Wal-Mart Watch’s new video, “Wal-Mart saves money, the Walton family lives better,” shows the real life implications of Wal-Mart’s low-wage business model. While the average full-time hourly Wal-Mart worker makes $19,200 a year, the Walton family’s net worth rose to over $100 billion during the past year.

As average American families have conversations around their kitchen tables just like the Wal-Mart employee and his family in this video, the Walton family doesn’t have a care in the world.  Because the Walton family and Wal-Mart choose to pay low wages to the company’s workers, families across the country - just like this one - are struggling to stay in their homes, pay their bills, pay their medical expenses and take care of their families. 

So, while Wal-Mart saves money on the backs of its employees, the Walton family lives better – much better.  It’s no wonder that Wal-Mart is so opposed to any tool such as the Employee Free Choice Act, which could actually make it easier for employees to stand up to Wal-Mart and demand better wages and benefits. No, Wal-Mart executives and the Walton family want to keep on living better themselves - and it’s just too bad for the 1.4 million U.S. employees.

Check out the new video, and let us know what you think. 

Wal-Mart Watch has launched a new website - http://www.waltoninfluence.com - which analyzes and tracks the Walton family’s and Wal-Mart’s growing influence on American politics.

Although Sam Walton believed his company should stay out of politics and stick to retailing, Wal-Mart’s strategy changed immensely after his death. From 1999 to 2007, Wal-Mart’s lobbying expenditures for outside firms increased 7425%. Although Wal-Mart attempts to tout its bipartisanship, the Wal-Mart PAC has given the vast majority of its over $7.5 million in the past decade to the Republican Party and other conservative groups.

With more than $12 billion in profits last year, Wal-Mart is the biggest and arguably most powerful corporation in America. Sam Walton’s heirs, the majority owners of the company, are worth over $100 billion - making them the wealthiest and certainly one of the most influential families in America.

During the past year, Wal-Mart Watch conducted an analysis of public lobbying and political contribution records for the Walton family and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., in order to determine how this influence is used to affect politics and policy. The conclusion is clear: Wal-Mart and the Walton family spend millions of dollars every year to fund an extreme right wing corporate agenda that is often directly at odds with the interests of Wal-Mart’s workers and shoppers.

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Alice and Christy Walton top Forbes’ list of the richest women in America this week. Alice is Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton’s only daughter; Christy married Alice’s brother John and inherited his share of the Walton family fortune upon his death in 2005.

The Walton family takes up nearly half of Forbes’ list of the top ten wealthiest Americans. Alice and Christy are on that list, as well as their brothers Rob and Jim. As we mentioned in our earlier posts on this issue, each of the Walton siblings are worth more than an hourly Wal-Mart employee could earn in several lifetimes. $23.2 billion (what Alice and Christy are each worth) is more than enough for anyone, but the family has refused to share its earnings with the employees who create their fortune. What would Sam say?

America’s Richest Women [Forbes]

Alice Walton is the daughter of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. Christy Walton is Sam’s daughter-in-law. Each has a net worth of $23.2 billion, thanks to the ubiquitous discounter, America’s largest employer.

Alice has a taste for objects you can’t find in any Wal-Mart: fine art. She’s led her family in hundreds of millions of dollars in donations to the Crystal Bridges Museum. The new art museum will open in 2010 in Bentonville, Ark., the location of Wal-Mart’s headquarters.

Christy is the widow of Wal-Mart heir John Walton, who died in a 2005 plane crash. She also is using some of her considerable fortune for art. She recently donated an award-winning yurt--a domed tent used by Asian nomads--to a San Diego museum.

WAL-MART EARNS BUCKETS OF MONEY
In case you weren’t aware.

Winners and Losers [Floyd Norris on the New York Times]

As the stock market goes back to gyrating –the Dow has been up more than 100 points, and down more than 200, during the first two hours — here, courtesy of Howard Silverblatt of Standard & Poor’s, are the Lucky 13 and the Unlucky 13 for this year.

Lucky 13:
1. WAL-MART +$52.1 billion

MAN IT FEELS GOOD TO BE A WALTON
The Walton family is worth over $100 billion. Discuss.

The Waltons: SUPER DUPER RICH!!! [WakeUpWalMart.com Blog]

Of course there is nothing wrong with this family being so absurdly wealthy. No, our objection is that they make their profits on the backs of their workers by mistreating them and paying them poverty level wages. Contrasting a typical Wal-Mart workers wage with the Walton families wealth is mind boggling, and more than a little depressing. For example, it would take someone making $20,000 a year (which is a relatively high wage for your typical Wal-Mart cashier) on million years to net the amount of money one Walton sibling is worth.

If I Were A Rich Man… {Smart Profits Blog]

Warren Buffett with 50 billion takes second while Lawrence Ellison comes in at third with significantly less: a mere 27. Then fourth, fifth, sixth and… sixth… are all Waltons, somehow or another tied to WalMart founder Sam Walton. Jim Walton possesses a cool 23.4 billion, his brother S. Robson Walton has slightly less at 23.3, while their sister Alice Walton and sister-in-law Christy Walton tie at 23.2.

Walton Family Dots 10 Richest Americans List [Family Store Online]

Jim Walton, son of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. founder Sam Walton, reclaimed a leading spot this year at No. 4 with a $23.4 billion fortune after falling off last year. ... Eldest brother Robson Walton, 64, comes in a close second with $23.3 billion, landing him in the No. 5 spot. He is chairman of Wal-Mart. WHAT’S IN **YOUR** WALLET?

Forbes 400 richest out [Writing on the Wal]

The Walton’s, still the friends of downtrodden shoppers everywhere…

Forbes 400: List of the Richest Americans [Young, Famous and Fashionable]

The Walton family are all stinkin rich, controlling abt 40% of the worlds largest retailer, illegal child labor mart i mean workers can’t unionize mart woops.. i mean Walmart, with abt $23B each.

After the jump, shopping for groceries, reasons not to shop at Walmart, and sure signs the economy is REALLY bad.

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Ah, to be a Walton. While most of America struggles to keep their houses, afford basic food items and preserve their dwindling retirement funds, the Waltons have made a big leap up on Forbes’ list of the top 400 richest Americans and now comfortably reside in slots four through seven on the list of top ten wealthiest people in the country. That’s up from their rank last year - when Jim, Rob, and Christy were tied for 12th place, with their sister Alice coming in right after them at 15th.

Sam Walton’s four children aren’t the only Walton family members on the list: E Stanley Kroenke and his wife Ann Walton Kroenke also make an appearance, as does Sam’s niece, Nancy Walton Laurie. Taken together, the family is worth over $100 billion.

That’s more than an average Wal-Mart worker could earn in ten thousand lifetimes. Many of Wal-Mart’s hourly employees live in near-poverty, often earning so little that they qualify for government assistance. Basic life needs - housing, food, health care - are often out of reach, even for employees working full time. The Walton family’s wealth is obscene in comparison.

Wal-Mart executives have refused to raise wages for the company’s lowest earning employees, stating that such increases would cut in to company profits. Obviously, profitability is not a problem. As Wal-Mart sees record sales and the Walton family climbs to the top of America’s economic ladder, the company should be ashamed for not sharing its wealth with its lowest-earning workers.

The 400 Richest Americans [Forbes]