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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: richardred who wrote (50588)	8/27/2006 12:53:20 PM
From: richardred	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

Sen. Kerry's remarks today on Wal-Mart and health care. "Companies like Wal-Mart have adopted a totally different strategy-use workers until they get sick, don’t cover them for check-ups, and then tell them they’re on their own. The nice person who greets you at Wal-Mart’s door is shown the door when illness strikes. Whether it’s because Wal-Mart hires part-time workers and doesn’t offer them insurance, or offers health care packages most workers there can’t possibly afford, passing along enormous costs to families and taxpayers, the bottom line is clear: at Wal-Mart, less than forty percent of the employees have health insurance. That’s 600,000 working Americans on their own. It’s unconscionable and it is unacceptable that five of the ten richest people in America are Wal-Mart stockholders from the same family-worth double-digit billions each--but they can’t find the money to secure health coverage for their own workers and their families. Wal-Mart workers aren’t alone. Millions of Americans with full-time jobs end up without health insurance. No family should be left with their fingers crossed, hoping to dodge a bullet, afraid that bad news from their doctor will leave them bankrupt or without care. America believes in real family values and lives them; this Administration just talks about family values but does little to actually value families. Think about it: 46 million Americans uninsured including eleven million children, six million more than when this president took office. Those six million are casualties of indifference and incompetence every bit as much as the hundreds of people who are losing their lives in Iraq every week. And to demand change we must resolve to take both of these moral issues to the ballot box this fall." Posted by Silvia - July 31, 2006 11:40 AM - General Comments Senator Kerry's wife, Theresa Heinz, inherited everything she has and currently holds 5% of Heinz Corp. stock. In addition to her vast holdings (6 homes, jet, yacht, government bonds, investment portifolio, etc.) Ms. Kerry also sits on the boards of three large charitable foundations, one of which makes donations to organizations connected to terrorists. Mr. Kerry, with listed assets of less than $1 million, claimed that his wife was not giving him any money, either directly or indirectly, for his 2004 Presidential campaign. He claimed that his only income was from his job in Congress and that he took a $6 million mortgage on his home to help finance his campaign. Now, a $6 million mortgage, even a 0% interest, 30-year mortgage (assuming one exists-which it doesn't) comes to $200,000 per year. Since Mr. Kerry's gross salary comes to less than $200,000 per year, how is he making those payments?......................... Ms. Heinz has a very expensive home in Fox Chapel, PA outside Pittsburgh. It has a nice home and several outbuildings and sits on very expensive real estate in an exclusive section of the township. Ms. Kerry has her property listed as farmland in order to qualify for a property tax exemption. She also pays taxes at an effective rate of 15%, despite her millions in annual income. But I digress................... Just as the Walton family are simply shareholders in Wal-Mart, so is Theresa Heinz simply a shareholder in Heinz Corp. If you are going to hold the shareholders of Wal-Mart responsible for paying higher wages to Wal-Mart's workers than you must hold shareholders everywhere accountable for the actions of the company they own stock in. That means that little old widows with 10 shares of GM must contribute to a fund to support GM workers who lose their jobs. Heinz shareholders should pay workers who have lost their jobs at Heinz. Being a shareholder means you are an investor. Investors have no say in the day to day operation of the company. I know this will come out bad so I am just going ot say it. If you are working at Wal-Mart or any other job and you think it is so bad then quit. Just quit. Surely you are qualified to work elsewhere. I always hear that Wal-Mart is the worst place to work, with the lowest wages. But what about Target? K-Mart? McDonalds? Wendy's? Waitressing? Selling used cars? Working in a food processing facility or a plastics plant for $6.50 per hour and no benefits? Are these places better than Wal-Mart? Again, I reiterate. If you don't like your job, quit. Leave. Resign. Walk. Whatever. Just stop whining about it. Wal-Mart received more than 600,000 applications for the 50,000 new jobs it created last year. It currently has 1.6 million US employees. It brings in 138 million customers per week and did $315 billion in 2005 sales. SOMEONE SOMEWHERE thinks Wal-Mart is a good place to work and/or shop. I read in a book that Wal-Mart shoppers are divided into 4 groups. Those who were the most vocal in their hatred of Wal-Mart were actually the second largest group of shoppers who spent money at Wal-Mart! Even Wal-Mart haters shop at Wal-Mart! Except for Senator Kerry and his spoiled wife, neither of whom knew how to order food at Wendy's during a campaign stop. Posted by Nick - July 31, 2006 12:52 PM blog.wakeupwalmart.com