wal mart

Watching MSNBC this morning I haven’t seen any mention of Freedom Works, the force behind the Tea Party, urging President Obama and Congress to not help out Haiti.

It’s amazing to think about. Whenever there is any news about the tea party, the mainstream media is like a crowd trying to enter Wal-Mart on black Friday to cover the story. Now we have some very big news about the tea party and the media flat out ignores it. God forbid they actually have to give the tea baggers some negative coverage.

So there you have your liberal media at work – ignoring something as horrible as the position Freedom Works is taking against the poor people of Haiti.

Couldn’t happen to a better corporation:

Wal-Mart's former Republican outreach director will be charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the next to fall in a long list of current and former lobbyists linked to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, according to court documents filed last week.

Abramoff, formerly a powerful Republican lobbyist for the Miami-based Greenberg Traurig lawfirm, is now serving a jail sentence for bribing public officials.
James Hirni will be charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to papers filed by the Justice Department in U.S. District Court cited by Roll Call Sunday. </p>

Hirni was an executive director for Wal-Mart's Republican outreach effort.

I got a feeling the yellow smiley face isn’t too happy today.

That company, Wal-Mart, is telling managers that if a Democrat wins the White House it will hurt the employees.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is mobilizing its store managers and department supervisors around the country to warn that if Democrats win power in November, they'll likely change federal law to make it easier for workers to unionize companies -- including Wal-Mart.

In recent weeks, thousands of Wal-Mart store managers and department heads have been summoned to mandatory meetings at which the retailer stresses the downside for workers if stores were to be unionized.

Now that is rather amazing coming from the monster corporation who has lost countless law suits for violating employment laws. I guess to Wal-Mart, employees being forced to work off the clock or not have breaks should be considered a benefit.

This story is beyond the pale. To think that a corporation the size of Wal-Mart can do this to a former employee, and a federal judge agree with them:

A collision with a semi-trailer truck seven years ago left 52-year-old Deborah Shank permanently brain-damaged and in a wheelchair. Her husband, Jim, and three sons found a small source of solace: a $700,000 accident settlement from the trucking company involved. After legal fees and other expenses, the remaining $417,000 was put in a special trust. It was to be used for Mrs. Shank's care.

Instead, all of it is now slated to go to Mrs. Shank's former employer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Two years ago, the retail giant's health plan sued the Shanks for the $470,000 it had spent on her medical care. A federal judge ruled last year in Wal-Mart's favor, backed by an appeals-court decision in August. Now, her family has to rely on Medicaid and Mrs. Shank's social-security payments to keep up her round-the-clock care.

"I don't understand why they need to do this," says Mr. Shank on a recent visit to the nursing home, between shifts as a maintenance worker and running a tanning salon. "This girl needs the money more than they do." Mrs. Shank, who needs help with eating and other basic tasks, spends more time alone since Mr. Shank had to let her private caregiver go. At some point, he says, she may have to be moved from a private to a semi-private room in the nursing home where she lives.

So insurance companies can now limit how much care you get, what kind of care you get and now can go after you in the event of some horrific accident? These are the same insurance companies we want running out health care system? Hell no!

Earlier this week, Bush was in Florida to speak about our "robust and strong economy". As matter of fact, that is what all his speeches are suppose to focus on in the near future. I wonder if this news will change that agenda?

The nation's economy generated 113,000 jobs in July, the Labor Department reported today. The growth was below forecasts, bolstering the case for a slowing economy.

Further evidence of a slowdown came from a spike in the percentage of Americans unemployed to 4.8 percent, also reported today by the Labor Department. That was the highest level of unemployment since December, 2005. That increase also exceeded expectations.

I guess Wal-Mart isn't hiring much right now. Oh well, the numbers should rise for the holiday season, when people who use to be able to support a family on one job need to find that holiday job just so little Johnny and Suzy can get a Christmas present. These are the hard realities of true America that the Republicans fail to recognize.

O'Reilly has proven what a cheap, low down, coward he is. Yesterday he blew up on the air at a caller just for mentioning Keith Olbermann's name. (via Media Matters)

On his nationally syndicated radio show, Bill O'Reilly threatened to turn over the personal information of a caller to "Fox security" because the caller mentioned MSNBC's Keith Olbermann. As Media Matters has noted, in recent weeks, Olbermann has repeatedly awarded O'Reilly the "Worst Person in the World" designation during his show, MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

John at Crooks and Liars actually started this story and Media Matters picked up on it. Now John has further updates to it:

"I got the call on the phone I used to call him from the head of Fox News security. He said that harassing phone calls were coming from my phone. I asked him how many? He did not know. I asked him what was said that was harassing? He said that he did not know but that it did not have to be what was said, but how many calls were being made. He tried to make like I made 20 phone calls instead of one, and that I cursed O'Reilly out. All I said was that I was grateful to O'Reilly for turning me on to Olberman. Then he hung up."

Clearly O'Reilly is trying to have his goons make a statement, but it's a very foolish move. He can't shut off their mics so he's harassing them when they call.

Sadly last night, the House approved CAFTA. The bill only
passed by two votes. This means it will be official once Bush signs it.

This is truly sad for the American working class. This bill
is guaranteed to send more jobs over seas. Instead of buying sugar or cotton
grown right here in the United States, it will be from Central America. Now that
we have effectively exported our jobs, there is not much left for the working
class except for McDonalds or Wal-Mart.

The saddest part is that this bill was passed to “thank”
Central American countries for supporting democracy. We thrive upon saying
democracy is the greatest thing, yet we look like the pimps of democracy. Why in
fact should we pay these people of for becoming democratic when the joys of
democracy should be reward enough?

 If we continue to export our jobs and force American
workers to live off lower wages while inflation soars, then it will come a point
in time when we will have to look to other nations for economic support. Our
government is systematically destroying the working class while paving the way
for richer and more powerful corporations – the ones that stand to profit from
this bill. We also are going to exploit the workers in Central America by paying
them wages that are a small percentage of what would be paid to an American
worker doing the same job. Thanks Bush!