Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (4175)	2/25/2004 4:05:20 PM
From: Kenneth E. Phillipps	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 81568

Wal-Mart Money mostly to GOP Wal-Mart's political contributions have been spread widely in Congress, with more than 220 members of the House and Senate receiving checks of $1,000 to $17,500 so far this election cycle. About 85 per cent of the money has gone to Republicans. Ray Bracy, Wal-Mart's vice president of international corporate affairs, says that until recent years its biggest issues had been at the local level. "But more and more as we have become big, and perhaps the target of criticism for many, we recognized that the local problems were still there, but there also were looming large national issues." One such issue is trade. No company would be hurt more than Wal-Mart by a backlash against trade, particularly efforts to curb imports from China. The company imports about $15 billion in goods annually from China alone. In retrospect, Mr. Bracy says, Wal-Mart's absence from the negotiations on China's accession to the World Trade Organization in the late 1990s was "a miss". The WTO agreement, for example, says a retailer cannot own more than 30 stores in China without getting government approval. "If we had been present at the table, we could have said: 'where does 30 come from?'" says Mr. Bracy. "We have 31 stores in Houston alone." Despite its generous political contributions, however, Wal-Mart's lobbying style still reflects its corporate obsession with keeping costs as low as possible. Its Washington office, opened four years ago, only employs five full-time lobbyists, a fraction of comparably sized companies such as General Electric. And the company is facing a series of disputes with state-level retail lobbying associations over its demand for cut-rate membership fees. "What they normally do is send you what they think they can get away with," says Chris Tackett, president of the Wisconsin Merchants Federation. © The Financial Times Ltd 2004. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times

To: American Spirit who wrote (4175)	2/25/2004 4:14:09 PM
From: tonto	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

OK, you were not aware of the tax treatment on the corporate side of this money. It will not change your mind as you want taxes instead of less spending, but you gained something today.

To: American Spirit who wrote (4175)	2/25/2004 4:18:08 PM
From: Lizzie Tudor	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 81568

Bush assumed the economy would bounce back and like many republicans he felt the treasury was overfunded and if he and the republicans didn't raid it and take the money, the dems would use it for programs. Jokes on Bush though, the jobs crisis killed the incoming receipts, that surplus was a ONE SHOT deal and the Bush plundering will not be forgiven. If Bush had even spent a half hour trying to figure out what was really going on in the economy he would have known not to plunder the treasury 2+ years ago.