Obama vs. Wal-Mart: Someone's in over his head...

I am a shareholder of Wal Mart and very proud to be with a company like them. I have been a Democrat all my life but I think it is a disgrace what Obama and Edwards and several other Democratic Senators are doing against Wal Mart just because they want the Union votes. I will not vote for any of them. You would think they would have enough to do in Washington without running down Wal Mart. A lot of people are losing their respect for the Union because of the way they are treating Wal Mart.Wal Mart should not have to go Union unless other retailers do. They probably pay more than most others. A lot of low income people are now able to afford their medicine because of the $4.00 a month and also buy food. Keep up the good work Wal Mart!

Yes, these guys definately could have picked a better appearance to make than the Walmart we know today.

However, I find it very telling that we hear about this instead of the great things Obama is doing legislatively. Examples: Just this month Obama and REPUBLICAN senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma introduced a bill calling for an online database of federal spending records accessable to the general public; Another bill introduced by Obama that 'Requires the notification of state and local officials should hazardous chemicals be released into a community'; Just a week ago he introduced a bill aimed at improving the benefits of our brothers and sisters returning from service overseas. Specifically of interest, a provision that requires that reservists and guardsmen be eligible for the same benefits as active duty troops.

People should stop and look at the folks who are doing meaningful work for their constituents. If anyone cares to trot out their example of a congressperson who's doing better work right now in Capitol Hill I want to hear about it..trot em out and I'll cheer for them too. Democrat, Republican or Independant doesn't matter one little bit people. I mean really..we all have families, jobs, bills, etc and we all want the same thing..LIBERTY and JUSTICE for ALL.

Lets all try to look a little further than just the latest headlines or what party you marked on your voter registration card. Do some research and find out who is shaking the establishment up a little bit and support their good works.

Just for the record im an Independant living in Western Nebraska

These two jerks should jump back on their horses and
ride off into the sunset. I hate to think what this
country would come to if these two jerks would remain
in office.

The union invited Obama and Edwards to speak. How does that make them anti-union exactly? And, since when is liberal a bad word? It is THE word of the 20th century. I guess we should all just do what corporations ask us without question. Forget about voting rights for women, equal rights for minorities, and labor protection against children among countless other things that liberals evily forced upon our society.

Let's call Wal Mart what it is, lowering the standard of Americans while slowly allocating all of our money to Chinese slave drivers.

Just a thought about Osama Obama (Ted "Swimmers" Kennedy name for him). He has a book out that was on the shelves at Walmart. Went in Yesterday and was gone, pulled from the shelves. The question I have to as is the junior senator going to turn over the money he made from sales at walmart to a charity or is he going to pocket the cash?

Good to know the sort of hostile name-calling us Dems are dealing with.

This was my first visit to this blog -linked from smartmoney.com. "Two liberal socialist Democrats" doesn't strike me as a fair description of either senator. Rather, it exemplifies the bumper-sticker mentality that has become all too pervasive. The broader point --that politicians have no business supporting employees of one of America's largest employers-- also strikes me as disingenuous.

Everyone wants to get all off into Obama and Edwards, this is why REAL issues never get resolved. Deal with the FACTS. Wal-Mart does not pay enough for a family to live on. PERIOD. You take 7.25 an hour by 80 hours is 580.00 after you pay taxes and health insurance for your family you will probably have what 260.00 for two weeks pay for the month that is 520.00? What is that suppose to do for a family of 3? That doesn't even cover rent. Let alone food, clothes, transportation, utilites. Then you wonder why your taxes are going up to pay for social programs (food stamps, medical, WIC) because the companies like Wal-Mart and Target do not pay their employees enough to survive.

That income may suffice if you were a housewife and your husband was bringing home 40-50K a year, but if not you are what is considered to be the working poor. There is no way you can get ahead on that kind of money.
The issue is not Obama, Edward the issue is: Is 7.25 per hour enough money?

Well, this was interesting to read, as are most of Gary's posts.

