SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California paid an estimated $86 million in pubic assistance in 2001 because workers at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. earn such low wages, researchers said on Tuesday.
"Wal-Mart workers' reliance on public assistance due to substandard wages and benefits has become a form of indirect public subsidy to the company," said the report issued by the University of California, Berkeley Labor Center.
"Reliance by Wal-Mart workers on public assistance programs in California comes at a cost to the taxpayers of an estimated $86 million annually; this is comprised of $32 million in health related expenses and $54 million in other assistance."
The report said many of Wal-Mart's 44,000 California employees in 2001 relied on food stamps, Medicare and subsidized housing to make ends meet and also need more public health care than typical retail workers.
Report co-author Ken Jacobs said he obtained data on Wal-Mart wages from a lawsuit that revealed information for 2001. The study said that 54 percent of Wal-Mart workers earned less than $9 an hour in 2001, 21 percent made from $9 to $9.99, and 16 percent from $10 to $10.99.
A British lawyer is emerging as a key witness in a $180 million bribery investigation that could lead to the indictment of US vice president Dick Cheney.
Last week, US oil corporation Halliburton cut all ties with a former senior executive, Albert Stanley, after it emerged he had received as much as $5m in 'improper personal benefits' as part of a $4bn gas project in Nigeria. Halliburton also sacked a second 'consultant', William Chaudan in connection with the bribery allegations. At the time of these alleged payments, Cheney was chief executive of the corporation.
French investigating magistrate Renaud van Ruymbeke is examining a stream of payments surrounding the controversial project which was built during the regime of the late dictator Sani Abacha. The judge has uncovered a $180m web of payments channelled through offshore companies and bank accounts.
The Nigerian project to build a huge gas plant was signed with an international consortium that included Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root. Cheney retired from the chief executive post in 2000.
The newly disclosed details about Pentagon contracting do not suggest improper political pressures to direct business to Halliburton, the Houston-based company that Vice President Dick Cheney once led.
But they raise questions about assertions by Mr. Cheney and other administration officials that he knew nothing in advance of the Halliburton contracts and that the decisions were made by career procurement specialists, without involvement by senior political appointees.
Kevin Kellems, a spokesman for the vice president, would not comment on the disclosure, except to say, "We stand by our earlier statements on this matter."
As American forces stormed into Iraq in March 2003, Halliburton's role as an inside planner put it in place to receive, without open competition and in the shrouds of classified war planning, the major contract to carry out the oil strategy it secretly wrote months earlier. The deal yielded $2.4 billion in revenue. These oil and other war-related contracts with Halliburton, an oil services company, have been contentious because of accusations of overcharging and waste, and because Mr. Cheney was formerly the company's chief executive.
More of the article here: New York Times (May require free registration.)
Poll: Bush Ratings Continue Slide - CBS poll has Bush's approval at 41%
May 24, 2004
(CBS) The war in Iraq continues to tarnish the approval ratings of President Bush. Evaluations of the way Mr. Bush is handling the war in Iraq, how he is handling foreign policy, and how he is handling his job overall are now at their lowest levels ever in his presidency.
Mr. Bush's overall job approval rating has continued to decline. Forty-one percent approve of the job he is doing as president, while 52 percent disapprove — the lowest overall job rating of his presidency. Two weeks ago, 44 percent approved. A year ago, two-thirds did.
Sixty-one percent of Americans now disapprove of the way Mr. Bush is handling the situation in Iraq, while just 34 percent approve.
As concern about the situation in Iraq grows, 65 percent now say the country is on the wrong track — matching the highest number ever recorded in CBS News Polls, which began asking this question in the mid-1980's. Only 30 percent currently say things in this country are headed in the right direction. One year ago, in April 2003, 56 percent of Americans said the country was headed in the right direction.
More can be read at cbsnews.com.
Bush Fishes While Americans Die
Friday, April 9, 2004. Here are some actual headlines:
Reuters: Fighting erupts in town of Baquba north of Baghdad
CBC: Canadian kidnapped in Iraq devoted to children
AFP: Shiite radicals kill British soldier
Reuters: At least nine dead in attack on US convoy in Iraq
Reuters: Polish and Bulgarian troops killed 15 Iraqis
DenverPost: Security Contractor Killed on Thursday, April 8
Reuters: Falluja Fighting This Week Killed 450
AP: Two U.S. Soldiers and Iraqi Driver Killed
And that's only part of the day.
You know what our President was doing? He was out on the pond in his backyard down there in Crawford fishing with Roland Martin. Not only fishing but filming a television show to connect with his hunting and fishing loving target audience.
At the request of the White House, the Outdoor Life Network sent a crew down to the "ranch" to show how down-home George can be. W and his Dad doing the family thing at Easter. Meanwhile, miles away, Americans, our allies, and untold numbers of Iraqis are dying, being taken hostage, and receiving life-changing wounds. Remind anyone of Nero and ancient Rome? Something about a fiddle and a fire! It's atrocious!
Story can be read here:
Yahoo News Story
Progressive Talk Radio Debuts
Finally, talk radio for liberals and progressives!
Air America Radio, a progressive talk radio network, announced it will hit the airwaves on March 31st. On-air personalities include comedian and best-selling author Al Franken, actress and comedienne Janeane Garofalo, hip hop icon Chuck D, radio personality Randi Rhodes, and political humorist Sam Seder. Environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., “The Daily Show” co-creator Lizz Winstead, and business-of-the-media analyst on the public radio program “Marketplace” Martin Kaplan will also join the network.
More information can be found at the website http://www.airamericaradio.com Live-streaming on the net will also be available at that website.
BUSH MARKETS BURMESE PRODUCTS; EVADES OWN TRADE BAN
According to a new report, President Bush's official campaign is selling
clothing made in Burma - a country whose goods Bush banned for sale in the
U.S. because of their awful human rights, narcotics and sex trafficking
record. According to Newsday, "the merchandise sold on
www.georgewbushstore.com includes a $49.95 fleece pullover, embroidered with
the Bush-Cheney '04 logo and bearing a label stating it was made in Burma,
now Myanmar." (1)
The decision by the president's campaign to defy its own embargo directly
contradicts the president's pledge to enforce existing trade laws. Just this
week the president said Americans need to be "treated fairly" and pledged to
"make sure the playing field is level" on trade. (2) But his decision to
market Burmese textile products evades laws that prevent American workers
from having to compete with Burmese workers who have no minimum wage, human
rights or labor protections. Since Bush was elected, thousands of textile
jobs have been lost -- particularly in the South - and many have questioned
whether the Administration is adequately enforcing trade laws. (3)
On top of evading his own trade laws, the president's effective endorsement
of Burmese goods means his campaign is marketing products from a country the
State Department has repeatedly condemned for human rights abuses (4) and
that the Treasury Department has cited for laundering money from illegal
narcotics dealers (5). Just last year, the president told the United
Nations it needed to more seriously address international sex slavery,
saying, "there's a special evil in the abuse and exploitation of the most
innocent and vulnerable." (6) But his own campaign is now marketing products
from a country that experts cite as one of the leaders in international sex
trafficking. (7)
Sources:
1. "Bush campaign gear made in Burma", Newsday, 03/18/2004
2. "President Discusses Health Access", 03/16/2004
3. "4,000 textile jobs lost in 2003", Charleston Post and Courier,
01/14/2004
4. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Burma, US Department of State,
02/25/2004
5. States News Service, 03/04/2004
6. "President Bush Addresses United Nations General Assembly", 09/23/2003
7. "Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation: Burma/Myanmar"
