RETAIL GIANT STRUGGLES THROUGH “RECOVERY”
Walmart released its latest financial data this week and the results were not encouraging – for the company or the broader U.S. economy.
The world’s largest retailer announced revenue of $120.1 billion in the second quarter of its 2015 fiscal year (a 2.8 increase from the previous year) – with income of $4.1 billion (a 0.6 percent increase). Those numbers modestly exceeded analysts expectations, but the company revised its growth downward for the future – which is surprising when you consider the American consumer economy was supposed to be exploding with all this pent-up growth from a first quarter freeze out.
“As it relates to our challenges in the quarter, we wanted to see stronger comps in Walmart U.S. and Sam’s Club, but both reported flat comp sales,” the company’s CEO stated. “Stronger sales in the U.S. businesses would’ve also helped our profit performance.”
Walmart also blamed “higher U.S. health care costs” for lowering its outlook for future growth.
Which figures …
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: We want the economy to grow. Hell, we need the economy to grow (advertising pays the bills, yo). And we don’t care who gets the political credit for economic growth.
But if anyone thinks the federal government’s crony capitalist monetary policy, excessive taxation and regulation, out-of-control bureaucratic growth and ongoing incentivization of dependency is going to do the trick … they are sorely mistaken.
146 comments
All the Walmart haters have to do is support the abolition of welfare and they’ll kill Walmart in one fell swoop.
What a conundrum from them eh? Hate corporations, but fuck, they pay taxes, what’s a commie to do?
All the Walmart haters have to do is support the abolition of welfare and they’ll kill Walmart in one fell swoop.
Walmart would probably raise wages only slightly, and at the end of the day it’d be a net loss for their employees.
They’ve already shown they don’t give a shit about protests and they spend quite a bit of money and effort stamping out even whispers of unionization. I believe they even shut down a store once to keep the employees from organizing.
Can you really blame them – they have a model that is generally VERY successful.
Can you really blame them
Why yes, yes I can blame them.
There are a lot of ways to make big money by fucking over people, but most human beings cherish honest, hard work over exploitation and greed.
1) not a communist. In fact, I am a strong inclusive capitalist. Look it up.
2) it isn’t corporations people hate, but rather the behavior they display towards employees, customers, and society as a whole in the quest to increase profits.
3) most corporations pay little if any taxes compared to the tax load of the average person. Abuse of the tax code and hiding off-shore while claiming US company status is rampant.
Corporations are not complaining about not making a profit, but rather about how much of an INCREASE in profits they generate each year. Big difference between the two.
You know what all that told me? Nothing.
Henry Ford understood that if his employees made decent wages they would buy his cars.
Walmart knows if their employee wages are kept low enough the Feds will subsidize the employees wages with social programs.
Ain’t Capitalism sweet?
Walmart knows if their employee wages are kept low enough, they won’t be able to afford shopping anywhere else, either.
So let me get this straight, Wal-Mart exists to pay employees low wages so their employees can only shop at Wal-Mart thus guaranteeing corporate success…
Here’s a thought, if the wages and working conditions suck so bad go some where else to work.
Wal-Mart exists to pay employees low wages so their employees can only shop at Wal-Mart thus guaranteeing corporate success…
You’re reading too much into what I said. I simply stated that Walmart knows that their impoverished employees will have little recourse but to shop at their store because they likely don’t have the funds to shop elsewhere.
This doesn’t “guarantee corporate success” at all, but then again, I never said that it did.
Here’s a thought, if the wages and working conditions suck so bad go some where else to work.
Wow! That’s an option? Man, I never knew!
People who work at Walmart or other similar shit jobs for a living often don’t do so out of choice. When I worked at a grocery store as a high school kid I talked to several people who were in their thirties and forties who worked there full time. Most of them had second jobs. Some even had third ones. They all worked their asses off to make ends meet. For one reason or another it was the best situation they could find for themselves and moving up proved to be quite difficult for them given their circumstances. Some of them tried college and it didn’t work out for them. Some of them expressed interest in management and got the run around. Some of them tried going into something different at least, but it just didn’t pan out for them.
When you say “go some where else to work,” there’s two options, moving up and moving around. I’m pretty sure most everyone wants to move up, but obviously that isn’t an option for everyone. The other option is to move around, or find a job similar to what you have and hope that it isn’t as bad or worse. The problem is, when you work a shit tier job making shit tier wages, your job will always be shit and your pay will always be shit unless you move up.
