Thursday, August 17, 2006

To the left commerce is evil

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.

This is absolute insanity the ire this company engenders in people is now being used as a major campaign platform. Just further illustration how devout of serious ideas the left has become. How can any retailer offer comprehensive health care and 15 dollars an hour and stay in business? Why it is always Wall-Mart they target rather then IKEA, Target, and the Gap all retailers with comparable pay and benefits structure, all of which import manufactured goods from China.

Wall-marts sin is that it caters to lower income & rural consumers effectively giving them a raise by increasing their purchasing power. By focusing on these often neglected consumers the company has grown profitable and increased the living standards of those who shop there. The left views that success as heretical only the government is capable of providing this relief not the private sector. This is leading to a growing apostasy among an important voting block, and is forcing even “Moderate” Democrats to denounce Wal-Mart.

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.

“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.”

They should think long and hard about the short sightedness of this line of attack. The Dems really need to go back to the drawing board and come up with some sort of governing platform. I am sure executives at the company are scratching their heads at all of this. Don't expect the companies response however true to appease the critics.

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.

No comments: