Walmart the Welfare Queen

[cquark]

From oligopoly watch:

Wal-Mart the welfare queen

A study by the group Good Jobs First called "Shopping for Subsidies" contends that the growth of Wal-Mart into the world's largest corporation was pushed along by government handouts, in terms of $1 billion in subsidies. According to study co-author Philip Mattera, "Wal-Mart presents itself as an entrepreneurial success stories, yet it has made extensive use of tax breaks, free land, cash grants and other forms of public assistance."

That Wal-Mart should seek to work the system is no surprise. That the system can be so easily worked by a big company is frightening.. The study states that the company receives more subsidies from state and local government than any other US corporation.

Among the areas that this enormously profitable has manipulated ar

Job training funds
Job creation grants
Free or discounted land
Corporate income tax credits
Property tax abatements
Tax-free bond financing
Enterprise zone grants

It's a given that locally-owned business get few of these grants. They don't have the power to threaten and they don't have the staffs of accountant and lobbyists at their disposal. States and municipalities are financing Wal-Mart rather than local operations, and thus helping drive the local businesses into bankruptcy. Communities lose both local proprietors with a real interest in the community; they also often lose decent wages, and in some cases, union wages.

None of this is a surprise, but it is chilling to see our suspicions so fully documented. The ability to get government subsidies is another good reason for getting big. Not only can you help dictate policy, you can have your risks assumed by the government and your less fortunate competitors forced to pay where you do not.

I'd frequently read that Walmart employees cost the government a great deal in welfare, medicaid, food stamps and the like, but I hadn't realized how much of a direct beneficiary of government subsidies they were before.

 

[xxxxxJohnGaltxxxxx]

I wish Sam's kids would close every Wal-Mart in America down; then, perhaps, people would stop whining about their business practices.

Clearly, those who are 'outranged' by these tactics are not familiar with the world of business. It's in both the state and local governments' interest, as well as their citizenry, to offer Wal-Mart "tax breaks" and/or land deals to entice them to build (and employ local residents). Why do you think so many corporations incorporate in Delaware? How do you think state governments "lure" corporations into their states? How do you think local governments get big business into their districts? Why do you think local governments pay for sports stadiums to be built? You can hate Wal-Mart all you want...but that is clearly un-American.

If you want to hate someone, hate the people like Heinz who has all over her income going into municipal bonds and thus pays no taxes on the gains she realizes...she's a freeloader. Don't hate the Waltons for realizing the American dream and growing their vision into the largest employer in the world.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: cquark
I'd frequently read that Walmart employees cost the government a great deal in welfare, medicaid, food stamps and the like, but I hadn't realized how much of a direct beneficiary of government subsidies they were before.

You've missed quite a few threads over the past 2 years in here about Wally World.

One of my posts showed how Wally World gets local towns to use Eminent Domain to get Private Land and then re-zone it and get the same said local, State and Federal Govts to pay Wally world a boat load of money to develop the land they snatched away from hard working citizens that had the land for generations.

The list of the corruption, collusion, deception by Wally World and our Governments goes on and on and on. Wally World is a key part of the downfall of the U.S. like the Roman Empire.

 

[cKGunslinger]

This is a good read on Wal-Mart's business practices, although it's not exactly related to the topic at hand.

 

[Infohawk]

Clearly, those who are 'outranged' by these tactics are not familiar with the world of business.

Wrong. Alternatively, they are familiar with the way business works but want the way business is done changed.

Companies have to set up shop somewhere. If localities were prohibited from competing by selling out their tax income, the nation as a whole would stop. This is what government is for. Creating frameworks that benefit everyone.

This only benefits Walmart.

And don't get mad at welfare supporters since you don't seem to mind when non-physical entitites take welfare.

 

[xxxxxJohnGaltxxxxx]

Originally posted by: Infohawk

And don't get mad at welfare supporters since you don't seem to mind when non-physical entitites take welfare.

This "non-physical entities" who take this so-called "welfare" employs the largest number of Americans for any corporation; how many people do 'physical entities' who receive welfare employ? Hint: none.

 

[ReiAyanami]

the Walmart family controls 4 of the 10 spots on the Forbes top billionaires list, glad they got their well deserved tax breaks while our nation wallows in $8+ trillion debt and half a trillion annual trade imbalance

 

[b0mbrman]

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[xxxxxJohnGaltxxxxx]

Originally posted by: ReiAyanami
the Walmart family controls 4 of the 10 spots on the Forbes top billionaires list, glad they got their well deserved tax breaks while our nation wallows in $8+ trillion debt and half a trillion annual trade imbalance

Check your little Forbes magazine's front cover...got mine sitting the bathroom right now...look at the picture in the lower-left corner...Heinz is in there, too...yet the Waltons pay FAR more taxes than she does...but I am sure that doesn't anger you. She laughs at you every time she fires-up the $700K yacht.

 

[Jhhnn]

The other side of it is that taxpayers pick up the bill for all kinds of social services for walmart employees, depending on locality.

And Teresa Heinz Kerry isn't nearly as wealthy as the Walton Heirs, who are worth ~$20B each... So much for working for your money, and for the evil effects of the "death tax"...

 

[zephyrprime]

Originally posted by: xxxxxJohnGaltxxxxx
Check your little Forbes magazine's front cover...got mine sitting the bathroom right now...look at the picture in the lower-left corner...Heinz is in there, too...yet the Waltons pay FAR more taxes than she does...but I am sure that doesn't anger you. She laughs at you every time she fires-up the $700K yacht.

How do you know that they pay more taxes? They have more money of course so they probably pay a greater absolute amount but do they pay a greater percentage? And who's to say the Walton's don't also have a yacht?