I’m sure when “go some where else to work” means this place has better insurance, is less stressful, and gives more vacation time, but pays maybe a few thousand a year less, “moving around” sounds like it is a viable option. When it means trading one $9/hour job that works you to the bone and gives crap benefits for another $9/hour job that works you to the bone and gives crap benefits, it isn’t so much of a solution as it is a dismissal along the lines of “Oh well, sucks to be you.”
I find myself infinitely lucky that I am in the category where “moving around” would be a viable option. It is a result of effort, yes, but also of latent talents and abilities that I was able to use to move up. I see a lot of people, great people, who did not find that opportunity to move up despite being hard working individuals. They don’t deserve shit tier.
TL;DR: The kind of people who say “go somewhere else to work” are the kind of people who could actually have a good shot at finding something better by going elsewhere, yet don’t realize that isn’t a reality for everyone else.
I tagged you but was really replying to you and Sam…
Yes, I was hyperbolic and sarcastic but running down Wal-Mart for the “unfairness of it all” always bends my crank a little. There are some jobs that frankly are not worth all that much. Counter help at Mickey Dees frankly isn’t worth that much. Shelf stockers and cashiers at Wally World frankly aren’t worth that much – not the people, the actual job itself.
I stocked grocery store shelves at night for a while in high school, we got about a dollar more than minimum wage (back when the minimum was $2.65 (I made $3.50) I never expected to be able to do much more than pay for my car, put gas in it and take my girlfriend out with the money I made so I worked quickly and goofed off when I was done. That irked my coworkers who would plod through their shift so they could get some overtime to “finish the shelves out”. I made more than many of those plodders because I worked faster and was more reliable.
I don’t think a “minimum wage” should be a “living wage”. If we paid everyone a “living wage” no one could afford anything. a minimum wage should be a starting point – not the apogee of your work experience. Increase your skill set and move up or be happy you have a job.
Awesome response dude!
So lets say todays folks are 40 years behind you. That means to make the same thing you were making they would need to be making $18.40 per hour. Minimum wage is $7.25, So someone stocking shelves today for minimum wage is making 60% less than you did. Could you have put gas in your car and taken your girl out on 60% lesst? Could you even afford to drive to work for that?
My son seems to be doing it okay.
Well hopefully you will go home and regale your son with tales of how in your day kids were expected to work and were forced to get by on just over twice what he makes.
Normally I just tell him to get his car out of the middle of the driveway and stop bringing my car back on empty.
Wait, I thought he was keeping gas in his car and had enough left over to take his girl out.
His car, my car, there’s a difference. He’s doing very entry level IT stuff for $10 an hour.
Yea, I get it. A guy with computer skills doing IT work today is making 40% less money than an teenager stocking shelves in grocery store 40 years ago. Boy this trickle down stuff is sure working out for the average American.
No, just like I was, he’s making 25% more than minimum wage and able to meet his minimal needs.
That is wrong. The percentage over the minimum wage is irrelevant. The minimum wage has not kept up with inflation. Taking inflation into account, the minimum wage today is significantly lower than it was when you were a teenager. My analysis is correct. Taking inflation into account, your son is making 40% less then you were making stocking shelves as a teenager.
May be irrelevant in your math but it seems to work for him. I wouldn’t want to try to make it on $10 an hour but I’m not an entry level worker either.
No disrespect, but it is irrelevant in everyone’s MATH. It may be relevant to your personal opinion, but what does the minimum wage have to do with a comparison between what you were making and what your son is making on an inflation adjusted basis. Zero, zip, nothing.
The point is, the average guy is not keeping up. He is losing ground. That is why the middle class is dying. That is why the consumer is not buying. He can’t buy. He has no money. For your son to have the same spending money you had as a teenager he has to work almost twice the hours. That leaves no room for second jobs or to do anything but work, if you are trying to support yourself.
This is a product of trickle down economic policies and focusing on free trade instead of fair trade. We have outsourced too much. The cheap goods are not enough to offset the income losses.
“This is a product of trickle down economic policies and focusing on free trade instead of fair trade.”
Oh BS. The middle class is evaporating because government has been chasing out businesses(hence things like the Double Irish with a Dutch sandwich) via a stream of devastating policies that includes more regulation every year while also debasing the currency which is crushing to the middle & lower class.
Clearly the increasing sphere of influence and control by DC has hurt way more than it’s helped.
