Walmart Fuming After ‘Living Wage’ Bill Approved By D.C. City Legislators
Despite threats from Wal-Mart, the Washington, D.C. legislators have approved the “living wage” bill. One supporting council member, Vincent B. Orange (D), said, “The question here is a living wage; it’s not whether Wal-Mart comes or stays.” He continued, “We’re at a point where we don’t need retailers. Retailers need us.
”It is unclear yet what kind of chances the bill has of being signed into law. There may be opposition in the form of Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D), who has argued in the past in favor of Wal-Mart’s entry. If Wal-Mart follows through and backs out of D.C., that would mean the cancellation of three proposed sites. There are three more already being constructed, and Wal-Mart plans to look at the costs of not opening them, assuming the bill is signed."
It is unclear at this time what level of “quality retail” Wal-Mart would provide, and Gray’s support of the retail giant doesn’t bode well for the future of the living wage bill, which specifically targets large, profitable employers, forcing them to give employees enough to live on (or closer to it) so that the taxpayers can stop subsidizing the working poor, forcing cheap and greedy corporate employers to pick up the tab instead. Stores with corporate sales totaling more than $1 billion and larger than 75,000 square feet would have to pay $12.50 per hour, 50 percent more than the city’s minimum wage, $8.25.
In preparation for the battle, Wal-Mart is paying David W. Wilmot, a local lobbyist, $10,000 to try and work things out. They’ve also spent quite a bit of money trying to improve their image and local support.
http://www.occupydemocrats.com/living-wage-bill-approved-by-d-c-city-legislators-wal-mart-unhappy/
= new reply since forum marked as read
Youngest child of Sam and Helen Walton; brothers Rob, Jim, and John. Divorced; no children.
Age: 63 (born October 7, 1949)
Estimated net worth: $26.3 billion (as of March 2013). Alice Walton is the third richest woman in the world, behind her sister-in-law Christy Walton and 90-year-old heiress Liliane Bettencourt.
Wisconsin: As the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism reported in September 2011, Alice Walton was the top individual contributor to winning state legislative candidates in the 2010 elections that put Republicans in control of the state government. Under the first budget passed by Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-majority legislature, funding for public schools was cut by $800 million over two years, while funding for programs that funnel public money to private schools increased by $17 million over two years.
Walton has given nearly $500,000 in federal election contributions since the beginning of the 2008 election cycle. Alice Walton made headlines for her largest contributions: a total of $200,000 to Restore Our Future, the super PAC associated with Mitt Romney’s 2012 run for President. A third of her contributions from 2007-2012 went to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee.
was arrested on the charge of driving while intoxicated and held in jail on the night of her 62nd birthday last Friday, October 7 2012
Upon arrest, Walton refused a blood-alcohol test.
This is not the first time Walton was arrested for driving while intoxicated. She was reportedly convicted on four counts in a drunken driving case in May 1998 in Springdale, Arkansas. Police officers testified in court that at the scene of her car accident, Walton said “Do you know who I am?” and also refused then to consent to a blood-alcohol test, according to the Associated Press.
Time for the happy dance!
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[center]“We’re at a point where we don’t need retailers. Retailers need us.[/center]
- K&R
Response to hack89 (Reply #44)
Response to maddezmom (Reply #47)
Their getting off cheep make it $15.00!
