[Vision2020] Most Americans Love Wal-Mart-69%

Sat Jul 1 07:15:25 PDT 2006

Dick,

 Thanks for your response. I don't think that Wal-Mart  is a liberal or conservative issue so much as it is a class and  educated one, however, I am tickled that you share with Mark Solomon,  Nils Peterson, and Nick Gier, and Bill London, a common economic  ideology. 

 I use to not shop at Wal-Mart at all. I went to  Spokane or Pullman to do my shopping when I could not find it elsewhere  in Moscow. I believed that Wal-Mart was the devil in the form of retail  store. 

 After further research, I have found that much of  the information out there is put out by special interests that are  losing money to Wal-Mart, like unions and small business owners. 

  The anti-Wal-mart campaigns are now being run by seasoned political  operatives, one of them was a campaign manager for Howard Dean. Another  anti-Wal Mart group is funded by an organizations that does   political  campaign  strategies for conservative  Republicans,  like George W. Bush in 2004, Trent Lott, and Newt  Gingrich. This people are skilled and would make you hate your own  grandmother after their research was put into action. That is what they  do, run campaigns that win. They find things that turn people off about  other people and organizations, then lay it on thick. 

  "Wal  Mart, and other big corporations, force taxpayers to subsidise their  employees through medical insurance, since they do not provide adequate  coverage for their employees and do not pay enough to allow them to  acquire their own.  At the end of every business day, these  corporations deposit huge sums of money, extracted from the local  economy, into accounts with headquarters overseas, or far from the  area, draining money from the local economy that may be better used to  promote business locally."

 I disagree with most of this  paragraph.  First, taxpayers are not forced to pay anything for  medical insurance, it chooses to do so and under what circumstances.  Second, any person who works full-time (32 Hours) at Wal-Mart gets  health insurance that wants it. About 50% of workers in the United  States don't have health insurance through their employer. More people  get off of Medicare and Medicaid by getting a job at Wal-Mart then any  other company because they hire people on Medicare and Medicaid, unlike  other companies. 3) Wal-Mart does not decide its wages, the free market  does. If Wal-Mart paid to much for employees it would go under, if it  paid too little, it would not get workers to run the stores. It isn't  magic, there are certain set of economic laws that cannot be broken,  just like the law of gravity 4) American companies pay through the nose  for health insurance for their employees. If low skilled low paid  retail workers could afford health
 insurance, health care costs would  simply go up because our health care in this country is based on supply  and demand, not actual costs. Our health care system is so full of  fraud, abuse, and corruption it is a wonder it functions at all. I  think the primary problem is pharmaceutical and medical supply  companies as well as mal-practice lawyers, but there are other reasons  too. To make employers continue to pay for the fraud or call them poor  employers if they don't, I think is an injustice. 

  Best Regards,

  Donovan J Arnold

rvrcowboy <rvrcowboy at clearwire.net> wrote:              Donovan,

  I  sincerely hope I don't sound too much like a liberal here but I also  have problems with Wal Mart.  Unlike many, here in the forum, I  bear no particular hate for the company but I do question many of their  business policies.  

  I  recognize the value of having a large company in the area that will  hire many people who would otherwise most likely not be able to get a  job.  (Please don't construe that to mean I think all Wal Mart  employees are incapable of working elsewhere.)  Wal Mart provides  quality products at a good price and that is hard to argue with.  

  I  have problems with all large corporations, with their national, and  international, buying power coming into an area and unfairly competing  with local businesses who have sacrificed much to build up their  community.  This is probably irrational of me since it is the way  of the global economy and will likely be the only way business can  compete in the future, as big corporations swallow up more and more  locals and become more involved in the niche businesses that locals  have turned too.  It is difficult for me to understand why so many  clamor for U. N. control of the world, which will surely lead to an  absolute global economy, but protest businesses like Wal Mart.   Just doesn't make sense to me.

  Wal  Mart, and other big corporations, force taxpayers to subsidise their  employees through medical insurance, since they do not provide adequate  coverage for their employees and do not pay enough to allow them to  acquire their own.  At the end of every business day, these  corporations deposit huge sums of money, extracted from the local  economy, into accounts with headquarters overseas, or far from the  area, draining money from the local economy that may be better used to  promote business locally.  

  There  are other reasons why I like/dislike companies like Wal Mart but I am  sure they have all been covered here in this forum before, by others  who have given much more thought to it than I.  I shop at Wal  Mart, even though I have my reservations about it.  Guess that  makes me a hypocrite but I suppose most of those who rail on against  them also shop there from time to time.

  It  is a tough question and I would probably not protest against Wal Mart  in my area but still have to admit I have respect for those who  do.  In the end, I believe it is a loosing battle since the global  economy is rapidly consuming the retail business from any local  control.  

  Take care..

  Dick S
      ----- Original Message ----- 
    From:     Donovan Arnold 
    To: vision2020 at moscow.com 
    Sent: Friday, June 30, 2006 8:28 AM
    Subject: [Vision2020] Most Americans Love     Wal-Mart-69%

Taken from Dale Courtney's Blog: The Right Mind

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/2006/June%20Dailies/walmart.htm

Here  is a fact for naysayers of Wal-Mart to chew on; "Lower and middle  income Americans are more likely to have a favorable opinion of Walmart  than upper income Americans." 

Best,

_DJA

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