How do you feel about Wal-Mart?
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| Wed, 11-26-2008 - 6:23pm |
I read this op/ed (it's tied in with the automotive industry issues) http://www.indystar.com/article/20081119/OPINION12/811190304/1301/ARCHIVE the other day and it got me thinking. I've always heard about the lousy way they treat their employees but...it's their prices that keep me going back. Since I've moved to the South it's been even worse. They have Super Wal-Marts here where there is a grocery store in the Wal-Mart.
Now, there was an article the other day in my local newspaper with the mayor asking people to do their Christmas shopping downtown and buy local to support our mom & pop stores. Now, I'd love to do that but I have three kids and you know where I'm going.
Part of me really doesn't like what Wal-Mart stands for but the other part of me feels like "why should I pay more when I know I can get it cheaper there?"
Any thoughts?

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"The law was passed in 2006 by a Republican Congress and signed by a Republican president 2 months before the election.
"And of course we know on Obama's watch - if one of those .90 box of Q-Tips has ricin or plastic explosives in its contents, there will be people on here calling for his impeachment....
>>> LOL! That's a new one!! Let me see, our Fox Republican government imposed an unprecedented increase in regulation over the past 8 years. Uh huh. And that's what precipitated the worst financial collapse since the Great Depression. Uh huh uh huh.
You think it was the "free market" that pushed lenders to give loans to "poor folks?" LOL! It was the "dopes" (Democrat officials and politicians everywhere) that created the regulations to stop the banks from "red lining" and give loans to those poor people who couldn't otherwise afford to buy homes.
>>> Well, back in reality, let me tell you who's going to get us out of this mess. Democrats.
Somehow I doubt it...but since they got us into it and they've got all the power now, let's see how they do...we're watching.
>>> Just like Bill Clinton pulled us out of a downturn early in his Presidency and then went on to run a budget SURPLUS.
Bill Clinton pulled out of something, but it wasn't an economic downturn. LOL! Clinton was the lucky beneficiary of the dot.com boom which generated a BOOMING economy...before it burst, right before Bush took office. In fact, he got elected on a lie...just like Obama. Clinton promised a middle class tax break just like Obama and he lied, just like Obama will.
>>> Imagine that, a fiscally responsible politician who is smart and knows how to oversee our economy. That's something new after the last 8 years.
LOL! Are you referring to Oblahblah? When did Obarney magically receive his economic expertise? So far, the Obamessiah has agreed with everything that the "dopes" and Paulson have suggested...and the results...pretty much what we would have expected from people who don't have a clue. Thank the gods, we have the Obamessiah, who has less of a clue than everyone else in the country.
"In point of fact, locally owned businesses do sell more made in the USA merchandise, and the salaries of everyone from the cleaning lady to the CEO stay in your home town/city/state/region.
How many Wal-Mart CEOs live in your home town?"
Your town isn't isolated from all others. It imports MOST of the stuff consumed. Wal-Mart, McDonalds, KFC, and any chain bring stuff in from outside. The result is a better quality of life.
Many towns for example produce no grocery product. Do you think it'd be a good idea if they lived off what was produced locally? Which in most cases is nothing?
Should a city that makes a million cars a year live just off cars, and nothing else? You seem to have a problem with trade and understanding the economies of scale.
When the U.S. was formed, the ability to relate interstate traffic was reserved to the federal government. This specifically was done to encourage trade between the states and to prevent the very unamerican concept of buying only locally produced products.
Hatred of Wal-Mart has been encouraged over the past few years by union websites. They hate the low prices and consumer friendly policies of Wal-Mart. If Wal-Mart is ever unionized they'll be singing it's praises and encouraging everyone to shop there.
I can't believe how many people fall for the anti Wal-Mart propaganda.
I don't think my kids have ever destroyed a pair of shoes from Wal-Mart or Target before they outgrew them.
The cost of kids shoes has been kept low by companies like Wal-Mart despite general inflation. This is great for parents and kids.
For most of our history the United States was a net exporter. We wanted free trade as it made us richer.
Recently we have decided that the manufacturing process is dirty and undesirable. It is eco unfriendly.
Our desire for a first world lifestyle hasn't changed, only our willingness to produce it for ourselves.
The result is we have become a net importer, and we live in a cleaner country which is becoming ever poorer due to high levels of importation.
Unless and until we decide to manufacture more products in the U.S. our imports from other countries will continue to increase. At least until the collapse of the dollar.
Blaming Wal-Mart for a decision collectively of the United States regarding hostility to manufacturing ... seems silly.
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martinisnsushi - the two most important food groups!
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Walmart is to blame for workers from the manufacturing sector losing jobs
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