The protectionist policies you champion to try to make the US labor rate more competitive are laughable with respect to the history of financially isolated countries and the relative living standard of its citizens.
Ah the mythical regulations that cause people to make less money despite the fact that corporations and wealthy people are making more money than they have made in decades and paying less taxes than they have paid in decades. Strange how all these businesses are doing just fine, but their workers are making less money than they did 30 years ago. Isn’t it odd how the regulations only make things bad for employees. I wonder why no one can ever identify exactly which regulations we are talking about.
Sooner or later even the tea nuts will realize they are the tools, but it will probably be too late for the middle class in this country.
Oh yea Tom, “mythical regulations”, the companies just left because their costs were higher for labor, right? lol
It really bothers you that you can’t force the rich people to get milked for more taxes huh? Even having to compete in tax & business climates is just too much for those clamoring for more gov’t money.
Oh well, it is what it is, certainly all the money printing/currency debasement isn’t a reason the middle class/poor people standard of living is dropping too, right?
Still no identified regulations I see. Typical. Just take my word for it. That is usually the answer from the right. Lets just make something up. Taxes are at a 50 year low.
Not all regulations are bad, and the reason the right never wants to discuss what regulations they are talking about, is they know many people would not say they are crazy to eliminate those regulations. You know the regulations that give us clean air to breath and clean water to drink. Or the ones that say you can’t send in 10 year olds to clean toxic waste sites. Or those that say you cant sell dog meat and say it hamburger. But hey it is what it is.
Excuse me, many people would say you are crazy to eliminate those regulations.
“Still no identified regulations I see. Typical. Just take my word for it.”
Good thing it’s not hard work to be an idiot.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0MCZ3FJXJJs/UA7zeOEIanI/AAAAAAAAFl8/N6z1g6k5XS0/s1600/number-pages-regulations-added-to-federal-register-each-year-1936-2012-projected.png
Notice the graph is every year….your comment is like asking someone to recite an encylopedia to prove they exist.
You’re truly an idiot.
I suggest a more positive spin. Tell him in your day store owners were forced to pay exorbitant prices for labor,but thanks to increases in productivity, outsourcing and big box stores like Walmart, he can do the same amount of work as you for half the price.
I talked to a kid at Food Lion the other day – he’s making about $14 to stock shelves.
Dead on. Not everyone was born with a silver spoon in their ass like the Colonel…..
Let me tell you something, The Colonel is a hard working dude…I’ve seen him post on his multiple streams of income.
Keep telling yourself you’ll never be rich because your “honest”, it’s the perfect loser attitude that Liberals use to justify why they aren’t rich.
It’s never, “I don’ have the skills” or “I don’t work that hard”, instead of being honest with themselves they find some crony capitalist to point fingers towards and say “see those evil fucks” and then try to point all successful people the same.
*point=paint
I must have lost that silver spoon I was born with somewhere along the way.
Just… go somewwhere else? THAT is your great solution? Years ago, Siemens came to columbia. They were planning to hire electricians and hvac at about $18 an hour. Average wages were around $9.50 an hour at the time. They got strongarmed by the Chamber of Commerce to reduce the offered wagesso as not to cost other businesses in the area employees. If it had been employees bargaining collectively for higher wages, I’m sure that you would be up in arms about how evil it is.
Wal-Mart exists to pay employees low wages so their employees can only shop at Wal-Mart thus guaranteeing corporate success…
The business equivalent of perpetual motion.
The GT equivalent of years of yoga and rib surgery enabling him to suck his own…
uh…nevermind.
Yet another awesome statement!
What would happen if Wal-Mart suddenly decided to shutter all of their stores and lay-off their workers? You would have thousands and thousands of unemployed people who would have a hard time finding a job anywhere else.
If you want to force companies to all pay “decent wages,” then two things are going to happen. First, there will be less jobs available, as many companies will either go out of business or lay off workers. Second, the price of goods will increase, meaning those “decent wages” will have less purchasing power.
“What would happen if Wal-Mart suddenly decided to shutter all of their stores and lay-off their workers? ”
It would be a great day in the USA. Maybe all of the local start-ups and small Mom & Pops that they put out of business would return.
lol… Awesome reply.
“But what would we do without the big box stores? All hail our corporate masters!”
Big box stores make it so you can buy things cheaper. To me, that’s progress — getting more items to more people at lower costs.
