Letters to the Editor
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Was Senator Clinton getting tough with Wal-Mart on trade and job shipping when she was on its board?
"She'll end 55 billion dollars in giveaways to corporate special interests and invest it in middle-class tax cuts and creating new jobs. She'll get tough on unfair trade deals and end tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas."
(From http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0312-01.htm)-
"And Wal-Mart's Made in America campaign, which for years touted the company's sales of American products in its stores, was launched after Bill Clinton persuaded Walton to help save 200 jobs at an Arkansas shirt manufacturing plant. The Made in America campaign has virtually vanished in recent years, as the company's manufacturing has gradually moved overseas -- another point of criticism by many Wal-Mart critics."
Is this not a bit hypocritical for Senator Clinton to suddently be an advocate for stopping the exorbitant importing and shipping of American jobs overseas, in view of the fact that she served on the board of Wal-Mart from 1986-1992?
Wal-Mart is very likely the biggest offenders on both counts.
And while her supporters could point to some of the good she did while there ... these two paragraphs I think describe her overall impact ...
(From http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/us/politics/20walmart.html) -
"For Mrs. Clinton, being a director at Wal-Mart gave her access to several of the state’s most powerful business executives. In the early 1980s, for example, Mr. Walton was instrumental in building support for a corporate tax program, pushed by Mrs. Clinton, that financed a major education overhaul in Arkansas, a signal achievement of her husband’s governorship.
Though she was passionate about issues like gender and sustainability, Mrs. Clinton largely sat on the sidelines when it came to Wal-Mart and unions, board members said. Since its founding in 1962, Wal-Mart has fought unionization efforts at its stores and warehouses, employing hard-nosed tactics — like allegedly firing union supporters and spying on employees — that have become the subject of legal complaints against the company."
I have serious doubts about her sincerity on this issue, given her past associations with the largest retailer in the world, and effectively signing off on some rather of their dubious business practices.