First off, let me state that neither I nor any member of my family works for Wal Mart. We DO have the misfortune of living in Illinois at the moment, home to Senator Obama.

Yes, it is true that WM does employ more handicapped or disabled people than most companies. But, that doesn't mean they are fulfilling or even needed jobs. Are they creating jobs in their communities? Sometimes, but usually at the cost of others.

When we knew for sure we were moving back here (small community in IL), I was at least happy about the shopping experience. You see, I'd been here before, because it is where my husband's family lives. There were lots of little mom-n-pop shops with fun things in them, as well as unique clothing stores including some plus sized shops that helped to clothe this amply-physically-endowed community.

However, when we got here, much had changed. Why? There is a new super Wal Mart in town. Yes, the small Wal Mart had been there for a few years, but then they moved out farther, and build a gigantic behemoth superstore here, in Bodunk IL.

What has happened since then? I am sure the city drooled over some tax revenue at the time WM made the land purchases. However, most of the mom-n-pop shops I loved have closed their doors. A drive through the main street downtown shows aging buildings with empty stores available everywhere.

There is no doubt that WM is convenient. After all, it is the only thing open later than 9 pm around here, which is the fault of the local store owners. (Well, one grocery store is open a little later, but only for a couple hours.) Having moved here from Houston, a place where you can shop for almost anything until at least 10, and many place all night long, it was an adjustment. Personally, I like shopping at 1 in the morning at WM for my groceries and such, just to avoid the crowds.

BUT - I miss the other shops. The ones who knew you by name, carried unique items that no one else had, and could perhaps even give you a job.

Good luck getting a job in our community now. WM is the main employer. Now, this is a farming community, so I am sure that flavors the pot a little bit. But, as "newcomers" to the area, jobs are few and far between. You almost have to wait for someone to retire or die for a position to open up.

Illinois knows there are economic problems here. Senator Obama should perhaps spend some time making sure that legislation is more favorable to the small business guys!

We sell on eBay, which was my method of paying for our phone and online bills - I sure couldn't find a "regular" job here. I thought I would expand, and become a trading assistant. However - the state of Illinois has decided they don't get a big enough piece of the commerce pie (wow -that sounds familiar to me, after this year on eBay!). They made sure that no one daring to try to eek out a living in the rural areas tried to actually make some bling without them!

For a seller in Illinois to sell something for anyone else on an auction venue format (all sites, not just eBay), we would have to get an auctioneer's license from the state. Yep - like the guys you see banging the gavels and talking really fast. If I wanted to sell the neighbor's kids' toys on eBay for her, I need to attend auctioneer training ($$$), pass the license test, and pay the license fees ($$$) to the state of Illinois. It also needs to be renewed annually, of course.

It isn't worth it!

Illinois is also attempting to make people pay Illinois taxes on every item purchased online. As it stands now, as it does federally, you only pay your state tax if the seller has a home office/base in your state. (So, when we buy offline at Wal Mart dot com, we pay IL taxes - fair enough.) But, if I buy widgets from a home seller in Colorado, I don't expect to pay IL taxes on any part of that.

Oh yeah - did you want to buy a home in Illinois? Well, if you are not living in a metro area, or a farmer who is subsidized, good luck with that. The prices here are obscene, with housing for places with only one bathroom going well over $100K. The only people driving new cars are the farmers. I know that sounds like the opposite of what you would expect (well, it was for ME), but it is true. The regular working folks struggle to make ends meet.

The utility cap that has been on Illinois is going to be lifted in 2007, so we can expect some outrageous fee increases on our utilities.

Then, let's talk DSL services - where we live, there is only dialup. Why? Too many rules and regs. There are plenty of companies with the resources to offer it, but IL has them locked out. SWBT, now AT&T, Yahoo, even good ol' AOhelL offers DSL nationwide, but IL actively fights against other phone companies offering competitively priced services to the residents. (If you can't compete, then lock 'em out!) Even the choice of phone companies in IL and IA both are severely limited. There is no freedom of choice.

So, the senator has plenty of other fish to fry on behalf of the people of the state of Illinois, IF he would take a good look at Real Life outside of the metro areas.

Taking on WM must have been just for the free publicity.

< quote #28 > because the companies like Wal-Mart and Target do not pay their employees enough to survive. < /quote >

That is very true. However, what companies DO pay enough to survive? Most are completely out of touch with reality.

My husband went on a job interview 40 minutes from our community. They were very interested in his 20 yrs of experience in his field. He went on the job interview, which went well. They called him back to schedule a second interview with the next level of corporate management. Where's the catch line? Here:
the one calling said something to the effect of - "before we actually schedule the second interview, I guess we should discuss the salary of the position." Now, please note - they wanted his experience of 20 yrs in his field, including the supervisory experience, as well as a broad spectrum of trouble-shooting. The pay for the 40-minute one way commute to this job? $8.00 an hour. Yep - you read that right - EIGHT BUCKS. No benefits were included. Be still my heart.

He told them no, as well as expressing that he felt they had wasted his time and gas for the original interview by not disclosing salary ranges first. Heck, if I was that company, I'd be embarrassed to mention the salary too.

While I realize this is a nationwide problem, Illinois seems to really have problems with having only jobs with tiny paychecks associated with them. There is no value placed on skills or experience. My last job interview was for a position as an office assistant for a chiropractor. I'd answer phones, file and keep the billing records straight. Gee, I MIGHT be able to handle that - my last position was as a billing analyst for $17.50/hr. Here, for the other position (which I was not even offered, by the way - they hired a relative - another common occurence after the ruse of posting a job opening to comply with state regulations), the pay was $7.25/hr.

Yes, I take into account regional differences. However, the cost of living is more here than in Houston. First off, there is state tax here. Why? Not sure - despite being below the poverty level here, we don't qualify for medical assistance. Why? We have no children under the age of 17. We HAD medical help, which we paid a co-pay to the dr and for medicines, through the state. It helped a lot. We were dropped like a hot potato though, despite my husband's job still not paying much, and my not finding one at all, because my youngest turned 18.

In Illinois, even though the age of legal adulthood is 21, as soon as you turn 18, you are dropped from any state services. (Unless you are a female between 18-35 and get pregnant.) Somehow, our governor (whose name I will not even attempt to spell!), who only has little children himself, feels that kids who have turned 18, and working-class poor parents do not deserve assistance with their medical costs.

So, if you are in college in Illinois, and your parents are under-employed, too bad! Good luck going to the doctor, dentist or buying medicines. In that mode, good for WM for offering some $4.00 prescriptions - heaven knows it is needed!

We pay state taxes, but cannot get state services, simply because our kids are 18/19. They are not legal adults yet, but are dropped from coverage. My son was in the middle of treatment for a foot problem when he was dropped because he turned 18. He was still a full time high school student, but never mind - limp, sucker!

I have to say that Illinois is NOT a great place to be, unless you happen to live in a metro area where you can be adequately employed, OR wish to have a large family and add a little one every couple of years to be sure you can keep the state's medical help.

If you are the working poor, then you'll go without medical care to KEEP that job you desperately need the income from. If you get sick, or need to go to the hospital, bummer dude. Sucks to be you.

Meanwhile, we keep paying state taxes through the nose on his meager check (he is working locally for $7.50.hr, which is AFTER a raise! HA! We're rolling hay now!), but can't get any assistance on prescriptions or medical care.

Now, I could understand having to have some cutoffs, IF our governor had not changed the legislation to include state coverage to families who can earn up to - get this - $60,000/year, as long as they have a child under 18 in the house. Yep - you read that right - you can make up to $60K and still get discounted or free medical coverage, if you have little kids. The rest of you - too bad, so sad. There are exceptions if you live near Chicago, which has a couple area programs, but we have no plans to move there just to MAYBE get coverage.

Makes me want to claim my cats as dependent children.

Some of you are probably thinking, so why stay in Illinois? Well, it is relatively simple - who can afford to move?