“Big box stores make it so you can buy things cheaper. To me, that’s progress — getting more items to more people at lower costs.”
Shipping all of our jobs overseas to third world countries where labor is cheap and children work in deplorable conditions allows for things to be “cheaper” . . .and that is progress?
I guess I measure progress in different terms than how cheap I can buy something . . .
So you are definitely not a Republican, then?
Guess you missed the news that a number of the jobs that were sent to China have been coming back to the USA. Don’t feel bad many people missed it, you see the MSM is trying to prop up you Democrats and Liberals so they suppress those kinds of things. Look around you’ll find it, if you want to (but of course you don’t).
” . . . .you see the MSM is trying to prop up you Democrats and Liberals . . .”
I did not miss anything. I guess I ought to be watching Fox News huh?
No, reading is better. Look for it and you will find it, but then, you don’t want to find it, it would make you have to analyze your suppositions.
Where the hell do you think most of the stuff in your mom and pop store came from? That argument has never held water.
Oh – so if someone is growing produce locally and selling it locally then it came from overseas?? You’re full of shit – oozing from every pore.
Was the computer you are using to type these comments “grown locally”?
Shhh, there you go with the facts again, you’re messing up his harangue.
“Shhh, there you go with the facts again, you’re messing up his harangue.”
LOL What facts? And speaking of harangues take a look at the posts on this thread. Here is the definition of harangue – lecture (someone) at length in an aggressive and critical manner – describes you perfectly. Describes you perfectly – harangue away my dear! LOL
Pot, meet kettle…
My students come back on Monday, I’m just having fun right now.
” Was the computer you are using to type these comments “grown locally”?”
It was not purchased at Wal-Mart or Best Buy – it was purchased from a person who is my neighbor and a tech guy – he also came and installed it. Shop at Wal-Mart – if you live your life by finding the cheapest price for everything that is fine – for me there is more to life than the cheapest price.
I bought my desk top at Wally World and installed it myself, downloaded all the software I needed as 50% of the store price. The computer is simply a relatively unimportant tool. I don’t use it for CAD and am not a gamer so cheap (best price available) applies there. Internet speed is far more critical to me because I have a lot of BS to read and respond to every day before and after my 9-5. For that reason, I have the best internet service my wife’s home office can afford.
…there is more to life than the cheapest price.
Damn straight.
Cold beer and “tig ol’ bitties”.
Or tig ol’bitties…
He’s just on the service end of the thing. It still came from China (or wherever they make those parts now)
Anyone with the tech savvy can buy the parts and assemble it, doesn’t make it local or American.
Good for you if you have the means to get someone else to do that kind of thing for you. Most have to resort to the wally worlds.
Bless your heart, if we’re talking produce you’re still wrong. Who do you know that grows bananas or oranges locally? Peaches are really the only fruit that SC has the market cornered on.
I tend to buy locally or grow my own tomatoes, squash and cukes. we pick apples every fall in Spartanburg county and I shop at the farmers market when we need bulk.
The rest of my comestibles come from the grocery store just like yours does. I won’t pay Whole Foods prices just because it says “grown organically”.
Who do you know that grows bananas or oranges locally?
Give it time Col.
Global Warming FTW!!!
Local, sustainable produce, Beetchez!
And you’ll be able to catch fresh seafood of the docks in Columbia….
Then by all means don’t buy a computer, don’t buy a TV, don’t buy cotton clothing, and don’t buy whatever else is manufactured in whole or in part overseas.
You do know it isn’t Wal-Mart putting anyone out of business, it’s you and me. If we used to shop at mom & pop but now shop at Wal-Mart we are the guilty ones.
” If we used to shop at mom & pop . . .”
Whoa now – speak for yourself – I am not in that “we” as I do not shop at Wal-Mart.
And that’s how you can tell when someone acknowledges they have lost an argument, they take a comment that was obviously meant as a general inference and turn it around and make it a personal statement that they then attack (because they know the general inference is correct). Thank you for the compliment, better luck next time.
Target then?
Guilty of stretching a dollar and being fiscally conservative…commies hate that. It’s why Keynes helped to destroy savers/savings.
But Walmart buys all its stuff from the commies.
Yep, we are living at the expense of citizens of centrally planned economies. No question…but they don’t have the standard of living generally speaking that we do, do they?
Well they don’t, but our standard of living has been declining since the 1980s, so I guess there standard of living will be as good as ours at some point soon.
excuse me “their” standard of living.
Possibly, but let me suggest that the increase in our own central planning(and disconnection from the gold standard) seems to by an inverse correlation with our standard of living(generally speaking).
Back in the early ’90s Wal*Mart was running the “Bringing It Home To The USA!” campaign and their store managers were expected to drive ‘Murrican cars.
Then came the Smiley Face “Watch for Falling Prices [cuz everything is made in China]” campaign.
I always hated shopping at mom&pops. Overpriced to the point of gouging, if they didn’t know you they’d jack up the price, items not available. They’d always carry FOP, I wanted Dapper Dan, take 2 weeks to get it, a geographical oddity, two weeks from everywhere. I’m a goddamned Dapper Dan man.
I WILL NOT set foot in a Wal mart or Sams!
Good, that’ll be one less car in the parking lot next “Black Friday”.
Good for you, that’s your principle and you stand by it. My problem is with people that want the government to hammer a business or business sector because they want things done their magical way instead of letting market forces rule. Market forces represent the populace at large and while they don’t work as fast as people want they do work more effectively.
Yea, going back to the days where people paid more for average stuff would be great. It’d create more jobs, right? lol
Mom and Pops closed down because they are a dying breed, and simply cannot compete with companies that can move high volume at lower costs. I don’t know about you, but I would much rather pay $1 for something at a Wal-Mart than $1.50 for the same thing at a “Mom & Pop.”
And not every community hates your local Wal-Mart. My inlaws live in a small town in NC, and for years they had to buy groceries at a little “Mom & Pop” that gouged them on prices because they knew they were the only shop in town. A Wal-Mart moved in, and the residents are generally happy they are no longer forced to pay the ridiculous prices at the local store. I realize this is just an anecdote, but I doubt this story is isolated.
” I don’t know about you, but I would much rather pay $1 for something at a Wal-Mart than $1.50 for the same thing at a “Mom & Pop.” ”
It is about community – it is about buying local and buying fresh and supporting your own community. I just choose to live my life in a different way – that’s all.
You’re nuts, it’s about where you can get the best deal. Always has been, always will be.
Sam Walton started out with one store – his focus on having what customers wanted at a good price soon turned that one store into the Ben Franklin chain. In 1962 he opened his first Wal-Mart and the rest is history but the reason for the success is the same – having what the customer wants and a good price.
I have a place at the beach that requires frequent repairs. there is a small mom and pop hardware store on the Island and a Lowes about 5 miles off the island. I shop the mom and pop about 60% of the time because the has stuff I need at a good price. The other 40% I head to Lowes because the have the stuff I need – the mom and pop can’t afford to carry lumber because of the rapidly varying market prices, Lowes can because they buy for 1,700 store and can leverage a better price. It’s always been about where you can get the best deal at the retail or wholesale level.
“You’re nuts, it’s about where you can get the best deal. Always has been, always will be. ”
Please! You’re one to call anyone nuts. If cheap means that much to you then buy cheap – there are other factors that motivate me and are meaningful to me.
I’m really not surprised that cheap means so much to you.
He didn’t say “cheap”, you said it. He said “best deal”, which means different things to different people as value is subjective.(Menger, then Mises)
Some people will pay more for higher quality and still think they got the best deal, some pay less for lower, and feel the same.
It’s not just him wanting to buy cheap, as you noted there are so many people with that philosophy that the mom & pops are getting scarcer and scarcer. It would seem your philosophy is a severe minority in the local economy.
Cheap doesn’t mean doodlely to me unless I’m buying plastic table clothes.
I can buy the same Rapala lures at Wally World that I can buy at Barons for about fifty cents less.
I can get the exact same tire at Wally World that I get at Spring Valley Tire for about $10 a tire less.
Milk’s cheaper at Wally World than Food Lion (my only choices at the beach – here my wife uses her “price snooper ESP” to find the best deals, the only “mom and pop grocery stores” left are IGAs and the nearest one is 10 miles)
My wrenches are Kobalt or Craftsman – neither are the cheapest until you consider the cost of a broken wrench or a rounded off bolt.
My hand tools are Veritas, Kline, Vaughn and the best I can buy, cheap doesn’t figure into it.
You know, that 50 cents you save by shopping at Wal-Mart could be spent on buying something you otherwise wouldn’t be able to buy. Maybe it adds up to where you can afford to have Jimmy cut your grass, or you can afford to hire a caterer for a party, etc. Because of your savings at Wal-Mart, there are *other* opportunities to spend your money, and other opportunities for other businesses.
Also, I love how people say “Mom & Pop” and assume that they are run by benevolent people who are just looking out for their community. Sure, there are pleny of “good” Mom & Pops, but there are also pleny of them run by greedy assholes. In the example I gave you above, where the local store was gouging customers due to lack of competition, would you still shop with them if a cheaper alternative were available?
“Opportunity Costs” FTW!
I wonder what you are really paying in taxes to support that $1 purchase, especially when you consider that it is reported that over 60% of walmart full time employees receive some sort of welfare in the form of food stamps, rent assistance, free school lunches, etc. 60 cents of money spent in locally owned businesses stays in the community.
60 cents of money spent in locally owned businesses stays in the community.
Sure….
Because locally owned businesses pay here “help” soooo much better, right.
RIGHT?
my employees EARN 5 to 11 dollars more per hour than their chain employee counterparts. They are part of the business, and are rewarded with bonuses if our company does well. So yes, my local business does pay its help SOOOO much better.
Your employees sell vacuums, don’t they?
EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ignorant. You DO understand these businesses are not worried about LOSING money, but rather not INCREASING the profit margin they are already making! Why is it only management is getting bonuses and better benefits when profits increase? Why aren’t all employees who contributed to the success of the business receiving some benefit? Can Wal-Mart pay COLAs and still turn a (substantial) profit? Yes. Will they? Why should they when management can add it to THEIR bonuses?
FYI, store managers make bonuses by reducing cost. Ever wonder why you have 4 cashiers with 10-12 people at each one? Because the manager is saving money and increasing his own bonus. The cashiers get the same pay regardless of how much work is dumped on them… no bonuses for extra effort.
I think every business (whether it’s Wal-Mart or Mom&Pop Video Rentals) is concerned about their bottom line. If Wal-Mart is overpaying their managers, that’s an issue for their stock holders to consider.
not only that…everyone thought that Circuit City would last forever, then Best Buy, etc.
You continuously compete or go out of business eventually no matter how big you are…unless government assisted.
The cashiers get the same pay regardless of how much work is dumped on them…
They are getting paid to work…not to stand around. The hardest part of a cashier’s job is standing at the register for long periods of time…not the actual scanning of products, collecting payment, making change, and thanking TBG for shopping at Wal*Mart. A steady stream of customers makes the day go by much faster.
Yeah, they’d have to either lay Jill or Jack off.
So, I like wally world most times. No one is required to work for them. If I take a job with them, I agree with the pay.
Same goes for Amazon. I hear it’s brutal to work for them, but people do it.
I’m willing to take that risk. I just want minimum wage on an inflation adjusted bases to be where it was 40 years ago.
“I’m willing to take that risk.”
Good ole Tom, willing to force things on people experimentally based on some pathological form of altruism…even worse…if it’s a mistake…”oops! Sorry my mistake screwed everyone else!”
What would happen if Wal-Mart suddenly decided to shutter all of their stores and lay-off their workers? You would have thousands and thousands of unemployed people who would have a hard time finding a job anywhere else.
If you want to force companies to all pay “decent wages,” then two things are going to happen. First, there will be less jobs available, as many companies will either go out of business or lay off workers. Second, the price of goods will increase, meaning those “decent wages” will have less purchasing power.
“Walmart knows if their employee wages are kept low enough the Feds will subsidize the employees wages with social programs.
Ain’t Capitalism sweet?”
It may be the modern notion of what “capitalism” is, but it certainly doesn’t represent a free market.
I think people are just getting wise to how Walmart is a leech on our economy and society. Haven’t shopped at Walmart for years. Noticing more and more people are coming to similar conclusions.
Gov. Haley just released a blurb on her Official Personal Campaign Facebook Page that the state would be “partnering” with Walmart on new healthcare solutions in Florence and Sumter. Since I’m blocked from posting comments, can someone ask her what the taxpayer role in that “partnership” is? She neglected to say, but maybe the advertisement was enough.
And, what happened to all those Walmart jobs Haley promised that were going to happen if we just killed Amazon’s thousands of real jobs in Lexington County??? Zero, just exactly what Haley is: a compete Zero.
>Walmart
>healthcare solutions
God help us all.
Just remember champ, no one would force anyone to buy a Walmart healthcare plan.
wonder how many dollars are on Nikki’s walmart “gift” card?
Can’t imagine why she blocked you, Trevor.
Hey, I TRIED to get her to block me a while back, and she (or her staff) wouldn’t. Must have intentionally not done that just to spite me, is all I can figure.
“Can’t imagine why she blocked you, Trevor.”
She’s a women of extremes, either she blocks the cock or takes it all, nothing in between.
I saw a story this week. Wally World is opening clinics with physician assistants to serve the people.
Yeah, makes my heart just go flutter.
Wonder if any of the wally workers have health coverage for this clinic, or is the taxpayer picking up the tab?
Since I’m blocked from posting comments,…
*Joe Wilson Voice*
YOU LIE!
: )
Take the points of your last paragraph, the economy will turn when we change the mindset in Washington.
Wally World is finally getting what it deserves. As Costco goes up Wally World goes down. Wally World run by crooks, with Sams Clubs that rip off customers, and no respect for the customer at all. I can’t wait to see all of the Wally World’s gone for good.
Soon, the King, Wally World is dead, long live the new King: Costco.
Rah Rah for semi-free markets huh?
You mean the COSTCO that supports Obama to the point of pulling a best seller off their shelves because it was critical of the administration?
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/search.php?cid=ALL&name=&employ=CostCo&state=(all)&zip=(any+zip)&submit=OK&amt=a
YUK!
Yea, that Costco. That is a least until ObamaCo can open a government run store for that idiot to use his EBT at.
“You mean the COSTCO that supports Obama to the point of pulling a best seller off their shelves because it was critical of the administration?”
Well good for them! For the record, the decision was reversed – and if you think that Costco is the only corporation that makes decisions based on politics then you are crazier than already believe you to be.
They pulled D’Souza’s book off the shelves because it wasn’t selling. After the felonious adulterer whined about it, his right wing buddies made a huge stink about it and people bought the book in droves for it, so really, he should be thanking them.
You mean this D’Souza book, America, that tops the New York Times Best Seller’s list today?
http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2014-08-10/hardcover-nonfiction/list.html
Costco was selling 10,000 copies a week BEFORE the controversy started.
” . . . Fat Ass Michael “the millionaire” Moore’s . . . .”
Ah – there we go – it is okay for the conservative Walton Family to be Multi-Billionaires but if the liberal Michal Moore makes a few millions then he is a “Fat Ass” – keep posting THE Colonel – very enlightening . . .
Well, not withstanding his wealth he is fat as fuck.
Michael Moore is a target simply based on his hypocrisy aside from the fact he over eats.
The Waltons have never pretended to be anything that they’re not. Sam Walton was an Eagle Scout, an Army officer and a hell of a entrepreneur/salesman/manager The Walton family is proud to be successful.
Moore on the other hand attempted to have us believe that he was “one of us”, a common man. Only when his wife finally grew tired of his BS did we find out that Michael “the common man” Moore was not only obese but grotesquely rich (to use a liberal description of wealth). I don’t begrudge him the money, he earned it by deceiving folks like you. Sam’s kids have never pooled to wool over my eyes.
” Sam’s kids have never pooled to wool over my eyes.”
Somebody certainly has! LOL Am I supposed to lap up your little Walton Family and Michael Moore stories?? Oooh – Michael Moore the common man! LOL And what do the members of the Walton Family weigh? And who gives a fuck? LOL
SCB,
Regardless of his…or your… political leanings Michael Moore is a “Fat Ass”.
I get your point, hopefully you’re not not missing. Free markets are a good thing.
*not missing mine.
Costco, the company that the average wage in the south is $46k a year for entry level.
Costco , the company that provides health care at NO COST to the employee.
Yeah ,that Costco, I drive by two Wally Worlds in North Augusta to get the Costco in Augusta.
My new brother in law runs a CostCo in Charlotte, makes a great salary, the whole store employs just over 100 people. The Wal-Mart on Two Notch has more than 400 employees.
Yeah, and how many of the Wal Mart employees are on “public assistance”?
No idea, don’t care. I have soldiers on “public assistance”.
If Costco represents Obama and Wal-Mart represents the other side, then I guess I love me some Obama! Costco is so much better than Wal-Mart it isn’t funny. Heck, even the $1.50 hot dog combo at Costco is a winner. So thank you Costco/Obama! Please bring us more of the same. Oh, and Costco actually pays its workers a living wage and the shareholders still make a profit? Wow! Maybe that’s what Obama wants for America. I’m game. A decent hot dog combo for the working man and decent wages for the worker. That’s better than a chicken in every pot.
