Wal-Mart Welfare

I don't shop at Wal-Mart, not because of the usual it is killing the small businesses reasons that most give, that is part of the harsh mistress of capitalism, but because the few times I've ventured into their stores I've found that they are dirty in complete disarray, there are long lines, oh and they basically only sell crap. But one of the main reason that people are opposed to Wal-Marts opening in their communities is that basically Wal-Mart subsidizes many of the costs by making the tax payers pick up the tab for costs that should be part of their employee benefit packages, on the less than livable wage one gets at Wal-Mart, one if usually forced to get food stamps and us medicaid. The following quote from Smithsonian Magazine sums up Wal-Mart's attitude toward making the government help them keep their profits up by robbing tax payers.

---

Wal-Mart’s (VP of private brands and product development Matt) Kistler says the company isn’t about to take back used PLA for composting. “We’re not in the business of collecting garbage,” he says. “How do we get states and municipalities to set up composting systems? That is the million-dollar question. It’s not our role to tell government what to do. ”

---