Sirota takes on "Liberal" Matt Yglesias's OpEd piece posted over on Talking Points Memo...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/walmart-liberals-who_b_11549.htmlDavid Sirota
Wal-Mart & "Liberals" Who Spit Back Right-Wing PR
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Yglesias takes issue with a recent op-ed by the Progressive Legislative Action Network (PLAN), which points out the gross amounts of government subsidies that Wal-Mart receives. You may recall, Wal-Mart - like other ultrawealthy corporations - receives these taxpayer subsidies, despite government budget deficits, despite cuts to social programs, and despite the fact that the company is swimming in cash.
Yglesias first and foremost misses a huge chunk of the problem. He assumes that subsidies only means what Wal-Mart workers get from low-income programs (more on that in a second). But he's so embarrassingly uninformed it's actually a wonder he would type out an argument before doing basic research. The truth is, as well-documented in Robert Greenwald's movie and as referenced specifically in PLAN's op-ed, Wal-Mart receives millions of dollars of direct subsidies from state and local government. That is, they get huge checks from you, the taxpayer. These are the tax credits, the handouts for infrastructure construction for new Wal-Marts, and all the rest of the benefits euphemistically called "economic development" subsidies.
Next, Yglesias takes issues with those who criticize Wal-Mart for paying its workers so poorly they have to go on low-income programs like Medcaid and welfare. Now just look at how utterly out of touch with real world economic challenges this liberal pundit really is. It is, in a word, nauseating:
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Full Article with source links:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/walmart-liberals-who_b_11549.html