if we built that “solid wall of factories” along the U.S. southern border?  What if we actually started to make things in this country again?  What if the flow of manufacturing reversed itself somewhat?  Not only would this improve the “carbon footprint” from having to ship things half-way around the world, it would also save companies countless thousands in shipping costs.  Did anybody take the time to look up what it costs per container to get a ship cleared through the Panama Canal?  You don’t think these costs are being passed on?

Well, you say, “this will never happen.” OK.  Let Wal-Mart live and die with its love for China.  It would be interesting to see if this scenario ever developed, how long it would take Wal-Mart to come courting all these new American manufacturers.  A “pipe dream” you say?  Maybe so.  So let’s get back to reality for now…

Still think this is a farfetched idea “Mary?”

Consider this:

The weak dollar is adding a new twist to Made in America. The United States is the new hot spot for global companies looking for lower production and transport costs, increased supply-chain flexibility and a crack at wooing the world’s most demanding customers.

France’s Alstom, a maker of high-speed trains and power turbines, this week became the latest European company to unveil plans for a facility across the Atlantic. The company wants to build a $200 million plant in Chattanooga, Tenn.,

The dollar has lost roughly 20% against the euro in the past two years. It’s declined about 14% against the British pound. Partly as result of that depreciation, Alstom and other companies with global exposure are taking a fresh look at the United States as an attractive location for new facilities.

In recent months, companies ranging from automakers Fiat (FIATY) and Volkswagen (VLKAF) to German steel behemoth ThyssenKrupp (TYEKF) to South Korean consumer-electronics maker Samsung Electronics (SSNLF) have either publicly debated or set in motion plans for U.S. plants.

Stay tuned!

big deal ken i and many others could care less where the stuff is made.ken how about all the china stuff sold at places you shop at?funny you are always quiet on that.

Screwed this is very simple if manufacturers want to set up shop in the US, for whatever reason, I say go for it.  If US retailers want to purchase from those factories or any factory of their choosing anywhere in the world i say go for it. 

In the end it is the consumer that should and does decide how this will all work because without them there would be no retailing and manufacturing.  They decide what they want to buy and how much they are willing to pay for it.  Were back to the same basic theory of supply and demand.  It’s not that hard.

<Give Us a Break “Mary"</b>

For short-sighted and simple-minded people like you, “Mary” I guess “it’s not that hard,” huh?  As long as you save $.08 on your next can of pork ‘n beans that’s all that matters.

I suppose things like China’s manipulation of its currency, government run factories, state and federal government subsidies to Big Businesses in this country, tax breaks, lobbyists on K Street, and the rising and falling of currency exchange rates doesn’t have anything to do with it.

You give consumers way too much credit.  It’s not that simple.

Mary’s right. Each consumer knows what is best for him/her. The only consumer that Screwed has a right to dictate to is Screwed.

“Each consumer knows what is best for him/her.”

The avertising world has another take on this. No they don’t. And it is proven by the billions of dollars spent each year to manipulate consumers from Madison Avenue. Or do you believe those billions are spent in vain? Nobody goes to Walmart because they want to go there.

Screwedby,

Check out Waupaca, Wisconsin and Marinette, Wisconsin and you will find that both cities have had ThyssenKrupp foundries there for years!!

Richard,

“Nobody goes to Walmart because they want to go there.”

Wrong!!  Even if Madison Avenue entices people to buy this product or that product, it is still up to the consumer as to where to purchase those products!!  Many people want to go to Wal-Mart, if the price on those products are LOWER than elsewhere!!

Then, there are those, who not only choose to go to a store that charges higher prices, but pays those millions in AD costs for name brands, instead of buying house brands!!  I think they call those people ‘Anti Wal-Marters’!!

Here’s the latest from Al Norman via The Huffington Post.

Feds and Wal-Mart Team Up To Kill Small Grocers

“Nobody goes to Walmart because they want to go there.”

More like 100% of customers and workers.

Richard; Each consumer knows what is best for him/her. Period. It is ridiculously arrogant for anyone else to assume they know what is best for someone else.

$0 are spent to manipulate people. However, advertising money is spent to provide information. That’s all.

