There are two tasks that all politicians like to be able to boast success about: making the lives of voters safer and making the lives of voters more prosperous. The latter often involves the promise of jobs. Lots of jobs. In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo made such a promise and as New York Times […]

Fast forward to the 3:05 time mark if you must, but come on, how many people would ever expect Jon Stewart to deliver a positive message for Walmart? Perhaps because the company recognizes that with millions of employees on the payrolls, statistically there is no way to ignore the fact that there are members of […]

The bill that passed the Washington state house yesterday still has to work through the state senate and the governor’s office, but I see a hopeful pattern here. If, businesses don’t flee Washington. If, instead, the economy of Washington flourishes against all the dire predictions of business leaders, then they other house in the other […]

Walmart is big in Texas. So big that Walmart is not only the No. 1 private employer in the state, but the Bentonvile Behemoth was also the No. 1 contributor to the inaugural events for Texas Governor Gregg Abbot. A lavish inauguration for Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was pulled off thanks to $4.7 million […]

Alcohol is the official mind-numbness inducing drug of choice in America for those who need escape from their lives and do not wish to run afoul of law enforcement. Walmart wants to tap that corner the booze business in Texas. Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer and the biggest private employer in Texas, filed a lawsuit […]

In my home state, Ohio, Walmart is the largest private-sector employer. That carries clout with politicians. I don’t know the numbers for Maryland, but if the governor’s actions are any indication, he knows on what side his bread is buttered. It was with deep disappointment that the citizens of Bel Air learned that the Hogan […]

The group that sued the city of Ceres and Wal-Mart over a proposed Supercenter and lost has appealed the Stanislaus Superior Court decision. The appeal, filed with the court Jan. 26, further delays the construction of a Walmart Supercenter slated for Mitchell and Service roads, approved by the City Council in 2011. In November, Superior […]

Walmart’s near orgasmic explosion of building in San Diego following years of frustration reminds me of the stampede down the gangway on the USS Bainbridge (CGN-25) when we docked there following a nine-month deployment to the Western Pacific. California State Sen. Juan Vargas has introduced legislation to slow the headlong rush. From MAPLight: Democratic State […]

Change always involves investment of personal resources — both time and wealth — and a common metric for judging the worth of a change is whether or not the return on the investment justifies the up-front cost; that includes politics. Reading Ruth Marcus’ piece made me wonder if Walmart Moms are there yet. From The […]

What caused New York state senate democrats to return a check for $15,000 to Walmart. Did someone grow a pair and say no to corporate influence? Was a decision made that the check wasn’t big enough? Or, my choice, was the grief just not worth it? From the New York Post: State Senate Democrats have […]

Rightly or wrongly, Illinois and Louisiana are always serious contenders for the top slot in the Best Bought Politicians race, but Illinois GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Brady has given his state an edge thanks to the good citizens of Walmart. From Crain’s Chicago Business: In an under-noticed development last week, GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Brady […]

No one can accuse Bill Brady of being shy about his affinity for Walmart, last October the and Illinois’ GOP gubernatorial nominee kicked off his Jobs Tour on Chicago’s southside where Walmart very much wants to open its second Chicago supercenter. Yet he manages to deliver a speech on Walmart and not mention Walmart. What […]

Senator Blanche Lincoln (D- Arkansas -Walmart) officially has a primary battle for her seat in the United States Senate. Everyone expected that the Republicans would pour cash into the Fall battle, but a primary is a whole different department. From The Associated Press: Democratic U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, a moderate already considered one of the […]

In the past we have been taken to task for not posting about bad behavior at Walmart’s competitors. Typically the reason is simply: we write about Walmart, if you want to write about how bad the competitors are, get your own blog. But in New Jersey, we can anger three oxen with one gore. From […]

We’ve written a bit about Wal-Mart’s raking in hundreds of millions of dollars from a dead-employees scam, but a revelation in the court documents filed yesterday in Florida added an extra level of evil to the plan by revealing where the money went. Wal-Mart … says the program was intended to reduce its income taxes […]