Law to make Wal-Mart raise benefits

Knoxville News Sentinel ^ | 3/8/6 | REBECCA FERRAR

[SmithL]

State Sen. Tim Burchett has introduced legislation to ensure that Wal-Mart provides health insurance to its employees.

"It requires folks that have over 10,000 employees to provide some health insurance for their employees," the Knoxville Republican said Wednesday.

The 10,000 benchmark makes the bill apply primarily to Wal-Mart. While some other companies may have that many employees, they do provide health insurance, Burchett said.

He said Wal-Mart has used TennCare, the state’s health insurance program for the poor and uninsured, as a source to provide insurance to its employees.

"Wal-Mart has used the state’s TennCare health insurance program as a dumping ground," Burchett said. "All we want is for them to pay their fair share. That’s not a lot to ask."

The bill calls for a new Fair Share Health Care Fund to be set up. Employers that qualify under this bill — companies that do not spend at least 8 percent of their total payroll on health insurance costs — would pay to the state an amount equal to the difference between 8 percent of their total pay roll in Tennessee and the actual amount spent in the previous year for health insurance costs for employees in Tennessee.

[bpjam]

about 8 years ago there was an AFL-CIO push across the country to prevent WalMart from being able to build supercenters which had grocery stores in them because the AFL-CIO represents United Commercial Food Workers (checkers, box boys and janitors in supermarkets). It was a complete farce and it relied upon using bought politicians (two of which we put in jail in Las Vegas) to get city and county governments (which tend to be more liberal) to enact any kind of restrictions in WalMart expansions and stopping competition.

Lets just face facts. The AFL-CIO and the rest of organized labor posse is just socialism with a better PR firm. They lie, they steal, they corrupt and they regularly embezzle the money of poor workers to line the pockets of fat cats and bureaucrats. If they are on one side, I automatically presume that I am going to be on the other without having to even know what the issue is.

[Flavius]

no im looking for that advertisement type that you see at 3am with ag uy in a medical coat saying send me your money and ill give you a 2 dollar medical card type thing

i knew of cobra and medicare , i have a job and all i would just like to get something cheap...

but thank you for posting

[biff]

Nowdays, not difference between and R and D.

[tfecw]

"Just issue a press statement...
The instant that the law is passed every wal mart employee in the state is out of a job...and if the law is then repealed they all go back to work."

I always wondered what would have happened if "big tobacco" stopped selling smokes in Boston/NYC when they started their bar bans. I've got a feeling NYC would have caved first due to lost tax revenue. Oh well, the only lesson learned with that was that the government can push around private businesses. Fun times

[Just A Nobody]

Thank you for your comments. It is all perfectly clear if one chooses to see. I particularly enjoyed this line of yours.....

The AFL-CIO and the rest of organized labor posse is just socialism with a better PR firm.

[The Cuban]

Good for him. Walmart is shifting its responsibility (yes responsibility) to the public dole.

[festus]

Is it possible to throw someone out of the party ?

If so I say we force him to turn in his ring and his tie tack. He is out of the shrine. ( That and his secret decoder ring).

[Just Lori]

This isn't right. We aren't a free nation anymore.

[gidget7]

Wow, that really ticks me off. Walmart does more for the communities it does business in than any government agency ever has. They send kids through college, the were right there on the front lines in NO, and they DO provide health care benefits. Not to part timers is all, or some part timers, who work a certain number of hours can get benefits after a 6 months. I do not understand what this assault on Walmart is all about.

[Just A Nobody]

I agree.

I do not understand what this assault on Walmart is all about.

Wal-Mart IS the great American success story and the socicommunazies can't stand it. See post #41 and go to the last link I posted in #16 for further explanation.

[tacomonkey2002]

I don't understand the reaction to this bill, as if overnight the government had begun coercing behavior. How many of us receive tax breaks for charity, housing, work related expenses, and health care costs.

Granted this bill is poorly written and is blatant government involvement, but is it not better than the government just taking and spending.

[kaktuskid]

How much does Target pay in health care benefits?

[Mark Mundt]

Why is it Wal-Mart's responsibility to provide healthcare to its workers? For that matter, why is it the public's responsibility to provide healthcare? Each individual is responsible for taking care of themselves and earning their own living. Nobody owes them that.

[The Cuban]

Because that is the way the system has been set up through the consent of many generations since the 19th Century, in exchange for the right to sue others for injuries and have health care remain private, the government has not socialised medicine because there has been no need to. Now Walmart, which would not be here but for the benefits of existing because of the systems in place in this country, wants to shirk its responsibility, at the expense of others in society, namely the taxpayers

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

I'm just hoping I can save enough money before the fiscal collapse starts, stick it in Cayman Islands bank accounts and move to Belize.

Sounds like you got a plan! I would love to hightail it to Costa Rica or somewhere and retire.