Sen. Kerry responds to "Wal-Mart Front Group's Attacks"

[ProSense]

Sen. John Kerry and Congresswoman DeLaura Respond to Wal-Mart Front Group's Attacks Referring to Democrats as Hezbollah

31 minutes ago

To: National Desk

Contact: Chris Kofinis of WakeUpWalMart.com, 202-486-6422

ALBUQUERQUE, Aug. 23 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Last night, Working Families for Wal-Mart steering committee member, Herman Cain, wrote a column in which he said Democrats are like Hezbollah if they ask the largest employer in America, Wal-Mart, to be a responsible corporate citizen and pay a living wage and provide affordable health care to its employees.

In just a few short hours, Sen. John Kerry and Congresswoman Rosa DeLaura issued strong statements responding to these outrageous attacks.

Sen. Kerry said, "I won't stand for the 'Swiftboating' of working people and Democrats who ask tough questions of big corporations. Wal-Mart has a choice to make. Either denounce the unacceptable and offensive attacks made in their defense, or admit that they represent a proxy in Wal-Mart's lavish public relations war against its workers."

Sen. Kerry continued, "Make no mistake, those who push and prod Wal-Mart to be a decent corporate citizen are standing up for the American worker. Decent wages and affordable health care aren't too much to ask for from the largest employer in the United States. Fifty-four percent of Wal-Mart's employees are not covered under the company's health insurance plan and 46 percent of the children of Wal-Mart's employees are either uninsured or on taxpayer funded public assistance. That's over 700,000 Americans and their families who have been told by their employer they're on their own. Americans expect better than that from a company with $11 billion in profit and that's what this broad coalition is fighting for."

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro responded, "Comparing the acts of Members of Congress to those of a terrorist organization is simply out of bounds. Mr. Cain's comments not only belittle the international crisis taking place in the Middle East today - they also imply that raising questions about whether America's largest employer should show more of a commitment to rising wages and a growing middle class is somehow unpatriotic. I would hope people see these comments for what they are: overheated rhetoric by a pro-Wal-Mart public relations campaign."

These outrageous statements by a committee member of Working Families for Wal-Mart follow on the heels of last week's embarrassment which forced the resignation of Ambassador Andy Young, the former chair of Working Families for Wal-Mart for derogatory comments against Arab-Americans, Jewish Americans and Asian Americans.

"Once again, we call on Wal-Mart to immediately denounce these remarks made in its defense and apologize to the American people on behalf of this right-wing front group," said Paul Blank, campaign director for WakeUpWalMart.com. "If Wal-Mart refuses to respond, the American people will have no other choice but to conclude that Wal-Mart endorses launching vicious attacks against Democrats who are fighting to strengthen America's middle class," Blank continued.

In the last election cycle, Wal-Mart donated 79 percent of its political contributions to Republicans and has given, either through the company or the Walton family, millions of dollars to support right-wing causes. In addition, Wal-Mart has hired a team of right-wing operatives who have ties to Karl Rove, the New Hampshire phone jamming scandal, and the Swift Boat Veterans to run its public relations war room.

WakeUpWalMart.com, with over 256,000 Americans, is a national grassroots campaign to change Wal-Mart into a responsible, moral employer. In just 3 hours, more than 4,000 of their supporters signed their petition demanding Wal-Mart apologize on behalf of its front group and denounce Cain's remarks.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20060823/pl_usnw/sen__john_kerry_and_congresswoman_delaura_respond_to_wal_mart_front_group_s_attacks_referring_to_democrats_as_hezbollah305_xml

EDITORIAL

Democrats' Shameful Wal-Mart Demonization

Presidential hopefuls only hurt themselves when pandering to unions by bashing the country's largest employer.

August 23, 2006

WITH ONE EYE ON 2008 and one on their labor union base, Democratic luminaries are canvassing Iowa and other states this summer to campaign against the nation's incumbent … retailer. They obviously see Wal-Mart as this season's Enron, the one corporation that represents all that is wrong with America.

Too bad the party can't simply draft Costco or Target to run for president. Instead, Democratic presidential aspirants — including Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina and Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico — feel compelled to bash one company, the largest employer in the U.S., to score points with labor organizers. The candidates are so intent on gaining tactical advantage in the primary season that they risk alienating possible supporters in the general election.

Snip...

