Wal-Mart Fights Maryland Law Mandating Minimus Level of Health Benefit Spending

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  • ryan198
    ryan198 Posts: 1,015
    surferdude wrote:
    Then lets hope that he/she wants enough to provide it for his/her children. Walk the talk, invite him over for dinner. Show an interest in his life, care for him. Become a Big Brother to the very people you say you want to help. Coach inner-city teams. Coaches are a bigger influence on kids than teachers.
    1. You are assuming the kid has a chance coming out of an inner-city school that b/c of the tax cuts you guys hate have absolutely nothing.

    2. I resent what you are saying b/c I am in the process of becoming a college professor. I'd say that teachers have had just as lasting an impression on my life as any coach.

    3. When I finish school and have a PhD I will be able to enact more change that I can at this moment...will I volunteer, and fight for equal rights, yes, but I have more plans for the future.
  • Abookamongstthemany
    Abookamongstthemany Posts: 8,209
    farfromglorified wrote:
    Do you know why????

    enlighten me.
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • farfromglorified
    farfromglorified Posts: 5,700
    Abookamongstthemany wrote:
    he is all about himself, while claiming that it could work for everyone.

    Is that who I am, or is that what you want me to be?
    it can't. everything you do in life leaves a footprint on this earth and effects those around you. 100% freedom to do what you wish can never work.

    It certainly would make it harder to single out one corporation that you don't like and force them to live by a different set of rules.
  • ryan198
    ryan198 Posts: 1,015
    farfromglorified wrote:
    Ok. But it's not going to change for either of us so we work with what we have. I didn't get where I am because I'm white, straight, and have a dick. The other white, straight, penis-enabled humans who aren't where I am are proof of that.
    don't forget class position, education level, etc.
    1. just understanding that you had certain advantages that others didn't have can help break down ignorance.

    2. clearly you worked hard to get where you did, but if you were born in the inner-city and had to go to school there your chances of getting out, no matter how smart, and dedicated you are go down...it's a fact.

    3. That's why I argue that you didn't earn EVERYTHING, and that these advantages you had played as big a role in getting you to where you are today as your hard work. You believe in the Reaganite "pull-yourself up by the bootstraps", but it's alot easier when you have bootstraps to pull yourself up with.
  • surferdude
    surferdude Posts: 2,057
    ryan198 wrote:
    1. You are assuming the kid has a chance coming out of an inner-city school that b/c of the tax cuts you guys hate have absolutely nothing.
    Everyone has a chance in life. Not an equal chance but everyone has a chance. Getting involved in one person's life would be giving that person a greater chance in life. If you do not want to do this that's fine but at least acknowledge your actions.
    ryan198 wrote:
    2. I resent what you are saying b/c I am in the process of becoming a college professor. I'd say that teachers have had just as lasting an impression on my life as any coach.
    Research has shown that coaches have a bigger impact on kids than teachers. Teachers do reach more kids but have a lesser impact on them. And I have no idea how being a college professor is going to help your inner-city male. If he's made it to college he's definitely already on the right track and has learned ways to perservere and overcome obstacles to his success, and all without you.

    ryan198 wrote:
    3. When I finish school and have a PhD I will be able to enact more change that I can at this moment...will I volunteer, and fight for equal rights, yes, but I have more plans for the future.
    All very laudable but there is no excuse for not volunteering your time in the present. Two to three hours a week can make a huge difference in a child's life. Believe me, it will be the best time you've ever spent.
    “One good thing about music,
    when it hits you, you feel to pain.
    So brutalize me with music.”
    ~ Bob Marley
  • Abookamongstthemany
    Abookamongstthemany Posts: 8,209
    farfromglorified wrote:
    Is that who I am, or is that what you want me to be?

    that is what I gather from your posts.

    farfromglorified wrote:
    It certainly would make it harder to single out one corporation that you don't like and force them to live by a different set of rules.

    I dislike all corporations who operate in this manner.
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • farfromglorified
    farfromglorified Posts: 5,700
    Abookamongstthemany wrote:
    enlighten me.

    In order for unemployment to be low, people have to have jobs. In order for people to have jobs, someone must be around to employ them. In order to employ them, those businesses must be able to sell products. In order to sell products, businesses must be able to convince a person to buy from them. In order to convince a person to buy from them, a business must differentiate itself from its competitors. In order to differentiate itself from its competitors, a business has to plan and strategize based on its operating environment.

    The more complex and capricious that environment, the higher the unemployment. So if you're going to make the environment this capricious, it's time to get rid of capitalism. Hence the following question:

    Why don't you just pass a law so Wal-Mart has to employ everyone?
  • farfromglorified
    farfromglorified Posts: 5,700
    Abookamongstthemany wrote:
    that is what I gather from your posts.

    If believing that everyone should be free to determine their course in life makes me "all about myself", so be it.
    I dislike all corporations who operate in this manner.

    Ok. Then why support a law that does nothing to change it?
  • ryan198
    ryan198 Posts: 1,015
    surferdude wrote:
    Everyone has a chance in life. Not an equal chance but everyone has a chance. Getting involved in one person's life would be giving that person a greater chance in life. If you do not want to do this that's fine but at least acknowledge your actions.

    Research has shown that coaches have a bigger impact on kids than teachers. Teachers do reach more kids but have a lesser impact on them. And I have no idea how being a college professor is going to help your inner-city male. If he's made it to college he's definitely already on the right track and has learned ways to perservere and overcome obstacles to his success, and all without you.


    All very laudable but there is no excuse for not volunteering your time in the present. Two to three hours a week can make a huge difference in a child's life. Believe me, it will be the best time you've ever spent.

    I do my best to balance my politics with real life, and, unfortunately at present, 2-3 hours of volunteering every week would be very difficult. However, I do my best and hope to do more in the future. Secondly saying my name with a PhD following it affords me more power with which to share with people in the inner-city whom I hope to be directly working with.

    As a kid I volunteered for a Summer Disability Camp, worked for it for 3 years, and then when I got a summer job I spent my lunch hour at the camp instead of eating. I coached or co-coached several little league teams, including a summer team that no one wanted so it helped them get an opportunity to play. In the end I decided I wasn't doing enough, and as of now I've decided this was the best road to help things in this country get better.
  • farfromglorified
    farfromglorified Posts: 5,700
    ryan198 wrote:
    don't forget class position, education level, etc.
    1. just understanding that you had certain advantages that others didn't have can help break down ignorance.

    Certainly! But pretending that the body you're born with determines your course certainly breaks down hope and promise.
    2. clearly you worked hard to get where you did, but if you were born in the inner-city and had to go to school there your chances of getting out, no matter how smart, and dedicated you are go down...it's a fact.

    Bullshit. I had plenty set against me, and I made it. And kids who had it far worse than me have gone even farther.
    3. That's why I argue that you didn't earn EVERYTHING, and that these advantages you had played as big a role in getting you to where you are today as your hard work. You believe in the Reaganite "pull-yourself up by the bootstraps", but it's alot easier when you have bootstraps to pull yourself up with.

    Those bootstraps are better known as the mind. And no government, no law can grant minds. They can only destroy them.
  • ryan198
    ryan198 Posts: 1,015
    farfromglorified wrote:
    Certainly! But pretending that the body you're born with determines your course certainly breaks down hope and promise.



    Bullshit. I had plenty set against me, and I made it. And kids who had it far worse than me have gone even farther.



    Those bootstraps are better known as the mind. And no government, no law can grant minds. They can only destroy them.

    1. I didn't say I was a determinist, I'm saying that it had a lot more to do with where you got in life than you'd care to admit.

    2. You are right, but the number of those vs. the number of GWB's (absolute morons who get what they don't deserve) is not as high b/c of the rules of this country.

    3. Bootstraps can also be opportunities...opportunities that without food, health care, and education (stuff that the gov. can faciilitate) can go unrealized no matter how smart, and determined an individual is.
  • Abookamongstthemany
    Abookamongstthemany Posts: 8,209
    farfromglorified wrote:
    If believing that everyone should be free to determine their course in life makes me "all about myself", so be it.

    you are selfproclaimed selfish. also, every course in life should be within reason and should include thinking of the lives their choices may effect.

    farfromglorified wrote:
    Ok. Then why support a law that does nothing to change it?

    I applaud small victories and look forward to larger ones.
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • ryan198
    ryan198 Posts: 1,015
    Alright goodnight, everyone..hopefully we all got somewhere new today.
  • Rushlimbo
    Rushlimbo Posts: 832
    Walmart bad, Maryland good.
    War is Peace
    Freedom is Slavery
    Ignorance is Strength
  • farfromglorified
    farfromglorified Posts: 5,700
    ryan198 wrote:
    1. I didn't say I was a determinist, I'm saying that it had a lot more to do with where you got in life than you'd care to admit.

    How much did it have to do with it? Can you give me a percentage figure?
    2. You are right, but the number of those vs. the number of GWB's (absolute morons who get what they don't deserve) is not as high b/c of the rules of this country.

    And how do you think GWB's are created?
    3. Bootstraps can also be opportunities...opportunities that without food, health care, and education (stuff that the gov. can faciilitate) can go unrealized no matter how smart, and determined an individual is.

    Tell that to Sam Walton.
  • farfromglorified
    farfromglorified Posts: 5,700
    Abookamongstthemany wrote:
    you are selfproclaimed selfish.

    Yes I am!
    also, every course in life should be within reason

    Who's reason? Yours?
    should include thinking of the lives their choices may effect.

    Most definitely. It would be nice if this was part of your proposals and the laws you support.
    I applaud small victories and look forward to larger ones.

    What did you win here? Wal-Mart still sucks. Wal-Mart employees still go without health insurance, and some in Maryland may lose their jobs. Third world nations get no reprieve.

    All you seem to have won is an angry Wal-Mart. Congratulations.
  • Abookamongstthemany
    Abookamongstthemany Posts: 8,209
    farfromglorified wrote:



    Who's reason? Yours?

    not playing these games


    farfromglorified wrote:
    Most definitely. It would be nice if this was part of your proposals and the laws you support.

    Well, you know I think the same about your proposals so we can skip this, as well.

    farfromglorified wrote:
    What did you win here? Wal-Mart still sucks. Wal-Mart employees still go without health insurance, and some in Maryland may lose their jobs. Third world nations get no reprieve.

    All you seem to have won is an angry Wal-Mart. Congratulations.

    it won their employees a better shot at healthcare. it also shows them that people aren't gonna just let them slide. it shows people have a problem with they way they operate. and I got a super cool decoder ring in mail shortly after the law passed.
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • farfromglorified
    farfromglorified Posts: 5,700
    Abookamongstthemany wrote:
    it won their employees a better shot at healthcare.

    How? Not a single employee will get healthcare they're not already getting today.
    it also shows them that people aren't gonna just let them slide.

    It shows them that they can slide. Rather than an action that would make Wal-Mart get real healthcare plans, they simply hand over an 8% bribe to the state and they can continue their behavior.
    it shows people have a problem with they way they operate.

    Does it? It ties the people to the way they operate. Suddenly the state gets a few million bucks a year for doing nothing and suddenly politicians don't want Wal-Mart to offer healthcare, a la sin taxation.
    and I got a super cool decoder ring in mail shortly after the law passed.

    It was probably made by a company you'll put out of business tomorrow....
  • El_Kabong
    El_Kabong Posts: 4,141
    walmart made over $75 million in gross profit last year...and they make so much by paying their workers as low as possible to where they can't even afford to live w/o government assistance...i thought the ppl here against this hated supporting 'welfare mothers'? and yet here you are arguing for a corporation to create thousands of them in several states!

    how much profit is enough to where the company can start giving back to it's employees? and we're not even talking about every cashier getting paid some obscene amount, we're talking about basic needs.
    standin above the crowd
    he had a voice that was strong and loud and
    i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
    eager to identify with
    someone above the crowd
    someone who seemed to feel the same
    someone prepared to lead the way
  • farfromglorified
    farfromglorified Posts: 5,700
    El_Kabong wrote:
    walmart made over $75 million in gross profit last year...

    Umm....if this was true this plan alone would threaten Wal-Mart's viability. Thankfully, however, Wal-mart made about $11 billion in net profit last year. Their gross profit was probably 10-15 times that.
    and they make so much by paying their workers as low as possible to where they can't even afford to live w/o government assistance...i thought the ppl here against this hated supporting 'welfare mothers'? and yet here you are arguing for a corporation to create thousands of them in several states!

    It might be time that you stop assuming that your assumptions about some of us is actually what we are.
    how much profit is enough to where the company can start giving back to it's employees?

    As much as the man or woman who makes it thinks.
    and we're not even talking about every cashier getting paid some obscene amount, we're talking about basic needs.

    Certainly. Wal-Mart also sells a lot of those basic needs at such a low cost to the very people you pretend to defend.

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