Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Free Enterprise America?

Generally, to qualify for food stamps, a family can't earn more than 130 percent of poverty level, which would be $25,000 for a family of three. A typical Walmart worker earning $8.81 an hour, slightly more than minimum wage, receives $15,576 a year. The average Walmart Supercenter in Wisconsin has been calculated to cost the government  between $904,542 and $1.7 million each year for programs like Medicaid and food stamps.

Walmart made $17 billion last year, while paying its workers poverty wages. As Walmart workers use government programs to get by, the six Walmart heirs now have more wealth than the bottom 42 percent of Americans combined. Between 2007 and 2010 the wealth of the six richest Walmart heirs rose from $73 billion to $90 billion while the wealth of the average American declined from $126,000 to $77,000.

 The government doesn't require Walmart to pay a living wage. Instead, the government uses tax dollars to subsidize low-paid Walmart workers while cutting taxes on the wealthy Walmart heirs.  Essentially that government aid is welfare for Walmart but unlike food stamp applicants who must prove poverty to qualify for government aid,  big business is not means tested.

From here 

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