The gusto with which even moderate Democrats are bashing Wal-Mart is bound to backfire. Not only does it take the party back to the pre-Clinton era, when Democrats were perceived as reflexively anti-business, it manages to make Democrats seem like out-of-touch elitists to the millions of Americans who work and shop at Wal-Mart.

One reason the Democrats may have a tin ear on this subject is demographic. Certainly most of the party's urban liberal activists are far removed from the Wal-Mart phenomenon. The retailer has thrived mainly in small towns and exurbs, which is one reason a Zogby poll found that three-quarters of weekly Wal-Mart shoppers voted for President Bush in 2004, and why 8 out of 10 people who have never shopped at Wal-Mart voted for John Kerry. Denouncing the retailer may make sense if the goal is to woo primary activists, but it's a disastrous way to reach out to the general electorate. Or to govern, for that matter.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-walmart23aug23,0,2463162.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials

WTF is with the LA Times?

[ProSense]

1. There is also a

thread in GD-P:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2794671&mesg_id=2794671

[ProSense]

2. Well there you

effing have it:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2805864&mesg_id=2805864

But DeCamp conceded that, on his watch at the department, large numbers of temporary and immigrant workers were victimized by wage theft and other illegal practices -- in particular during the Gulf Coast cleanup after Hurricane Katrina.

"Why should we think you're going to do a better job as wage and hour administrator?" asked Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), waving reports documenting recent wage scandals.

DeCamp also drew criticism for having represented Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in a class-action lawsuit by 1.6 million low-wage female workers over alleged sex discrimination.

"Have you ever defended a worker in a lawsuit against an employer?" asked Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.).

"I have not," DeCamp replied.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/01/AR2006080101323.html

This is the only MSM article that comes up in a search for DeCamp. The media spent the entire month of August defending Wal-Mart. The disingenuous BS from the right is expected, the BS from the left is despicable. They would sell workers short with BS claims of diversity and the like.

Ezra Klein address part of the problem:

That's a serious concern, and it reaches into every corner of the economy. Take health care. Wal-Mart's paltry offerings -- far beneath what Costco or Target (we'll come back to them) have traditionally offered -- offer them a massive competitive advantage against the competition. So let's say you're a midsize retailer with national ambitions. You essentially can't offer a decent benefits package because Wal-Mart doesn't, and you can't allow their prices to remain substantially below yours (where they'll already rest thanks to Wal-Mart's economy of scale).

Target is a great example here: They used to offer terrific benefits, but have now resolved to move entirely to HSA's. They couldn't compete against Wal-Mart by offering comprehensive insurance, so they stopped. Or take the supermarket chains. A couple years back, Southern California saw a massive grocery strike, as the three major chains colluded to destroy benefits and lower wages in order to compete with Wal-Mart's low labor costs. The striker's lost, the supermarket's were too afraid of Wal-Mart's advantage to give in.

Again, this isn't about Wal-Mart. Rather, it's about every company that competes with them, and every producer who sells through them. In the first case, Wal-Mart is driving down worker salaries and benefits by so resolutely grinding their own associates into the dirt. So rather than watching the service economy mature into a middle class conveyor as the manufacturing industry did, it's moving in the opposite direction -- and given the decline of manufacturing and the softness of worker salaries, what choice have workers than to accept their lot? Something is better than nothing, but something remains inadequate.

In the producer's case, the prices Wal-Mart demands have forced them to not only cut labor costs, but have often forced them offshore. Used to be that producers could pay their workers decently and keep production domestic by passing higher costs down the line. Wal-Mart's size and market share keeps them from doing so, and it's thrown the whole relationship out of balance -- at least where the workers are concerned. So when I worry over Wal-Mart , I'm fretting over the shift to a low-wage, low-benefit service economy. Wal-Mart's size and power makes the two indistinguishable.

http://ezraklein.typepad.com/blog/2006/08/walmart_round_t.html

I had an interesting discussion about this issue last night! The discussion centered around the here-and-now aspect of jobs and a getting a weekly paycheck vs being unemployed. This is the aspect people focus on, even those pushing the diverse workforce claim. Wal-Mart is a friggin slavery operation by today's standards. Anyone who believe that Wal-Mart should be lauded because it employs minorities is selling workers short. Period!

Bush Makes Backdoor Appointment to Wage and Hour Office

[blm]

3. It needs a GD thread. The GD-P thread is old.

.

[ProSense]

4. I added it to the

existing thread!