In These Times
06-09-2011, 02:00 PM
In recent years, Walmart has done much to mitigate its image as a big box super villain, even as it faces complaints from one of the largest gender discrimination lawsuits (http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/node/8838) in history and countless other allegations of exploitative labor practices.
Part of Walmart’s public image makeover has been to cast itself as a politically moderate company that donates as much to Democrats as to Republicans.
After it was revealed that in 2008 Walmart officials held meetings telling managers that voting for Barack Obama would mean “inviting unions in,” the company apparently launched a media initiative to show it was donating as much or more to Democrats in the 2010 elections. The move to cast itself as supportive of Democrats appears to be part of the company’s push to open more stores (http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2010-09-20-walmart-urban_N.htm) in urban and higher-income areas with more progressive and more highly educated residents.
But a new report (http://walmartwatch.org/get-the-facts/whats-right-walmarts-political-priorities/) by the group Walmart Watch analyzed the company’s political giving and found that in the 2010 elections, the company and the founding Walton family still disproportionately supported right-wing candidates and Democrats with more right-wing positions.
More... (http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/11479/report_walmart_tries_to_hide_right_wing_donations/)
Part of Walmart’s public image makeover has been to cast itself as a politically moderate company that donates as much to Democrats as to Republicans.
After it was revealed that in 2008 Walmart officials held meetings telling managers that voting for Barack Obama would mean “inviting unions in,” the company apparently launched a media initiative to show it was donating as much or more to Democrats in the 2010 elections. The move to cast itself as supportive of Democrats appears to be part of the company’s push to open more stores (http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2010-09-20-walmart-urban_N.htm) in urban and higher-income areas with more progressive and more highly educated residents.
But a new report (http://walmartwatch.org/get-the-facts/whats-right-walmarts-political-priorities/) by the group Walmart Watch analyzed the company’s political giving and found that in the 2010 elections, the company and the founding Walton family still disproportionately supported right-wing candidates and Democrats with more right-wing positions.
More... (http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/11479/report_walmart_tries_to_hide_right_wing_donations/)