The War on Walmart, the War on Us

The Democrats and the left have declared war on Walmart.

It is driven by labor unions, who are the core of the Democrat party, by the liberal cultural elite, who view Walmart as déclassé Red America, and now by the feminazis, who want to push around private companies and pharmacists. I imagine the trial lawyers are not too far behind. Of course the fact that Walmart brings jobs and low-cost consumer goods to poorer communities is not to be considered.

From the 2/16/06 editorial, "Retail Rumble" of the Wall St. Journal:

America's retailers announced last week that they aren't especially keen to follow the steel, airline and perhaps the auto industries into bankruptcy court. If Big Labor really wants a fight over mandated health insurance, it now has one.

The announcement came in the form of two federal lawsuits filed by the Retail Industry Leaders Association against the state of Maryland and Suffolk County, New York. At issue are the "Wal-Mart" laws that both jurisdictions recently passed, which would require a few large companies to pay more for their workers' health care. The lawsuits argue the statutes are "discriminatory," which may be the legal understatement of the year since both target only a few employers.

This is an unusual show of solidarity for the 400 or so member retail trade group, and it suggests more companies are figuring out that organized labor's campaign against Wal-Mart is merely a warm-up to a broader assault. Thanks to the exhortations of the AFL-CIO, some 30 states are now considering so-called "fair share" health-care laws that force companies to devote a certain percentage of their payroll to health care. The common denominator is that all of these laws largely single out non-union employers.

The union strategy is to force any competitive, non-unionized company to incur the same labor-induced costs as their own beleaguered employers. Unionized grocers such as Safeway, Albertson's and Kroger have been losing the fight against their lower-cost competitors, and shedding jobs in the process. In the past decade, more than two dozen supermarket operators have sought bankruptcy court protection or liquidated. The union goal is to stop this bleeding by dragging the Wal-Marts and Costcos to their cost level.

Now the Democrats have opened a new front in the war on Walmart. David Holman in the American Spectator, "Thugs for Choice":

On the merits, the women's complaint and lawsuit were flimsy at best. The women claimed that Wal-Mart was in violation of a pharmacy regulation that pharmacies "shall maintain on the premises at all times...commonly prescribed medications in accordance with the usual needs of the community." As Wal-Mart's attorney pointed out in a letter to the women's attorney, the board has never before required pharmacies to stock a specific drug, nor has it ever recommended a list that would satisfy this regulation. And just last year, when the Massachusetts legislature took up the question of hospitals and pharmacies dispensing EC, they chose not to require pharmacies to carry it. Like the Maryland law singling out Wal-Mart for employee health coverage, the Massachusetts pharmacy board used a rather arcane regulation to satisfy the radical feminists.

Walgreen's has already caved on this issue in Illinois, and suspended people who in good conscience can not fill these prescriptions or make referrals to other pharmacies:

Blagojevich warned Illinois pharmacists in April to dispense the abortifacient morning-after pill or face legal backlash – despite a state statute that exempts pharmacists from participating in practices contrary to their religious views.

A very glib ruling on the part of our glib governor, who is directly responsible for individuals losing their paying jobs. The next step is for pharmacies who object being forced to close. And how does that help "social justice", not to mention respect freedom of conscience!

Unless they fight it, we'll end up with more bankrupt companies.

And those that survive will be forced to take morally bankrupt positions.

And whether he intended this outcome or not, according to his pundit enablers, we ought to toss Blagojevich out of office on this issue alone.