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It has been around forever
Friday, January 7, 2011
City Pols Fight Walmart Despite Overwhelming Support By Constituents
Here is a New York Post article that shows that proves that elected officials must know better than we do. A poll of residents in the districts of Councilmembers who are opposed to Walmart shows that there is overwhelming popular support for the store to open. For example, a poll of 300 people who live in the district of Charles Barron in Brooklyn found that 87 percent of them support having a Walmart in the City. Included on this list is our very own Diane Foster of the Bronx, whose district also supported having a Walmart in the City. (Ironcially, if you look at the posting below on Councilwoman Foster, you will see that her work attendance in the Council is the worst in New York.) These results mirror the results of a survey last month of 1000 New Yorkers, where the support for Walmart was at about 71 percent. So why do we still have to drive to New Jersey or upstate to go to a Walmart?
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The people want Walmart, and it's what the people want that matters. The pols, however, will cave to the unions (unless of course enough people express themselves in no uncertain terms!).
ReplyDeleteDon't we live in a country with a free market economy? Only in NY - pols need to get a payoff in order for the the largest retailer in the world to open a store in NYC. Unreal.
ReplyDeleteWhile I never underestimate the average American's ability to fight very hard for their own destruction, WALMART has every right to open a store anywhere they want to.
ReplyDeleteI personally would never step into one, but as the economic depression worsens, those cheap Chinese products are swiftly becoming the only thing the average American can afford.
The only problem is how the destroyed (on purpose by Volckers 22% prime rate in the 80's....oh and Volcker just happens to be one of Obama's masters) manufacturing sector is going to support 300 million Americans once that oil supply peaks (actually it may already have) and those cheap chinese googaws become more and more expensive.
But hey, this is America, we don't worry about the future, we just mindlessly destroy ourselves in the present.
How's that globalization working out for you?
Why would any sane person take economic advice from the NY City Council ???
ReplyDeletewalmart is a disease. i vote no. we can do better. just because the rest of america has run out of ideas, does that mean we have to, also? stop being followers. LEAD!
ReplyDeletea few seconds ago · LikeUnlike.
These politicians who are ignoring the will of the electorate are just gross.
ReplyDeleteI visit a Walmart out of town whenever I have a chance. It would be nice to have one in New York City, hopefully here in the Bronx.
ReplyDeleteAs the French anti-globalization activists say, "La croissance est une folie" (or "Growth is a joke")
ReplyDeleteThe French should mind their own business!
ReplyDeleteTa Gueule!!
ReplyDeleteI have a simple message to those politicians who don't like Walmart: Don't Shop There!
ReplyDeleteThe rest of us obviously LOVE shopping there, and that's why Walmart stores are so popular.
WALMART: Save Money. Live Better.
Walmart is not a bad company ... Their practices are allowed by US law, and if people think that Walmart goes too far, then the laws can be changed. So unless elected officials feel like outlawing Walmart, shut up already and let the company do its business.
ReplyDeleteWhat business does the NY City COuncil have blocking a national retailer from opening in NYC? Have I suddenly been transported out of America?
ReplyDeleteis any council committee running around checking the moral record of other companies that operate in our city? What bout the morally bankrupt banking and finance industry -maybe we should force a few brokerage houses out of NYC too! Send them to NJ! Of course Quinn would never koll the golden goose but Walmart - WALMART! - God forbid they unleash the plague of lower prices and huge selection on the unsuspecting buying public. As for the job killing accusations - maybe the Council should focus on retaining a higher caliber of employer - not a peep when Stella Doro closes. No attempt to recoup all those freebies they threw to the parent company to upgrade the plant. No Pol cares about the disappearing manufacturing sector or the demise of solid middle class blue collar jobs in private industry in this city and state.
Hey .. Here's the first part of an interesting article I just saw in the NY Times about first lady Michelle Obama joining Wal-Mart's effort to get consumers to eat healthier foods:
ReplyDeleteThe New York Times, Thursday, January 20, 2011
WAL-MART SHIFTS STRATEGY TO PROMOTE HEALTHY FOODS
By Sheryl Gay Stolberg
WASHINGTON — Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, will announce a five-year plan on Thursday to make thousands of its packaged foods lower in unhealthy salts, fats and sugars, and to drop prices on fruits and vegetables.
The initiative came out of discussions the company has been having with Michelle Obama, the first lady, who will attend the announcement in Washington and has made healthy eating and reducing childhood obesity the centerpiece of her agenda. Aides say it is the first time Mrs. Obama has thrown her support behind the work of a single company.
The plan, similar to efforts by other companies and to public health initiatives by New York City, sets specific targets for lowering sodium, trans fats and added sugars in a broad array of foods — including rice, soups, canned beans, salad dressings and snacks like potato chips — packaged under the company’s house brand, Great Value.
In interviews previewing the announcement, Wal-Mart and White House officials said the company was also pledging to press its major food suppliers, like Kraft, to follow its example. Wal-Mart does not disclose how much of its sales come from its house brand. But Kraft says about 16 percent of its global sales are through Wal-Mart.
In addition, Wal-Mart will work to eliminate any extra cost to customers for healthy foods made with whole grains, said Leslie Dach, Wal-Mart’s executive vice president for corporate affairs. By lowering prices on fresh fruits and vegetables, Wal-Mart says it will cut into its own profits but hopes to make up for it in sales volume. “This is not about asking the farmers to accept less for their crops,” he said.
The changes will be introduced slowly, over a period of five years, to give the company time to overcome technical hurdles and to give consumers time to adjust to foods’ new taste, Mr. Dach said. “It doesn’t do you any good to have healthy food if people don’t eat it.” ...
READ MORE: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/business/20walmart.html?_r=1&hp