Our favorite wacky democratic socialist is back at it, this time with a new bill and new evil corporate target. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Union Lobby) is gunning for our own Walmart with new legislation to stop large businesses from buying back stock unless the company meets his slew of demands.
The name is so on the nose it might as well be a nostril. It's called the Stop Welfare for Any Large Monopoly Amassing Revenue from Taxpayers Act, which, if you'll notice, could be called the Stop WALMART Act.
Cute.
But we doubt he ran that by any focus groups, or he might have realized how many people don't want to stop Walmart at all, but enjoy doing business with the company. Leg quarters at 60 cents a pound, anybody?
Clearly bolstered by all the attention he got with his Stop Bezos Act, Sen. Sanders is once again bringing his untried and untrue business practices to the floor of the U.S. Senate. Here's more from CNN on what the bill would do:
"Sanders on Thursday introduced a bill, titled the Stop Walmart Act, that would prevent large companies from buying back stock unless they pay all employees at least $15 an hour, allow workers to earn up to seven days of paid sick leave and limit CEO compensation to no more than 150 times the median pay of all staffers."
Why 150 times? Why not 15 times? Or two times? Arbitrary is arbitrary, and if Bernie Sanders gets to decide what CEOs are allowed to make, instead of the free market, then why not go all the way? Next, Bernie Sanders could fix prices for all products, too. How Venezuelan.
But you just can't keep a good socialist down. Bernie Sanders doesn't just want government planning for wages, but for benefits too. Why only seven days of paid sick leave? Why not 70? Gentle Reader can see where this all leads, but then again, perhaps Gentle Reader doesn't think he should set wages and prices for the country. Bernie Sanders doesn't have that complication.
The Vermont senator is confident this bill will bring out meaningful change at Walmart: "The Walton family, the owners of Walmart, are the wealthiest family in America with a net worth of about $180 billion. Meanwhile, most Walmart retail workers are working for horrendously low wages with minimal benefits. The wealthiest family in America must pay its workers a living wage."
Maybe the people who work there should have an opinion. Which they do. The company employs more than 2 million people--1.4 million in the United States alone. And after the Republican Congress and Republican president passed a tax cut, the company increased its starting minimum wage to $11 an hour. Probably to keep employees from going to Amazon or other companies. Some of us call that the free market.
Others, however, just want large corporations to bleed simply for the crime of being successful.
Ah, but this is still capitalist America. So, as with his Stop Bezos Act, this newest idea is dead in the water. As even Bernie Sanders knew it would be. Something tells us he doesn't hold news conferences and issue press releases thinking these things will actually pass, but to get a little publicity, and maybe an SNL appearance once in a while. That, or he's already getting to the left of the Democrats (again) as the 2020 campaign unofficially starts.
It really does give one pause to imagine what would have happened if Sen. Sanders had beaten both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in 2016. That is, if the Democrats hadn't rigged the system against him.
Oh well, chalk that idea up as just another thing to be thankful for this week as we sit down to eat that turkey. The one we bought at Walmart.
Editorial on 11/20/2018