Is Wal-Mart good for America?

[BeardedOne]

It doesn't cost much more than $200-400 for a decent apartment in much of the United States.

Where?!? Damn! If that's the rental rates the land must be a fucking bargain! I gotta get me some of that!

[chefmike]

WTF? 200-400 dollars? For a decent apartment? You're lucky if you can find ANY apt. for 400 bucks...and 200 bucks, where is this...some coal-mining town in Appalachia? Get real...

[yourdaddy]

I own a duplex on some commercial property in Central Florida, 45 minutes from Disney, 7 minutes from I-4, 50 miles from Tampa. One side rents for 325.00, the other side for 375.00, on a one year lease. Appalachia probably has 10,000 rental units for under that. chefmike, who has never been in a union in his 20 years of existence, and who diatribes against all things American, needs to move out of his blue state, and see how the rest of the world lives. I am still a union member. I was forced to join, even though I live in a right-to-work state. Unions are more anti-American than even you mike. They eliminate ambitious input, invest your money without your permission, and are some of the biggest crooks in America. When G.M. declares bankruptcy, Wal Mart will still be doing theit thing.

[BeardedOne]

I own a duplex on some commercial property in Central Florida, 45 minutes from Disney, 7 minutes from I-4, 50 miles from Tampa. One side rents for 325.00, the other side for 375.00, on a one year lease. Appalachia probably has 10,000 rental units for under that.

Zoiks! I do recall a friend saying that he had sold his late mother's FL condo for $5k. Unbelievable. I consider myself to be in a low-rent area, but the rents start at $600+ and that's not for what one might consider 'decent' (Most have hot and cold running roaches and/or drug dealers). On a minimum-wage take-home of $1k a month (Allowing for withholdings, etc.) that doesn't leave a lot for things like heat, food, insurance, etc. I do know of houses downstate that rent for $4-500, but they are in the boonies, sometimes lack basics (Stove, etc.), and you end up spending another $200+/month for gas getting to and from work, store, etc. Average rents in the area, for a nice, clean apartment in a not-bad neighborhood, start at about $800 and a small house can rent for about $1200. This is ramping up, though, as a local building boom has doubled and tripled real estate values in just the past four years.

Oh, and re: Unions. I have mixed feelings about them as I've been in/dealt with UAW, ATU/UTU, ABEW, APWU, and Teamsters (Among others) and have experienced both good and bad. I see them as a necessary evil.

[fishman33]

Current reading - A Tale of Two Cities - first time I'm reading.
seanchai

ughh, you actually like Dickens, or just Broadening your horizons? I can't really talk, cuz I'm a huge Melville fan, but Dickens just draagggsssss for me.

oh, and I don't think Wal Mart's so bad, I guess.

[GroobySteven]

I realised that I'd never read a Dickens apart from A Christmas Carol at school so thought I'd read a few and enjoying a lot. "Moby Dick" dragged for me.
seanchai

[Realgirls4me]

Not good.

Walmart exposes capitalism’s warts. Marx has to be turning cartwheels in his grave right now.Wal-Mart – the new barometer of this country’s economy -- attained its ubiquity and girth by exploiting economies, cheap labor – both abroad and at home, and leveraging that size to arm twist many vendors to their knees for what in many cases is cheap shoddy merchandise, among other things. You guys who defend its practices should pour this into your soup: a myriad of class action lawsuits in everything from sex discrimination to underpaying or not paying employees for work performed; the hiring of hundreds of illegal aliens; the destruction of small businesses,livelihoods, and communities; low depressing wages with little or no health benefits to its employees, thereby placing the load on government aid agencies; Sam Walton proclaiming his chain would only sell American made products; Adam Smith’s warning of monopolies(The invisible hand should have a moral component in place iow). Four of the top ten richest people on this planet are Waltons.

Speck: Care to show us a picture of a $200.00 place ? Yeah, sure, you’d live in one, right ?

Yourdaddy: Are you that stupid, or do you just play that up here for our entertainment ? What a blind ingrate. Here’s some of the things the labor movement not only did for you, but also for the country’s citizens who were never members of a union. Many people sacrificed a great deal (their lives) in the labor movement’s nascent years so clowns like you would be treated with dignity and thus lead a better life.

The 40 hour work week
The concept of retirement/pensions
Healthcare
Overtime pay
A Safe Work place
Better wages than non-union shops
Sick leave
Training of its employees
Premium pay
Supported Civil Rights legislation
Supported the idea of Social Security
Paid Vacations
The concept of – Ta-da! – the weekend.

Now tell us which of the listed you would gladly relinquish ? GM’s problems stem from a myriad of problems from numerous sources and factors (global economy, downsizing, producing cars people don’t want, etc) which go far beyond their pension, worker-to-retiree issues. You can opt out on where your dues go as far as political contributions go, can’t you ? I would think you could in a right-to-work state. I love how guys like you are so quick to color union leaders in bed with crime bosses, but go out of your way to ignore the Ken Lays of the corporate world. Unions would never get a chance to flourish if companies would treat their workers with dignity, respect, and an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work.


I would never shop at a Wal-Mart. Never.

[BlackAdder]

"It doesn't cost much more than $200-400 for a decent apartment in much of the United States"

Pass that shit your smokin man........Section 8 here STARTS at 400$ and goes up from there. You want to live in a section 8 house with all that entails??

Thought not, now STFU.

[TrueBeauty TS]

If GM declares bankruptcy it might be because it's CEO is still making close to 5 million a year (2004 stats), even though he lacked the vision to dump the big SUV's that people were shying away from and refused to start making cars that were:
a. Good gas milage
b. Safe
c. Attractive

or even Hybrid.

It seems criminal to me to lay off thousands of workers and still be making close to 5 million. It's easy to blame the unions for everything, but truth is, nowadays they don't have nearly the power they used to.




G Richard Wagoner Jr
CEO/Chairman of the Board/Director at
General Motors Corporation
US
CONSUMER GOODS / AUTO MANUFACTURERS - MAJOR
Officer since June 1989
Director since October 1998

52 years old


Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, General Motors Corporation, since May 1, 2003; held offices of President and Chief Executive Officer (2000-2003), President and Chief Operating Officer (1998-2000); joined General Motors Corporation in 1977. Member of The Business Council and The Business Roundtable, the Board of Directors of Catalyst, and the Boards of Trustees of Duke University and Detroit Country Day School; Chairman, the Detroit Renaissance Executive Committee. Other Directorships: General Motors Acceptance Corporation, subsidiary of GM
Cash Compensation (FY December 2004)
Salary $2,200,000

Bonus $2,460,000

Latest FY other short-term comp. $77,962

Latest FY other long-term comp. $79,058

Latest FY long-term incentive payout $0
Total $4,817,020

[TrueBeauty TS]

It doesn't cost much more than $200-400 for a decent apartment in much of the United States.

This is from the US Census Bureau.... from 2001 !!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I going to take a wild guess and say that rent has increased since then.)


7. Q. How much does it cost to live in the average rental unit?
A. In 2001, the median monthly housing costs (rent, utilities, and garbage and trash collection) for renter occupied homes was $633.