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PA Voters Consider This: Clinton is as Real as Wal-Mart's "Buy America" Program

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berni_mccoy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-21-08 11:38 PM
Original message
PA Voters Consider This: Clinton is as Real as Wal-Mart's "Buy America" Program
Edited on Mon Apr-21-08 11:41 PM by berni_mccoy
Remember Wal-Mart's Buy America program? Not many do. That's because it was all a painful sham to convince Americans to shop at Wal-Mart instead of their local Mom&Pop shops. And one of the biggest proponents of the Buy America program was Hillary Clinton as you can see here from this vintage video of Clinton at a Wal-Mart meeting in 1991 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znPwgIgy8Hg. For the six years she served on the board, Wal-Mart touted this scam program that led to much of the dependency on China that America is woefully aware of today. Maybe this is why she doesn't like to talk about it. Maybe because it is the outrageous statements she has made about Wal-Mart: "I'm so proud of this company and everything it represents... It makes me feel so good about what we do" she said in 1991.

From the Documentary, "Store Wars" on PBS, we learn this about Wal-Mart's "Buy America" program:
http://www.pbs.org/itvs/storewars/stores3.html
Made in the U.S.A?
Despite a well-publicized "Made in the U.S.A." campaign, 85 percent of the stores' items are made overseas, often in Third World sweatshops. In fact, only after Wal-Mart's "Buy American" ad campaign was in full swing did the company become the country's largest importer of Chinese goods in any industry. By taking its orders abroad, Wal-Mart has forced many U.S. manufacturers out of business. The chain was broadly criticized for being the primary distributor of many goods attracting controversy, including Kathie Lee Gifford's clothing line, Disney's Haitian-made pajamas, child-produced clothing from Bangladesh and sweatshop-produced toys and sports gear from Asia. Difficult working conditions also exist in the United States: In 1991, labor inspectors found labels for Wal-Mart brands being made in Manhattan's Chinatown. There, 16 and 17 year-old Chinese immigrants without permits had been working for one month without being paid.

When Hillary was touting all the goodness of Wal-Mart, she was actually in-the-know about all of the controversy and facts about China imports in Wal-Mart. She served on the board from 1986 to 1992. She was part of the entire bait-and-switch Buy-America program the company put together. You do not serve on the board of directors and not know what is going on with such a nation-wide marketing scheme, especially when you are the spokesperson for the program and the founder of the company is telling stories about your husband's initiating the program in Wal-Mart.

And from my previous blog post on the topic here: http://journals.democraticunderground.com/berni_mccoy/284, it is painfully clear how damaging Wal-Mart's practices have been to the state of Pennsylvania. Here are just the headlines from that previous story:

Walmart illegally docks wages for breaks, loses $75 million class-action lawsuit in Pennsylvania

Walmart costs Pennsylvania an estimated $30 million a year in Healthcare costs (They don't cover their employees)

Walmart Drives Community Wide Increases in Povert in PA (A Study Done by PSU)

Walmart Hires Illegal Immigrants Across Stores in Pennsylvania

More Crime, Traffic Follow a Wal-Mart Megastore in Chester County, Pa.

Wal-Mart Must Pay $141 Million in Worker Lawsuit (Update4)


I wonder what kind of impact in the polls it would have if most people in Pennsylvania knew that Hillary was directly responsible for the impact Wal-Mart has made to them and to the rest of small-town America? It certainly is reflective of her campaign: say all these great positive things about Healthcare, the War in Iraq, the Economy, and Buying American, but in reality, what she is doing is laying the groundwork to further her own agenda. Find it hard to believe? Just read some of the contradictory things she has said vs. what she has done on these very topics here: http://journals.democraticunderground.com/berni_mccoy/280. From my prior post, it's clearl, she will say anything to get elected:

She would lie about snipers in Bosnia even though she didn't have to and the truth easily refuted her comments.

She runs on her husband's record when it gains her votes, but runs away from it when it she's afraid of losing votes.

She claims to be pro-labor and pro-small town, even though she served on Walmart's Board of Directors, sending millions of manufacturing jobs to China and closed millions of Mom&Pop shops nationwide.

She scolded Obama for NAFTA backtracking in Ohio when it was really her campaign giving Canada the wink&nod on Free Trade.

She proclaims to be pro-Union when she hired the nations leading Union-buster, Mark Penn as her chief Campaign strategist.

She says she is all about Universal Healthcare when she's taken millions of dollars in lobbyist money from the Health Insurance companies and her policy plan will give billions back to them in the form of mandated health insurance.

She proclaims to be against Bush and the Colombian Free Trade deal when her Chief Campaign adviser, Mark Penn was meeting with the Colombian government on how to sell it to Congress.

She only pretended to fire Mark Penn when he was caught dealing with Colombia, exposing her for what she really is (she's still paying him more than $100,000 per day).

She has said over and over again on this campaign that she's against NAFTA and yet, she promoted NAFTA, giving pro-NAFTA speeches for her husband during his administration.

She pretends to be outraged at companies shipping jobs overseas when she and her husband crafted a landmark trade deal with China (while she was on the Walmart board?) that sent millions of manufacturing and tech jobs to China so stores like Walmart could sell them at low-low prices. The keystone of the deal was bringing China into the WTO, even though both Democrats and Republicans in Congress expressed objection over human rights issues.

She claims she will bring the soldiers home, but she voted for the War and has even voted for the Kyl-Lieberman bill which labels Iran as a terrorist threat and still says as late as last year that Saddam had WMDs which we all know was a lie.

She claims to be intouch with the people when her and her husband earned over $109 since leaving the Whitehouse.

She feigns outrage at Obama's statements about the people of PA being bitter, when really, she was outraged because part of the blame for these people's situation lies with the Clinton administration. Her husband said worse things about the people of small town America when he was running.

She drinks shots and beers while telling duck-hunting stories to look like she's pro-gun, when she would take away your guns faster than the Brady-bill did (the Clinton administration pushed this one through Congress).

With all this pretending and lying, can you really trust that she will do anything she says she's going to do? She will do and say anything just to get your vote. Then when she has it, she'll consult with Mark Penn, the board of Walmart and Kaiser-Permanente as to what is best for America.

She believes the good people of Pennsylvania are stupid and will forget all these things. She hopes that no one will bring this subject up so that no one will talk about it. Because if no one talks about it, she will not be exposed for the opportunist that she is. And that would be assuming the people of Pennsylvania are dumb and not paying attention. I think their eyes are wide open and they will see the truth for what it is.


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Rabrrrrrr Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-21-08 11:49 PM
Response to Original message
1. ROFL! Brilliant!
It was too much to read your post, but I love the subject line that Hillary is as real as WalMart's "Buy America" line! I remember that lie very, very well.

:rofl:

:applause:

:thumbsup:
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ORDem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-21-08 11:49 PM
Response to Original message
2. That really is a great analogy!
:rofl: :bounce:
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berni_mccoy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-22-08 07:02 AM
Response to Reply #2
8. Thanks. The facts are there for anyone to see. I just wish this issue got more attention
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cliffordu Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-21-08 11:50 PM
Response to Original message
3. Signed, sealed, delivered!!!
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bhikkhu Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-21-08 11:52 PM
Response to Original message
4. K&R - a history lesson it is hard to forgive the Clintons for.
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berni_mccoy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-22-08 07:35 AM
Response to Reply #4
9. I just wish the lesson was taught more.
Media has only given it marginal coverage and people here are too afraid to go there.
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DeadElephant_ORG Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-21-08 11:59 PM
Response to Original message
5. I can't understand why her Walmart past hasn't been an issue...

She was on the f---ing board of directors, for Christ's sake!
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berni_mccoy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-22-08 12:50 AM
Response to Reply #5
6. The Media has covered it, but they don't keep repeating the juicy soundbites.
To them, they've already covered it. But the message has not been received by millions of affected people.
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Selatius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-22-08 10:15 AM
Response to Reply #5
22. The corporate news media covers for the ethical lapses of other big corporations.
That's as short as I can explain it.
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grantcart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-22-08 12:54 AM
Response to Original message
7. BTW Clinton's top China adviser just resigned because her rhetoric is so inflamatory

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9719.html

A top expert on China has resigned as an informal adviser to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign in the wake of the candidate's increasingly harsh anti-China rhetoric.

