See, that isn't at all what I think. I think big government is bad. I think government is bad when it does anything that treats people differently.
Individuals should have the same opportunities across the board. I'm ok with the governments helping people that have fallen on hard times. But I think the goal should be to get them on their feet, not just to keep them alive. In this argument, wal-mart is being forced to do something that is opposite of their basic model. Hourly employees are commodities, highly replicable, unskilled people that do their job. The Government of MD wants to force wal-mart away from this model, but only wal-mart, they devised a law that only affects this one company. Wal-mart might actually be able to win a Constitutional argument on this based on equal protection. Have they had some issues with unfair and illegal practices, yes. The forcing of employees to work off-the-clock is wrong, and they should be dealt with on that case. Have they made deals with governments to open stores paying reduced taxes in exchange for the benefits that the store might bring, yes. Have some deals been less than great, sure. But who's fault is that? I blame the government that made the deal for not doing the math. Are any of these things specific to wal-mart? NO Should wal-mart be treated differently? NO If the government of MD wants to pass a law forcing all companies to pay 8% of profits towards healthcare, then fine, they can do that. But to only pass a law that effects 4 companies, and to pick a number that narrows it to 1. That is not equal protection. Wal-mart has a model, they aren't an unfair monopoly, they are a company. You don't like the way they do things, don't shop there. > -----Original Message----- > From: Kevin Graeme [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2006 9:21 AM > To: CF-Community > Subject: Re: [signs of sanity] MD no longer subsidizing Walmart > > Yeah, I suspected you were thinking that was what we were saying. > Which is why I said we're talking past each other. > > "Our" side is saying that wal-mart is actually playing and creating > big government for their exclusive corporate benefit. See the emminent > domain, tax subsidies, and road reconstruction points. Complaining > about the health insurance as big government issue is like a raindrop > in the pond compared to what the corporations are doing to create and > foster big government. > > To recap your side's argument (from "our" perspective): > > 1) Big government is bad when it helps the individual. > 2) Big government is good when it helps corporations profit and > control government. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:192725 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
