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

[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."

more...

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

But the LA Times appears to believe Democrats are being mean to Wal-Mart:

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

So is this op-ed the LA Times' endorsement of Wal-Mart?

http://www.attytood.com/archives/001715.html

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_11/007483.php

Wal-Mart Stores creates diversity panel
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/business/14419054.htm

Wal-Mart Agrees to Pay Fine in Child Labor Cases
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/12/national/12wage.html?ex=1265864400&en=12fa6925c49373e3&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland

[Selatius]

1. Workers have a right to organize to defend themselves from exploitation

If Wal-Mart can't stand that right, then Wal-Mart would probably be in favor of outlawing free association as well because when people associate, organizations tend to form...like scary labor unions and worker co-ops.

[MannyGoldstein]

2. Taking Aim at Hillary?

Ms. Clinton was a Director of Wal-Mart for 6 years, when they were pioneering their "Always the lowest wages. Always." policy. Pehaps this is Kerry's opening salvo.

[Beaverhausen]

3. She was on the board of directors over 15 years ago

Why are you bringing her into this?

[MannyGoldstein]

5. As I Said...

... she was there when they were pioneering their lowest-wage policies - her husband sheparded the same policies as president - offshoring, union-busting, and so forth.

Kerry would be smart to keep going after Wal-Mart, and to equate Ms. Clinton with Wal-Mart - it would keep her in the proper perspective. It would be quite fair (unless she admits to the error), and a good tactic.

[blm]

4. Actually, it's more because of his healthcare proposal where he uses

WalMart as an example of how employers shortshrift the system so that many of their employees need government programs for healthcare needs. It was in a couple major speeches of his last month.

[MH1]

6. Exactly

I don't think Kerry determines his every move based on what will take out his opponent in 2008. He's been championing healthcare reforms for a long time. Also, I don't remember where I saw it, but I think WalMart's front group attacked Kerry after he used them as an example in one of his speeches, of how big corporations get away with pawning their worker's healthcare expenses off on the state.

[LittleClarkie]

8. Indeed, and that's too easy an allegation to pull out every time

the man does something. It's such a kneejerk reaction. If it's Kerry, it must be pandering for 2008. Bah.

[ProSense]

9. That's been the issue for years.

The Wal-Mart divide is exceptionally intense, representing a wide range of ideological -- and cultural -- flashpoints. Senator John F. Kerry has called Wal-Mart "disgraceful" and a symbol of what is "wrong with America" after seeing reports the discount shopping giant had given its workers inadequate health insurance.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/04/11/wal_mart_symbolizing_political_divide

[JI7]

21. it has nothing to do with Hillary , and Walmart wasn't as bad then

or she was trying to do good things.

[CollegeDUer]

7. The activists' work against walmart is working

Establishment politicians who wouldn't have given a flip earlier are now just jumping to get at WalMart.

[karynnj]

13. Note post 9 - Kerry jumped on them at least as early as 2004

Kerry may be a 25 year elected offical, but he has activist roots that go back many years before he took office.

[ProSense]

10. A pattern a Wal-Mart

This is what the LA Times is defending:

U.S. Magistrate Judge John Froeschner in Galveston on Wednesday rejected a request for an order barring store managers from contacting cashiers asked to join the suit.

Lawyers for the workers said managers told employees to sign statements that they never did "off the clock" unpaid work, after the attorneys sent notices about the suit to more than 100,000 workers in Texas. The employees were threatened with firing if they refused, the attorneys claimed.

Snip...

The lawsuit is one of more than 70 filed against Wal-Mart in across the U.S. claiming the company failed to pay hourly wages for all time worked.

California hourly employees won a $172 million verdict in December over unpaid meal breaks. The company faces similar trials in Philadelphia and Massachusetts.

Snip...

The Texas workers allege Wal-Mart has required or permitted hourly employees to work off-the-clock without compensation, in violation of U.S. labor laws. Attorneys sent notices Aug. 4 inviting current and former cashiers of Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart and Sam's Club to join the suit.

Two cashiers signed affidavits alleging intimidation or retaliation after receiving the notices. Neither appeared at the hearing. They were afraid to come, their attorneys said.

Wal-Mart denied any improper actions.

The judge told Wal-Mart not to intimidate the cashiers, while declining to issue a formal order.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4137701.html

[underpants]

11. Heaven-for-bid that they should have to be responsible

:eyes:

[wisteria]

12. Senator Kerry makes some good points in his reply to this operative

for the Repubs and Walmart. What stands out IMO is the need for many of Walmarts' workers to obtain additional help for housing, food and health care from our federal government. Walmart profits, and we the tax payers have to put out even more money to assist honest and decent folks trying to make a living wage. What is sad, is that this type of part-time employment is becoming the norm for large companies- Walmart isn't the only one.

[KKKarl is an idiot]

14. I'm confused

Why is the democratic party being compared to Hezzbollah. I though Hezzbollah did not want freedom & democracy. I thought they only wanted to kill all the Jews. They would probably never stand for something like a Union.

What is wrong with Americans wanting a living wage with health care benefits? It would be nice if everyone were like the five Walton's whose estimated wealth is around $16 billion a piece. But unfortunately we are not.

[karynnj]

19. That is why Kerry is outraged by the comment

even though it was other Democrats specificly accused of this.

[ProSense]

15. Media launches a blitz defense of Wal-Mart while

Bush Makes Backdoor Appointment to Wage and Hour Office

Below 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.

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

Race to the bottom:

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

[clark08]

18. Kerry is throwing his

hat into the ring

[Monk06]

16. The irony of Walmart attacking the Democrats glaring ...........

The Democrats pandering to their labor
union base?

Only 14% of US workers are unionized. That's
a pretty small base.

The only union contract that Walmart has
agreed to is with it's workers in Communist China !!!!
Nobody would ever seriously maintain that
a Communist government run union safeguards
the interest of its workers.

Walmart's sole reason for existence is to pull
as much money out of the pockets of its employees
and customers as possible regardless of the damage
being done to the economic future of American workers
through wage suppression and predatory pricing that
is killing manufacturing jobs.

Walmart pressured Rubbermaid to increase their manufacturing
capacity before they would consider Rubbermaid for preferred
supplier status. They subsequently insisted on price reductions
from Rubbermaid during a serious spike in the price of polymer.
Rubbermaid appealed to Walmart for a price increase until
their raw material costs stabilized.

Walmart refused

Rubbermaid went bankrupt and had to sell brand new
injection mold machinery at a loss to a Chinese factory.

[Joe Bacon]

17. Oh, how the Lies Angeles Times has fallen....

Ever since the Chicago Fibune bought the LA TImes, they've moved the paper to the extreme right. I'm waiting for the Fibune to put the old "True Industrial Freedom" slogan back on the masthead...

[mitchtv]

20. It would be interesting if a person of Kerry's stature

went ahead andsaid "Walmart does not want Democrats' business"

[karynnj]

22. Except he doesn't control any spending

Unless he or any other Democrat knew people would boycott, it would be foolish to say that.

[mitchtv]

23. how about "Any Union worker who buys at Walmart...

ought to have his head examined"?

[PresidentWar]

24. The new scare term is "Hezbollah"

Typical.

Johnny, finish your meat or the HEZBOLLAH will get you.

Mommy, I can't sleep...I think there is a Hezbollah under my bed!

Now you kids be good, or Hezbollah will steal all of the gifts that Santa will bring you this year.

What a bunch of goddamn fucking idiots.