Richard Baum, a political science professor at the Center for Chinese Studies at UCLA, resigned in light of what he called “grossly misguided accusations” made by Clinton about China.

“As a lifelong Democrat, it saddens me that Sen. Clinton has chosen to take the low road in her effort to gain our party’s presidential nomination,” Baum said in an e-mail to Politico.

The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment by Politico.

Clinton recently has ratcheted up her anti-China sentiments, criticizing the country on everything from its human rights violations to its undervalued currency.

“I’m the only candidate who isn’t just talking about cracking down on China but I have a specific plan on how to do it,” she told union members at the AFL-CIO’s Building Trades National Legislative Conference on Wednesday.

“China should be our trade partner, not our trade master.”
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berni_mccoy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-22-08 10:51 AM
Response to Reply #7
23. Yeah, I saw that. It barely got any coverage.
And it should have been a point to bring up this issue... but alas, it wasn't.
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Zachstar Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-22-08 07:41 AM
Response to Original message
10. This is quite an important point and I think you for organizing the details.
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berni_mccoy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-22-08 10:14 AM
Response to Reply #10
21. I agree. It's an extremely important point and goes much farther
toward her character and true stances than any form of Rev. Wright b.s. does for Obama. It's a real, life impacting issue that has had huge negative impact on the people of America.
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madrchsod Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-22-08 07:47 AM
Response to Original message
11.  but ,but ,but michelle obama sells pickles to walmart!
yes i read that at the democratic underground. she`s made a fortune from the company that sells pickles only to walmart. so bash hillary all you want but just look up the millions michelle has made from walmart..how else can they afford a house in chicago? no wonder rezko likes them...they paid him several million over market value...wait that was under market value...never mind i have`t the latest from rezkowatch...
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berni_mccoy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-22-08 07:48 AM
Response to Reply #11
12. Being on the board of directors for Wal-Mart and working for a vendor
are two completely different things. If you read all of the content from the post, the Clintons were responsible fro the Buy America fiasco. She was involved with making Wal-Mart what it is.
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madrchsod Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-22-08 07:53 AM
Response to Reply #12
14. ----i should have used the sarcasm emoticon
Edited on Tue Apr-22-08 07:55 AM by madrchsod
opp`s great post!
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berni_mccoy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-22-08 09:00 AM
Response to Reply #14
20. Heh, yeah, I saw it, but I didn't want any humorless Clinton supporters thinking they could run away
with that idea.
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madrchsod Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-22-08 07:51 AM
Response to Original message
13. i did`t realize that she was on the board from 86-92
i thought she was on the board much earlier than that. by that time walmart was still using "buy american" but there were just a few american made items in the stores that were. maybe they included what ever food stuff they were selling at that time...
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berni_mccoy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-22-08 07:54 AM
Response to Reply #13
15. I can pretty much guarantee the GOP will hammer her with this. She has completely avoided it
Clinton supporters talk about Obama's electability but the run hiding from this scandal because they know she can not stand up to it.
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WinkyDink Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-22-08 07:59 AM
Response to Reply #15
17. The GOP will do no such thing. "Hammer" about a huge retailer? Get serious.
Edited on Tue Apr-22-08 08:00 AM by WinkyDink
Republicans do not criticize business. EVER.
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berni_mccoy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-22-08 08:08 AM
Response to Reply #17
19. They will if it hurts a candidate running against theirs. GOP will do anything to Win
Kinda like Clinton.
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WinkyDink Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-22-08 07:58 AM
Response to Original message
16. Our "dependency on China" is trillions larger than Wal-Mart.
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berni_mccoy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-22-08 08:07 AM
Response to Reply #16
18. You miss the point. Wal-Mart has damaged America and was the leader in off-shore suppliers
They began the Made-In-China revolution in this Country. Wal-Mart is the single largest importer of retail goods from China. They have harmed American Workers and small businesses more than any other company.
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