On 08/18/06 11:02 am HeyBub wrote:

40 million shoppers say you're wrong. They voted with their feet and their
dollars.

The average Wal-Mart shopper spends $2300 annually at Wal-Mart. Assuming
this is 10% lower than they would have spent without Wal-Mart, times the
number of shoppers, you'll find that Wal-Mart provides, each year, a greater
dollar benefit to society than all the government's welfare programs
combined.

And the company pays taxes while they do it.

Yes, Wal-Mart pays corporate taxes at the same time they are getting
massive tax breaks from towns and cities where they open stores.

But whether it's Wal-Mart, HD, Lowe's, or Joe's Building Supplies, I
think it's a disgrace that the wages for a 40-hour week (or perhaps even
a 50- or 60-hour week) are not enough to put a roof over the worker's
head, put food on his/her table, meet the costs of transportation at
least to and from work, and cover health-care costs --at least not in
any place reasonably fit for human habitation.

Perce