A historical narrative to follow..
In 1986, Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, had a problem. He was under growing pressure from shareholders — and his wife, Helen — to appoint a woman to the company’s 15-member board of directors.
So Mr. Walton turned to a young lawyer who just happened to be married to the governor of Arkansas, where Wal-Mart is based: Hillary Rodham Clinton.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
We're not aware of any big differences between Wal-Mart's practices now and its practices in 1992 when Mrs. Clinton was part of the board responsible for its practices. No, the difference isn't Wal-Mart, it's Mrs. Clinton. When she was an Arkansas breadwinner and political wife she backed the company.
http://www2.nysun.com/...
Wal-Mart, though, was the crown jewel of Arkansas, the state's First Company fit for a first lady. During her tenure on the board, she presumably helped preside over the most remarkable growth of any company until Bill Gates came along. The number of Wal-Mart employees grew during the '80s from 21,600 to 279,000, while sales soared from $1.2 billion to $25.8 billion.
And the Clintons depended on Wal-Mart's largesse not only for Hillary's regular payments as a board member but for travel expenses on Wal-Mart planes and for heavy campaign contributions to Bill's campaigns there and nationally. According to reports in the early '90s, before Bill and Hillary moved to D.C., neither was raking in the big bucks, but prominent in their income were her holdings of between $50,000 and $100,000 worth of Wal-Mart stock.
http://www.villagevoice.com/...
And the board Hillary Clinton sat on was rabidly anti-union, was exploiting sweatshop labor around the world, discriminating against women workers, forcing workers to labor off the clock and destroying communities that did not want them. This should not be a shock: Clinton was a partner in the Rose law firm, one of the most active anti-union law firms in the country.
http://www.commondreams.org/...
Clinton defends her board of directors term, saying she tried to change the company. Let us not kid ourselves -- the board members focus on making stockholders happy.
http://www.postbulletin.com/...
Immediately after her speech, while the rest of the gaggle of reporters remained motionless, I walked toward the podium and, when I was about 10 feet away, politely asked her about her stint on the board of directors of Wal-Mart, the world's largest union-busting company.
She stared at me in shock, her eyes grew big as saucers, and, despite the well-wishers and celebrity-seekers who were still waiting for a word or a blessing, she scurried off the stage without saying a word. Yes, she didn't walk, she scurried.
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/...
Prior to 1998, Wal-Mart failed to grasp the power of a Washington-based lobbying army. With enormous wealth and a friendly legislature, Wal-Mart and the Walton family came to the realization that they could advance goals such as school vouchers, restricting tariff protections, limiting port security, the elimination of the estate tax, and obtaining lucrative subsidies. Wal-Mart Subsidy Watch by Good Jobs First documented that Wal-Mart has received more than $1.2 billion from over 244 taxpayer-funded subsidies status, job training/recruiting funds, and general grants.
http://walmartwatch.com/...
Does anyone see the parallel between Hillary Clinton's relationship with Wal*Mart and Barack Obama's relationship with Reverend Wright?
Why didn't she speak up against Wal*Mart?
Why didn't she walk out in disgust?
These questions need answering.