Clinton Quiet About Wal-Mart Ties

[GregD]

Grrrr....


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060310/ap_on_el_se/hillary...

NEW YORK - With retail giant Wal-Mart under fire to improve its labor and health care policies, one Democrat with deep ties to the company — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton — has started feeling her share of the political heat.

Clinton served on Wal-Mart's board of directors for six years when her husband was governor of Arkansas. And the Rose Law Firm, where she was a partner, handled many of the Arkansas-based company's legal affairs.

[Caoimhe]

1. You mean back when their slogan was "Made in the USA"?

I didn't have a problem with Walmart then. After the head honcho died, the rest of the family got greedy and started the "Always the low price no matter if we have to get children in China to do it"

sigh

[flamin lib]

5. You beat me to it Caoimhe, I was going to say the same thing.

My wife worked on an anti competition law suit for the company back in the "good ole days". She had to buy a stapler off the store sales floor because Sam Walton didn't believe in staples--can't be re-used like paper clips.

Has nothing to do with anything, just thought it was an interesting anecdote.

[leveymg]

13. You know, if they went back to "Made in the USA", I MIGHT shop there.

That's a concept -- a MADE IN THE USA big-box store. Even if the price tag was a third or a half more, I'd be glad to pay it. Particularly, if they paid a living wage and benes to their workers.

Anyone out there got $10 million in seed money?

[LostinVA]

23. Remember: most of it wasn't made in the USA then -- they were sued

and had to stop claiming that.

My Dad's in textiles -- I heard about the evils of WM way before most people.

on edit: however, people figured they were telling the truth... truth in advertising and all that...

[WhiteTara]

24. I was a manufacturer during the "good ole days"

of Made in America. They bought the first order American and then if it was a hit, they took it to their factories in China. They've always been slime of the worst sort, IMHO

[mom cat]

25. If it just didn't buy from sweatshops, I might buy there. It is the

return of slavery and it is so wrong.

[shadowknows69]

35. I have $10

can I buy stock? I think it would be a great idea. even if prices were outrageous.

[onehandle]

14. Yep. It was a different time. nt

[Norquist Nemesis]

2. What is this obsession with the Clintons?

What is it about the Clintons that brings the lowest scum of the earth to constantly dig, dig, dig, conspire, slime, spew, and rage???? And yet, they can be so blind when it comes to Bush!!! What the fuck is it?

[GregD]

8. I'll admit I am obsessed with her NOT being the Pres. candidate

As far as I'm concerned, this is all the reason I need for such opposition: her stance on e-voting and how to solve it...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[onehandle]

17. Some liberals love to lose.

If a politician does not meet their standards, they are thrown out with the bath water.

Nader: "Bush and Gore are exactly the Same".

[Mechatanketra]

39. No, some people wish they had an OPTION to ever win.

To use the most gaping example: If you live in Ohio, you may be presented with Mr. Merrill Keiser Jr. (a self-described "Biblicist" who favors the death penalty for homosexuals, mandatory prayer in schools, treating global warming and evolution as mythical, and of course, lowering taxes) as a potential candidate for Senator. Hey: he's a Democrat, right? Can't be too picky. Got to back our horse in the race.

Bullhockey.

To be blunt, this isn't f***ing football, and I'm not obligated to root for Democrats out of team spirit. You can see, I'd hope, that if Merrill Keiser somehow won the primary, a lot of people (non-Christians, environmentalists, homosexuals, civil rights advocates) would have to feel they've already lost regardless of the results of the later election.

Now most candidates aren't as openly useless as Keiser, but the fact is, a huge chunk of the professional Democratic party might as well be Republicans, because they don't actually try to fix the problems Republicans create, or stop them from creating new ones. We live in a nation where it's a matter of public record that the political party in power is, essentially, a mob organization engaged in ongoing crimes — but many officed Democrats insist on treating them as if they were sincere and judicious statesmen they just happen to share methodological disagreements with. America has been and continues to be poisoned by conservative policies ... and instead of offering real cures, we're offered hospice care.

For whatever it's worth, this is my "litmus test" right now:
1) recognizing that the modern Republican Party is not acting (and does not intend to act) in the best interests of American citizens;
2) recognizing that the modern Republican Party has been systematically engaging in criminal activities (and acting consistently and persistently to oppose those actions instead of asking for a cut);
3) recognizing that the modern Republican Party isn't interested in a two-party system, doesn't believe a 'loyal opposition' can exist, and cannot be bargained with squarely.

I don't believe these are particularly radical or even inherently 'leftist' sentiments (except to the degree with which "left" or "liberal" has been redefined to mean "opposing Republicans in any way or degree"). Hence, I don't believe these can be considered unfair standards to apply to politicians. And yet, they don't seem to be standards politicians and their loyal supporters particulary want applied to them.

[madmom]

3. youthful indiscretion?

[BootinUp]

4. Ouch!

Someone is playin a wittle wough with Hillary.

[gratuitous]

6. Holy smokes! A high-powered Arkansas lawyer with "ties" to Wal Mart!

Stop the presses. This is as mind-boggling as a high-powered New York attorney with ties to the mob!

Hillary hasn't been on Wal-Mart's board for a decade and a half, and her law firm, one of the biggest and most well-connected in Arkansas had to do some business with Wal-Mart; it's inevitable.

While Yahoo's newshounds can ferret out these years-old "ties" without any concomitant allegation that anything improper happened at the time or since, they can't quite seem to connect two dots between say, Enron and George W. Bush or Jack Abramoff and half the Republicans in Congress. Asswipes.

[Doctor_J]

9. I am sure she & Big Dog

are neck deep in it with that other AR Repub, Tyson Chicken, too. WJC was Governor there for years. of course they were tight with the state's heavy hitters.

[stepnw1f]

7. lol... oh so now the media sees Walmart as a Bad Thing

Funny how they Flip Flop whenevr it's a Dem. And how they mislead people with half-truths. You think they scrutinized Bush's actions leading up to the Pre-emptive strike on Iraq. Or how about Bush's inactions before and during 9-11? These fascists make me sick.

[pitohui]

10. yes the clintons did a great deal to promote business in arkansas

would you have preferred the state poor and the people w/out jobs forever?

i hear the same shit abt bill's encouraging the poultry industry, well, guess what, i don't happen to think it's all that horrible to want to bring an industry to your state and the jobs that come with

it seems you can't win, do something to help the unskilled worker who needs a job, like bring in some new jobs and you're still shit on, if not shit on even more

i'd keep quiet too sometimes it's a case of "no good deed goes unpnished"

[noonwitch]

11. I shop at Target and Meijer, because I can afford to

This is what my sister says about Walmart, and most of my poorest clients agree:

"Some people would never have any new clothes if it wasn't for Walmart".

She has a point-Walmart's stuff is slightly better quality than Family Dollar, and far more fashionable (especially when it comes to kids clothes).

I wish Walmart hadn't stopped their "Made In America" program.

[sinkingfeeling]

12. Yes, let's dig up stuff that's decades old and ignore the current

situation.

"And late last year, Clinton's re-election campaign returned a $5,000 contribution from Wal-Mart, citing "serious differences with current company practices."

"Bob Ortega, author of "In Sam We Trust," a history of Wal-Mart, said Clinton used her position to urge the company to improve its gender and racial diversity. Because of Clinton's prodding, Walton agreed to hire an outside firm to track the company's progress in hiring women and minorities, Ortega said."

Sam Walton died and Wal-Mart's entire 'culture' changed into the 'empire' building corporation it now is.

[Inland]

16. There you go. nt

[timbnyc44]

27. This is current...

...because she continues to advocate for positions that are not typically Democratic positions but Republican - like supporting the war and threatening Iran with military action. It's all cut from the same cloth - someone, allegedly liberal, who acts like a ib-business Repub.

[obnoxiousdrunk]

32. Hi tim Welcome to DU...

How is the upcoming war on Easter going ?

[Evergreen Emerald]

40. hahahaha

That was funny!

[Bridget Burke]

34. Yup, another of them "Liberal Hypocrites"

We've heard it all before...

[sinkingfeeling]

37. Neither Clinton has ever claimed to be liberal. Bill ran as a moderate.

[Inland]

15. What, Whitewater and Futures Trading too boring now?

Any other "news" from Arkansas?

[oasis]

22. First lady of Arkansas on the board of Arkansas based Walmart. Hmmmm

[Connie_Corleone]

18. Wal-Mart was different back then.

What's the big friggin' deal??

[KansDem]

19. What happened to *these* headlines?

"Bush Quiet on National Guard Service"

"Bush Quiet on Downing Street Minutes"

"Bush Quiet on August 6th PDB"

"Bush Quiet on Plame Outing"

"Bush Quiet on Illegal NSA Spying"

"Bush Quiet on Abu Ghraib Torture"

"Bush Quiet on Katrina Mistakes"

and on and on...

Was I asleep?

[RaRa]

29. "Was I asleep?" no, just the rest of the country n/t

[Rose Siding]

20. Mehlman's got the fax machines buzzing

Who's a good reporter? Who's a good reporter?

[fishwax]

21. She hasn't really been quiet about it

I remember about a month ago her speaking out about how the company and her had drifted far apart in the years since she was first lady of arkansas and Sam Walton was still alive, and last year (as the article mentions) she refused campaign contributions. The headline to the article is total BS.

[file83]

38. The headline is carefully worded to paint Hillary as being "devious"...

...what do they expect her to do, run around giving press conferences about every client she has ever represented!? This is ridiculous and an obvious smear campaign (read: headline).

[progressivebydesign]

26. So it begins! Total bullshit hack piece on Hillary!

This was back when Walmart was still owned by Sam Walton, when it was something you'd want in your neighborhood. The people that controlled the company after his death, turned it into an evil empire. How dare AP and their fucking lap dog writers try to insinuate that HIllary had some seedy past with Walmart.

ANd I decided today that probably half of the peole who bash Hillary regularly here on DU are actually republican infiltrators, little Morton Blackwells in training. Hi KARL!!!

[coalition_unwilling]

28. And then her husband pushed "Welfare Reform" which

forced many recipients of AFDC to work for Wal Mart. Yuck

[pinniped]

30. I guess Vince Foster will soon be coming back from the grave.

.

[bkcc]

31. Of course this is MUCH worse than ties to the Saudis.

... or the bin Ladens.
... or Halliburton.
... or the Christian Coalition.

*sigh*

[xultar]

33. Watch all the asshats flock to this thread and make hay out of cow shit.

[Miss Chybil]

36. Yeap let's start trashing Democrats now. We need an early start. nt

[leesa]

41. Oh. Gee. What a surprise. Legislation for sale$$$