There are glimmers of hope on the horizon -- such as the fact that Maryland's Democratic-controlled legislature has overridden the veto of Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich to pass a bill forcing Wal-Mart to boost health care funding for its workers in the state.
This, despite the fact that Wal-Mart hired four lobbying firms to influence legislators and poured thousands of dollars into Ehrlich's reelection war chest.
The pro-healthcare measure takes affect in 30 days, so get ready to pay some medical bills, Wal-Mart.
The company's not going to pack up and leave the state, but they are threatening to drop plans to build a distribution center in Maryland.
Why doesn't every state pass a version of this common-sense Maryland law, which seeks to keep Wal-Mart from its usual practice of foisting its workers upon state Medicaid rolls? No state would lose jobs if Wal-Mart were forced to give decent benefits in all 50 states.
In Maryland, the nation's largest private employer will be made to pay eight percent of its payroll towards health care for its workers, or a corresponding amount must be given to fund the state's Medicaid program. Sounds fair, no?
Every other employer in the state affected by the law - which applies to employers with more than 10,000 workers - already pays more than eight percent towards healthcare. Only Wal-Mart fails to meet this standard of decency.
For more on Wal-Mart, good links include Wal-Mart Watch, this Frontline episode and, on a fun note, check out Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping.