Democrats vs. Wal-Mart

[Ardentfrost]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/17/wa...in&oref=slogin

DES MOINES, Aug. 16 — Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, a likely Democratic presidential candidate in 2008, delivered a 15-minute, blistering attack to warm applause from Democrats and union organizers here on Wednesday. But Mr. Biden’s main target was not Republicans in Washington, or even his prospective presidential rivals.

It was Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest private employer.

Among Democrats, Mr. Biden is not alone. Across Iowa this week and across much of the country this month, Democratic leaders have found a new rallying cry that many of them say could prove powerful in the midterm elections and into 2008: denouncing Wal-Mart for what they say are substandard wages and health care benefits.

Six Democratic presidential contenders have appeared at rallies like the one Mr. Biden headlined, along with some Democratic candidates for Congress in some of the toughest-fought races in the country.

“My problem with Wal-Mart is that I don’t see any indication that they care about the fate of middle-class people,” Mr. Biden said, standing on the sweltering rooftop of the State Historical Society building here. “They talk about paying them $10 an hour. That’s true. How can you live a middle-class life on that?”

The focus on Wal-Mart is part of a broader strategy of addressing what Democrats say is general economic anxiety and a growing sense that economic gains of recent years have not benefited the middle class or the working poor.

Their alliance with the anti-Wal-Mart campaign dovetails with their emphasis in Washington on raising the minimum wage and doing more to make health insurance affordable. It also suggests they will go into the midterm Congressional elections this fall and the 2008 presidential race striking a populist tone.

Some Democrats expressed concern about the direction the party was heading, saying it could turn back efforts by such party leaders as former President Bill Clinton to erase the image of the party as anti-business and scare off corporations that might be inclined to make contributions.

Still, what is striking about this campaign is the ideological breadth of the Democrats who have joined in, including some who in the past have warned the party against appearing hostile to business interests.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, who was a member of Wal-Mart’s board when she lived in Arkansas, the corporation’s home state, returned a $5,000 campaign contribution from the company last year. Mrs. Clinton said she did so to protest Wal-Mart’s health care benefits, and she has continued to distance herself from the policies of a company she was close to when she was the first lady of Arkansas.

Scheduling conflicts prevented Mrs. Clinton from attending any of the rallies being organized, her aides said. But she supported many of the campaign’s goals, they added.

“It’s not anti-business,” said Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, a former head of the moderate Democratic Leadership Council, appearing at an anti-Wal-Mart rally on Tuesday. “Wal-Mart has become emblematic of the anxiety around the country, and the middle-class squeeze.”

“All you need to know is Joe Lieberman and Ned Lamont have appeared at these events,” Mr. Bayh said, speaking of the Connecticut senator and the man who defeated him in the Democratic primary on Aug. 8. “That’s pretty good evidence that Democrats across the country are rallying around this issue.”

Yet there are clear risks for Democrats, not least in alienating Wal-Mart employees and customers.

Wal-Mart has begun a counterattack. In interviews on Wednesday, company executives warned that they would alert their 1.3 million American employees to the anti-Wal-Mart campaign. They also pointed to a poll the company financed that reported that Americans were generally supportive of the company.

“There is far more evidence to show that this short-sighted political strategy will backfire than that it will actually work,” said Mona Williams, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart Stores. “We believe our associates vote, and it is our responsibility to let them know when a politician speaks out for or against our company.”

In a letter to its workers in Iowa, Wal-Mart warned of the political events, including appearances by Mr. Bayh, Mr. Biden and Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico.

Wal-Mart “would never suggest to you how to vote,” the letter said, “but we have an obligation to tell you when politicians are saying something about your company that isn’t true. After all, you are Wal-Mart.”

Some Republicans said Democrats were trying to appease liberal bloggers, union leaders and an Democratic left wing invigorated by Mr. Lieberman’s defeat in the primary.

But Democrats say they are sure they have a message that will resonate. John Edwards, the former North Carolina senator and Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 2004, appeared at an anti-Wal-Mart rally in Pittsburgh two weeks ago. Mr. Edwards said in an interview that his party was not vulnerable to a backlash for this criticism so long as Democrats made clear that their main goal was improving policies for the poor and the middle class.