It’s really quite simple: the gains in the economy so far have gone to the one percent, and the one percent don’t shop at Wal*Mart.
The one percent own Wal*Mart.
To the people that hate Wal-Mart
If you don’t like Wal-Mart stay away. If you already do stay away good for you, following your principles. If they really are all that bad others will join you and they will have to change or go under. I don’t think they are bad, I think they are good. Wal-Mart doesn’t owe workers a wage that someone in an ivory tower thinks is a “living wage” they owe them what they promise them and that will likely be based on that worker’s value to the company. Why do you want to use the government as your henchmen to force companies to do your social engineering. All this government interference distorts the markets/economy. We don’t have a free market system as much as we have an evolving fascist system with the government intimidating and coercing businesses into doing it’s bidding. The one and only purpose of a business is to generate profits for it’s owner. No profits, no business. Some businesses close because there is insufficient profits, why keep money tied up somewhere earning 2% or 3% when you can shut that business down and invest in another business and get 10% or 20%.
If they really are all that bad others will join you and they will have to change or go under.
Ah yes, the Invisible Hand reaches for its magical Free Market Pixie Dust.
Why do you want to use the government as your henchmen to force companies to do your social engineering.
Because government interference often produces actual results, especially in areas where the free market has unquestionably failed to address societal problems?
You guys talk as if America is the only country that has considered using government as a tool to solve problems.
The one and only purpose of a business is to generate profits for it’s owner.
And you’re expecting these entities, whose sole purpose of existence is to turn a profit, will solve all of societies’ problems?
To put all of this bluntly, I could post a bunch of instances where government has done great things, you could post a bunch of instances where government mucked things up, we could go back and forth and never really manage to change each other’s minds. I’m not going to bother with all of that.
What I will say is that if there is no profit in it, there will be no business to address it. At best, the only thing you are going to have that can address it is charity, and there are millions of charities for millions of causes and each has a varying degree of how reputable it is. There is no way in this world that charitable giving is going to come close to patching the holes in society with free market alone.
It’s like you guys are Jehovah’s witnesses, except that it’s probably more accurate to call you Rothbard’s witnesses, going door to door asking people if they’ve heard the “good news” about the free market. I’m inclined to respond in the same way, by shutting the door and going back to watching TV.
“Because government interference often produces actual results, especially in areas where the free market has unquestionably failed to address societal problems?”
I like your honesty. Seriously, it’s easier to debate when people aren’t afraid to champion their true beliefs. So it’s all about the control for you and you are unashamed, I can appreciate that.
“It’s like you guys are Jehovah’s witnesses, except that it’s probably more accurate to call you Rothbard’s witnesses, going door to door asking people if they’ve heard the “good news” about the free market. I’m inclined to respond in the same way, by shutting the door and going back to watching TV.”
Well, it’s hard to have an open mind if you aren’t willing to listen to new ideas…so there’s that.
All that aside, a little attention to history show the success rate of socialist or command economies like fascism are aproximately 0%, so that could be compelling even if you think free markets are the equivalent of magic fair dust.
I should add, “LONG TERM success rate”. My bad.
Btw, LOVE the Rothbard mention!
Name me another company that upon hiring you, has the HR hook you up with all the “freebies’.
Name me another company that has been caught hiring 70 plus years olds, putting them on the loading dock.
Then buying short term term life insurance on said employee without their knowledge, and naming WALMART as the beneficiary?
Real nice role model for ETHICS, ain’t it?
I’d like to read about the insurance scheme, got a link?
Nope. Was a segment on Sixty Minutes a few years back. One of the northern states, Wisconsin, Minnesota, etc.
Which ever state it was later passed a law outlawing the practice.
Seems as if a few of the widows questioned why Wal Mart was so insistant on obtaining a death certificate. That raised eyebrows and then the cat was out of the bag.
Fascinating, apparently this is quite common: http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/april_19.htm
Article was from 1992, I would like to see an updated article on this practice.
I just find it un-ethical to buy a life insurance policy on anyone without their knowledge.
Article was from 2002, this scheme has been going on for a long time and Wal-Mart didn’t invent it.
“We want the economy to grow.”
Fits
Why?That would interfere with your entire narrative.
“I sold my soul to the company store…”