Ken: The feds already dealt small grocer a major blow earlier in the year by boosting the mandated minimum wage. Nobody can afford to overpay workers, least of all small businesses.

Econ,

You’ve underscored what others have said, all along - contrary to popular rumor (spin), small grocers never did pay competitve wages.

But then again, that’s what this site is made of—people from NYC and DC trying to tell someone from, say, Kansas, that you’re better-off in following their anti-WM advice.

Moving forward, anyone out there want to take a guess how December retail sales is going to play-out?

Based on what I’ve read (and seen), Wal-Mart is poised to give Target their first beating in nearly a decade.

There’s no doubt that Wal-Mart is back~Craig Johnson, president of retail consultancy Customer Growth Partners.

“Nobody goes to Walmart because they want to go there. “

“You give consumers way too much credit.  It’s not that simple. “

What are both of you smoking?????  Do you truely believe that the consumer can’t decide for themselves what they want to buy and where they want to buy it?  Do you want to be the police to dictate to every consumer how to spend their money?  Oh yea… I forgot we’re talking about Screwed here who believes HE should be the one to dictate to all consumers that they can’t shop at Walmart.  Talk about arrogance!!!

I can say with 100% certainty I go to Walmart BECAUSE I WANT TO.  That should be every consumers right.  Let’s hoped no one ever gets taken taken down the primpose path that Screwed and his arrogant ilk propose.

Ken,
Are we reading the same article?? What I read indicated that the USDA’s regulations put that store out of business. How is this walmart’s fault??? Because they happen to be there offering low prices on things and saving people money???
It’s incredible how wrong you guys can be about such matters . . .

Of course, the bigger picture here is how government regulations, now matter how good their intentions are, generally harm more than they help. Some examples: The Americans with Disabilities act - good intentions, right??? But the net result is that companies are now petrified to hire disabled people, for fear of a lawsuit. Minimum wage laws: good idea, right??? except that for every person it helps, how many people are fired or never get hired in the first place???

Consider this your first lesson on how government regulations are HARMFUL.

“Nobody goes to Walmart because they want to go there.”

If someone is shopping at Mom and Pop’s Grocery Store and a Wal-Mart opens up in the area, what MAKES those shoppers STOP shopping at Mom and Pop’s and START shopping at Wal-Mart, if they DIDN’T want too?  Who forces them to change?

“Nobody goes to Walmart because they want to go there.”

Damn right there. Even the Walmart wage slaves jump ship as soon as possible trying to find better jobs. Or they get fired because they become eligible for some health benefit. They don’t want to be there and Walmart cutting their hours to 28 per week shows that Walmart does not want them there full time either. The place is a hellhole.

The only reason people shop at Walmart is because often they are the only game near where they live or folks are so poor that it is the only place they can afford to buy what they need in this shitty economy. They can’t afford to go to someplace nice, otherwise they would not go in to a Walmart, ‘nobody wants to go there’. I try to avoid Walmart when ever I can.

I see Dan has joined the nonsense bandwagon!

1.  If the Walmart “wageslaves” don’t want to work at Walmart then why are they still there?  Why would anyone want a job there?  But somehow people keep going.  Go figure.

2.  Walmart is far from “the only game near where I live”.  I have kMart, Target, Safeway, Giant food, Shoppers.... I could keep going.  I gladly shop at Walmart for the simple reason of price.  I am responsible for me and my family.  I decide where I want to shop.  I decide who gets our money.  I WANT TO GO THERE.

Good grief… is this that hard a concept for people to understand?  Talk about clueless or living in a dream world.  Nice job Dan!

Ken,
Are we reading the same article??

I suggest you comment to Al at the The Huffington Post, Reggie. All I did was link to the article.

If anyone asked who in Corporate America most resembles Darth Vader, it would probably be Lee Scott. ~ Jon Ogg

dan the expensive ufcw union grocery stores you shop at treat their workers far worse than wm ever has theirs and they significantly cut hrs as much as possible and more than wm does so they and the ufcw union can screw their workers out of decent wages and benefits.it happens more in union grocers than at walmart.

how about all the slobs at the ufcw union and their grocery stores that refuse to pay decent wages,give full time work to all employees and get quality benefits for their workers ken?

mary,

I guess Dan has never heard of the ‘word of mouth’!!  If Wal-Mart was as bad a place to work as they say, then why do people keep applying for jobs there?  They must have heard how ‘bad’ it is, Dan did!!  But, yet, they keep getting thousands of applications for hundreds of jobs!!

And, he got that:

“The only reason people shop at Walmart is because often they are the only game near where they live or folks are so poor that it is the only place they can afford to buy what they need in this shitty economy. They can’t afford to go to someplace nice, otherwise they would not go in to a Walmart, ‘nobody wants to go there’” ~ Dan

My area has lots of different retail & grocery stores, yet the Wal-Mart’s parking lots are always FULL!!  I am not ‘poor’, but “I want to shop at Wal-Mart”!!  Also, it may seem like a ‘shitty’ economy, to those who spend more than they have too for what they buy, it’s just fine for those of us who know how to spend OUR money WISELY!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!

From the Cumberland Times News:

Does China pose a threat to the United States? The answer is yes

To the Editor:

Many people have been asking themselves lately whether China poses a threat to the United States. Unfortunately, I believe the answer to this question is yes. I also regrettably believe America is at fault.

It may be true that China currently poses no threat to the United States militarily; however, we are far from invulnerable to China’s increasingly tightening grip on America’s economic security. China by no means has the ability at present, to deliver a fatal blow to the U.S. on an economic level; however, they could certainly create a disturbance that would be felt throughout the economy.

China presently accounts for nearly 13 percent of America’s total trade, second only to Canada; however, imports from China are increasing exponentially each year. What that means is that with each passing year we not only become more dependent on China, we also fuel the economy of a nation that completely disregards what America holds dearest, “Democracy.”

We pump hundreds of billions of dollars into a communist, nuclear armed economy that is known to be oppressive, volatile and aggressive while at the same time dumping half a trillion dollars into a war to spread peace, freedom and democracy.

We’re a nation headed by hypocrites; a nation that spent nearly half a century and trillions of dollars combating the very thing we are now helping to advance into a nuclear superpower fueled by record breaking economical growth. I cannot agree with this course of action regardless of how many benefits it may provide at present.

In addition to the threat posed by China, current business practice by many American conglomerates simply goes against American values and if left unchecked corporations like Wal-Mart will allow China to place the American people in an economic choke hold.

China’s appeal to industries is due to its ability to provide slave like labor for labor intensive manufacturing. American manufactures capitalize on this fact; making billions each year at the expense of Chinese workers. This is unethical to say the least, and goes against the American values that I was brought up believing in.

For as long as I can remember I was brought to believe that a worker should be paid for the work they perform. They should also be provided a living wage; however this is not the case with China. Chinese workers are forced to work in poor and unsafe conditions for pennies on the hour and this is simply despicable. No matter how true it may be that these conditions are beneficial to American business or how they help to drive down costs for American consumers, it violates American values, it is unethical and it is counterproductive to international relations.

America is a world leader, and with that title comes a responsibility to set standards, lead by example and advocate human rights. Unfortunately, we currently are not doing this and as a result, Chinese corporations are forced into using hazardous materials in the production of goods in an attempt to meet an increasing demand for lower costs.

The United States bears as much blame for the tainted goods it imports from China as China does for exporting them. It is our capitalistic ways and love of money that has pushed us to this point.

We now stand at a precipice from which we can soar to greatness like the eagle that symbolizes our great nation or fall like lemmings to the beginning of our decline as a world leader. The decision, contrary to popular belief, lies in the hands of the people of this country; it does not belong to lobbyists and corporations.

The American people have grown too complacent in their lives and believe that they have no bearing on society past the point of political elections. This simply isn’t true and when dedicated Americans unite there is no limit to what they can achieve.

America is only as great as its weakest citizen, and we must adhere to the principles that we have fought so valiantly to preserve. Furthermore, we are obligated, as an ethical world leader, to apply those principles not only to our personal lives and society but to foreign relations as well.