“Wal-Mart as an example of the problems that exist in America today is a powerful political issue,” he said in an interview on Wednesday. “I think our party pretty much across the board agrees that people who work hard should be able to support their families. When a company like Wal-Mart fails to meet its corporate responsibility, it make it impossible for that to occur.”

Democrats say Wal-Mart is a potent symbol of corporate excess. The company earned $11 billion in profit last year, but fewer than half of its employees in the United States are covered by its health care plan, and the average worker earns less than $20,000 a year.

Wal-Mart counters that its average wage is more than $10 an hour, and that more than 150,000 Americans who had no health insurance now have it through the company. It also says it has saved consumers billions of dollars by squeezing costs.

The challenges to Wal-Mart are hardly new: it has been the target of political attacks as far back as when Patrick J. Buchanan ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 1996, and said Wal-Mart was guilty of “gigantism” for crushing smaller businesses.

The criticism has become more intense as Wal-Mart has grown into an increasingly major influence on the American economy and culture. For example, there is an ongoing cross-country bus tour, now in Iowa, organized by Wake Up Wal-Mart, a union-financed group highly critical of the retailer. The campaign includes news conferences with elected leaders in 19 states, may be the most ambitious tactic to date.

Wake Up Wal-Mart’s communications director, Chris Kofinis, said a large cast of Democratic candidates was joining the rallies. They include candidates in Senate races in Ohio and Maryland, and the governor’s race in Maryland, where Wal-Mart’s practices have been the subject of a legislative battle. “Who can disagree with the proposition that corporations should provide affordable health care, pay decent wages, protect American jobs and help provide a safe and just workplace?” Mr. Kofinis said.

Ms. Williams, the Wal-Mart spokeswoman, said the rallies would not resonate with voters. Democrats, she said, were “attending a union-sponsored protest with small crowds of faithful union activists, and there is not a swing vote in sight.’’

“They are preaching to the choir,” Ms. Williams said.

For years, labor activists have characterized Wal-Mart as beholden to Republicans. In the last election cycle, they note, the company gave 80 percent of its contributions to Republicans. Many of its stores are in Republican-dominated territory in the rural South.

But as Wal-Mart has grown in size and power, it has tried to establish ties to the Democratic party. Its chief executive, H. Lee Scott Jr., has grown close to Mr. Clinton, who personally thanked him for Wal-Mart’s relief work after Hurricane Katrina and played host to Mr. Scott at his home in New York last month. In addition, Mr. Scott recently played host to the former Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore, to talk about the environment, and he appeared on the New York radio show of the Democratic activist Al Sharpton.

Even the Democrats who have been at the forefront of the recent attacks have not always had difficult relations with the corporation. Mr. Bayh, for example, took a total of $10,000 in contributions from Wal-Mart in the 2002 and 2004 campaigns.

“It’s clear that the contributions did not have any influence on how he has approached this issue,” said Dan Pfieffer, a spokesman for Mr. Bayh.

I would like to see dems take congress this year as much as most people, but this is such a bad tactic. Not only is it misplaced blame, but this could backfire and lose them lower class votes.

I do like how some of the politicians have conviction though, turning down donations and stuff. Though, it said Hilary Clinton gave back $5k to protest their lack of health insurance, but SURELY she's gotten more than that from Wal-Mart

I think what bothers me the most is that they blame the company and not the government policies that create a situation in which the very things they hate the most can exist. A company has no feelings, as they like to insinuate... it merely exists to make money in the most efficient way possible, as it should.

[thomez]

omg a successful company takes advantage of our socialist policies let's blame them!!!!11

[bheld]

Wal-Mart just represents things that are wrong with the country. It could be Bed, Bath, and Beyond for all I care if it made their point as well.

[Scrum]

If this is what people want, so be it.

If walmart has a problem conducting business under rules in the US, I would suggest they bring their business someplace else.

[Scrum]

[Ardentfrost]

Here's a quote from Cato-at-liberty

Democrats will need to decide who they want to represent: Tens of millions of cost-conscious, lower- and middle-income shoppers, or noisy but far less numerous union members who do not like competition.

That's pretty freakin' true. The loudest people aren't the ones you need to pay attention to in politics

[bheld]

Originally Posted by Ardentfrost

Here's a quote from Cato-at-liberty



That's pretty freakin' true. The loudest people aren't the ones you need to pay attention to in politics

or tens of millions of people without health insurance.

[thomez]

but prices won't go up, Walmart can afford 10 bucks an hour and health care for all employees by just cutting profits!!!!!11

[Ardentfrost]

Originally Posted by bheld

or tens of millions of people without health insurance.

People aren't stupid. They know where those costs will be passed (at least, I hope they do)

[bheld]

Originally Posted by Ardentfrost

People aren't stupid. They know where those costs will be passed (at least, I hope they do)

dream on

[Ardentfrost]

Originally Posted by bheld

dream on

Voters will know... Wal-Mart, GOP, etc will make sure they do

[thomez]

Originally Posted by bheld

or tens of millions of people without health insurance.

at what point did health insurance become a right for all citizens?

have people ever thought that maybe the reason healthcare prices are so high and care so unaffordable without insurance is because of the regulation supposed to be saving them? how many people suffer because of the unaffordable care we have made inevitable?

[Scrum]

Originally Posted by thomez

at what point did health insurance become a right for all citizens?

have people ever thought that maybe the reason healthcare prices are so high and care so unaffordable without insurance is because of the regulation supposed to be saving them? how many people suffer because of the unaffordable care we have made inevitable?

Kind of hard to see that when hospitals are adding things like monuments and fountains while doctors drive up in their BMW's and you can't afford the pills you need.

[thomez]

Originally Posted by Scrumtralecent

Kind of hard to see that when hospitals are adding things like monuments and fountains while doctors drive up in their BMW's and you can't afford the pills you need.

without all the goddamn regulation in the healthcare industry you could go to the Walmart of hospitals for radically cheaper

we made this bed now we bitch when we lay in it

[Scrum]

Originally Posted by thomez

we made this bed now we bitch when we lay in it

We?!?

Isn't that like saying we are responsible for black reparations?

[thomez]

Originally Posted by Scrumtralecent

We?!?

Isn't that like saying we are responsible for black reparations?

we as in the population of this country over the last X years - through the election of officials who increased regulation to the point that you have to have insurance to be able to afford the most basic procedures or medicines

the equivalent of having to have high priced insurance to get an oil change in your car - idiotic

there is no reason to point blame backwards when the same policies are still supported and strengthened

[JaJae]

Originally Posted by Scrumtralecent

Kind of hard to see that when hospitals are adding things like monuments and fountains while doctors drive up in their BMW's and you can't afford the pills you need.

And others are going bankrupt and closing down. In many states such as my own malpractice insurance is so high it's not even worth being a doctor in this state so they move out. And then competition in other states drives their salaries down. In some fields they struggle to pay off their school loans. And in the states where the doctors left (usually very liberal which means they often have extreme urban areas), health care becomes unaffordable.

Rather than blaming the people who make healthcare so expensive and the liberal practices that go along with it, we blame employers.. wait excuse me.. one employer.

[DosEquis]

I am fucking WASTED. This means when i type i speak the truth.

WAL-Fucking-Mart is the benchmark of capitalism. They do not have to pay benefits because they are not FORCED to. In the mean time, of the top richect 10 people in the US and generally the world there are now 4 walmont family members each worth 20 BILLION dollars each. This doesnt include that assents from the NGA that died. If that nga dontated all 20 billion of his share all Walmart employees would have FULL benefits, pension, and ANYTHING they wanted. BUt no, the faggots in that family STILL wanted that 20 billion divided up between them. That is completely fucked up beyond all recogniztion.

All i hear is bullshit escuses from bullshit people talking about how "oooooh i only make 450k a year instead of 500k because of booo hooo taxes and insurance i had to pay." Serisouly...come up with a better excuse. I wish mother fuckin taxes to pay for this bullshit war and other bullshit pork was the only worry i had. Fuck them, fuck their taxes, and fuck george bush. This is beyond ridiculous and this country is in deeeeep shit because of republicans since 1980. History and patron will prove my conclusions.

[DosEquis]

Conservative my fucking dick hole. If republicans were to represent my penis since 1980 i would have crabs, herpes, and aids.

Fuck them and fuck walmart. There is a responsiblity that comes with freedom and that is ethics. They have a moral responsiblity to take care of the people who make their entire operation possible. Fuck them if the free market says otherwise. They just need to loook at Cost CO those greedy asshole dick weeds.

That is all.

[Ardentfrost]

Originally Posted by DosEquis

I am fucking WASTED. This means when i type i spe