General Discussion

kpete

(71,997 posts) Thu Jul 19, 2012, 01:17 PM Jul 2012

Hard work and ingenuity: why the Waltons wouldn’t want you to see their tax returns either

So? Didn’t they ‘earn’ their wealth — should we punish the Walton family for being this wildly successful? As Garofalo points out, the federal government (i.e. the Republican Party / tax laws) have helped to redistribute money towards the Walton fortune as much as anything:

“At the same time that the Waltons have amassed an ever larger fortune, Congress decided to cut the estate tax, a policy for which the Waltons have been pushing for years. And now that the estate tax cut is in place, conservatives are doing everything they can to ensure it doesn’t go away, allowing the Waltons to amass even larger amounts of wealth.”

And as president, Mitt Romney would like to redistribute even more money to the Waltons by implementing further tax cuts for those in the elite one percent class (himself included).

Further, let’s not forget that the Walton family fortune has been built on the backs of their low-wage employees:

“(Walmart) employees on average take home pay of under $250 a week. The salary for full-time employees (called “associates”) is $6 to $7.50 an hour for 28-40 hours a week, which is typical in the discount retail industry. This pay scale places employees with families below the poverty line, with the majority of employees’ children qualifying for free lunch at school. When closely examined, this amounts to a form of corporate welfare, as the taxpayer subsidizes the low salaries. One-third are part-time employees – limited to less than 28 hours of work per week – and are not eligible for benefits.”

So every taxpayer, in any community where a Walmart is located, has helped to subsidize the Walton family’s employees — and by extension, the Walton family fortune. Instead of expecting them to pay their workers a living wage and provide affordable benefits (remember labor unions?), taxpayers have helped the Waltons pocket a selfishly unequal amount of their profits. Profits, by the way, which are created by selling goods from other countries, like China:

Read about it:
http://underthemountainbunker.com/2012/07/19/the-waltons-wealth-equals-the-bottom-40-of-americans-how-the-rich-make-their-fortunes/

3 replies

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Hard work and ingenuity: why the Waltons wouldn’t want you to see their tax returns either (Original Post) kpete Jul 2012 OP

Here are the Waltons who have demonstrated hard work and ingenuity. no_hypocrisy Jul 2012 #1

kr. sammy went to university during the depression, frat boy, married a banker's daughter who HiPointDem Jul 2012 #2

Well, the Walton grandsons are busy this year. They paid for an 'independent' sinkingfeeling Jul 2012 #3

no_hypocrisy

(46,130 posts)

1. Here are the Waltons who have demonstrated hard work and ingenuity.

Reply to kpete (Original post)

Thu Jul 19, 2012, 01:20 PM

Jul 2012

The shame is that they are fiction.

HiPointDem

(20,729 posts)

2. kr. sammy went to university during the depression, frat boy, married a banker's daughter who

Reply to kpete (Original post)

Thu Jul 19, 2012, 01:42 PM

Jul 2012

fronted him the money for his first store.

frat brothers' nick for him = "hustler"

sinkingfeeling

(51,461 posts)

3. Well, the Walton grandsons are busy this year. They paid for an 'independent'

Reply to kpete (Original post)

Thu Jul 19, 2012, 02:43 PM

Jul 2012

petition signature collection company to come to Benton County, Arkansas. Benton County has been a 'dry' county since Prohibition ended. They will be voting to bring in the 'spirits' this November. Guess who wants to be able to sell beer and wine in their Arkansas stores?

http://www.thecitywire.com/node/21490

"Through March 31, Steuart Walton and Tom Walton, grandsons of the Wal-Mart Stores founders, have each contributed $110,000 to the effort to collect signatures. The only other contributor is Casey General Store. The Ankeny, Iowa-based company has contributed $10,000 to the cause.

Larry Henry, the managing editor for 5NEWS and a longtime observer of Northwest Arkansas politics, said the “Keep Dollars in Benton County” group is essentially a “pass through” organization for the Walton grandsons to finance the effort. And while that is perfectly legitimate, Henry said it will be interesting to see if the group will generate grassroots support."

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