Jason Grimm
Cumberland

R E M E M B E R
J O N Q U I E R E
Q U E B E C
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

R E M E M B E R
J A C K S O N V I L L E
T E X A S
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

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The term “wage slave” is best kept out of any sort of intelligent discourse. The situation involves no slavery.

Alex, thanks for pointing me to the Jacksonville situation. It is a clear instance of Wal-Mart standing up for its workers and against those who would force them to join political organizations.

Unitl labor laws are reformed and made more fair to workers (by making union membership 100% the choice of each individual worker), Wal-Mart is to be commended for keeping these outside organizations out; organizations which end up forcing people to give them lots of money.

Look into “Working America”. For once, the AFL-CIO is going about it the right way. Anyone can join it. No union vote necessary. The choice of joining this division of the AFL-CIO is left entirely to each worker as it should be.

http://www.workingamerica.org/

Nothing is stopping any Wal-Mart worker from joining.

But, yet, they keep getting thousands of applications for hundreds of jobs!!

Let’s not overlook the fact that the last time Wal-Mart made it’s annual turnover rate known it was near 50%! And we’ve been through the discussion of the caliber of the “thousands of applications” Wal-Mart gets.

The term “wage slave” is best kept out of any sort of intelligent discourse.

Who died and made you king?

Wage slavery is the condition where a person must sell his or her labor-power, submitting to the authority of an employer, in order to merely survive.

Do you deny the existence of the ‘condition’?

Walmart is wage slavery. You have to be an idiot not to know that.

Ken, you can debate the merits of keeping employees and not having turnover.  No argument here but if it were even 1000% it still makes no difference until the laws of supply and demand adjust and Walmart has no more pool of available workers to go to.

btw, nice to point out the “caliber of” applications when in different arguements everyone complains that Walmart doesn’t pay their employees enough.  You can’t have it both ways.

Ken asked: “Who died and made you king? “

Why, to quote your earlier non-sequiturs, Batman was the one who died and made me king of Kansas.

Ken said: “Wage slavery is the condition where a person must sell his or her labor-power, submitting to the authority of an employer, in order to merely survive. ....Do you deny the existence of the ‘condition’? “

It might exist somewhere, but certainly not at Wal-Mart.

How about this definition: “wage slave n. A wage earner whose livelihood is completely dependent on the wages earned.”

According to this definiton, wage slavey does not exist at all in the United States., where one can work for themself if they have gumption, and even when they work for others, te livlihood is supplimented by food stamps, WIC, etc.

Jess: You have to be an idiot to think that Wal-Mart is wage slavery. No one is forced to “submit” there.

Once you research it, you find out that the term “wage slave” really has nothing to do with reality. It was coined by Karl Marx, after all.

“Alex, thanks for pointing me to the Jacksonville situation. It is a clear instance of Wal-Mart standing up for its workers and against those who would force them to join political organizations."~ economic in e.g

Now for the true story:

In June 2003, a National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge found Wal-Mart violated federal labor laws in 2000 by refusing to bargain over job changes it imposed on meat cutters in a Jacksonville, Texas, store after they voted for a voice at work with the United Food and Commercial Workers. After they sought to join a union, the skilled meat cutters were suddenly demoted to “sales associates” and all Wal-Mart stores eventually shifted to selling pre-cut meat.

R E M E M B E R
J O N Q U I E R E
Q U E B E C
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

R E M E M B E R
J A C K S O N V I L L E
T E X A S
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

Here is another example of Wal-mart so called “standing up for its workers”

Wal-Mart fired Jonquiere workers illegally, board rules

Compensation ordered for employees who filed
formal complaints after store closure last spring

Jonquiere, Quebec (22 Dec. 2005) - Wal-Mart has been found guilty by the Quebec labour board of closing its Jonquiere store last spring to avoid dealing with unionized workers – not because it was losing money as it claimed at the time.

After hearing four of 79 illegal dismissal complaints filed by workers at the store, the board concluded that the Arkansas-based retail giant had acted in violation of Quebec law and that it fired the workers unfairly.

The employees were dismissed because they were engaging in legal union activities, the board ruled.

One fact entered in evidence was that the company has yet to rescind a 20-year lease on its premises in Jonquiere. No attempt has been made to sublet the space, indicating that the company is keeping its options for the future open.

The board has ruled that Wal-Mart must compensate workers for its actions. Appropriate remedies will be decided later.

The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW Canada) said the ruling backs up what the union has claimed from the outset and what polls show that citizens across Quebec generally believe.

Momentum picking up

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) has signed a formal protocol with UFCW Canada, supporting its efforts to organize Wal-Mart workers across Canada.

“Wal-Mart clearly closed this store because the workers succeeded in unionizing,” says Yvon Bellemare, president of the UFCW Canada’s Quebec council.

“The Labour Relations Board’s decision once again exposes the multinational’s anti-union attitude. The momentum is picking up. Wal-Mart employees now realize that if they want a union in their store, Wal-Mart may attempt to but can’t stop them.”

Quebec Federation of Labour President Henri Massé also hailed the decision and called on Wal-Mart to abide by the ruling and to dispense with its the now-familiar “legal guerrilla tactics” it has been using to prolong its anti-union war in the province.

The Jonquiere outlet was the first full Wal-Mart store in North America to be unionized. Approximately 190 employees lost their jobs when the store was closed. At the time the company was on the brink of having a first contract imposed by the board after its refusal to negotiate in good faith with the union. A total of 79 workers subsequently filed formal complaints. NUPGE

Web posted by NUPGE: 22 December 2005

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Yes, they stood up for their workers. Once the UFCW had gotten a foothold and managed to force workers at that store to join a political organization, other stores would have followed. Thanks to the the company’s actions in Quebec, workers at the other stores have a choice of whether or not to give money to a union.

As for the “legal activities” of the dismissed workers, it may be legal, but it should not be right for workers to harass and solicit other workers for political causes in a workplace. What next? If this is good, why not also allow evengelists to try to “Save’ the workers? Or other such proselytizing?

I don’t blame them at all for dismissing political hacks who harass other workers.

I hope they open the store again.Maybe this time the UFCW will do the right thing and not harass the workers.

Show us evidence of all this harassment economic.
Please tell us more.

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J O N Q U I E R E
Q U E B E C
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

R E M E M B E R
J A C K S O N V I L L E
T E X A S
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

“As for the “legal activities” of the dismissed workers, it may be legal, but it should not be right for workers to harass and solicit other workers for political causes in a workplace.
What next? If this is good, why not also allow evengelists to try to “Save’ the workers? Or other such proselytizing?"~ economic in e.g

‘economic in e.g’
You may wish to inform Wal-mart that they are breaking your harassment/solicitation rules. I am sure they will listen to you as much as we do. :-) Please read on!

Wal-Mart Christmas Carol Concert to Feature Rick Warren
By Audrey Barrick
Christian Post Reporter
Thu, Dec. 06 2007 02:26 PM ET
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Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores will feature their first-ever Christmas Carol Concert Friday morning, in partnership with The Salvation Army.

The concert will be aired across the country at 9:30 a.m. in all stores and locations of the giant retailer to get shoppers into the spirit of giving this season. A special Christmas message will be given by Pastor Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life.

“The holiday season is a time of reflection and togetherness, and a time for all of us to gather with loved ones and count our blessings,” said Warren. “I hope the Christmas Carol Concert, and my special Christmas message, will make this season extra meaningful for all who watch it.”

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is continuing partnership with the well-known international Christian charity and its Christmas Red Kettle campaign this year.

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J O N Q U I E R E
Q U E B E C
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

R E M E M B E R
J A C K S O N V I L L E
T E X A S
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

Here is a good page about the UCFW harassing and stealing from workers:

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:oRtrvhgXR4AJ:news.findlaw.com/prnewswire/20071010/10oct20071401.html+ufcw+union+dues+lawsuit+butte&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us

There’s more if you want.

And about the Salvation Army: Fine. Deal. The Salvation Army stops doing two-hour concerts one a year at WMT, and the unions stop bothering WMT workers. Fine?

Don’t get mad economic. You warned us about preachers in the workplace. You need to get your Walmart on board with you.
Anyway, yes please bring your harrasment info to us. All of it if you choose. It would be good if you could print it here instead