For decades, worker pay rose with productivity. When that relationship weakened, living costs did not. The Square New Deal asks large employers to account for the bill landed on the public.
This is the case at Walmart. The people you were stocking the shelves, ringing up the sales and gathering up the shopping carts are not paid enough to survive without getting SNAP benefits and Medicaid. Cheapskate Walmart doesn’t pay them enough or offer proper benefits. The taxpayers are being used.
The article goes on to show that Walmart is just one of many corporations who shove the burden of a living wage back onto the taxpayer vis government programs. But there is a lot of nuanced information in the article worth exploring. Walmart is just a part of the whole picture.
You've loosely alluded to, but not directly discussed, one part of the problem. When medical insurance is covered by the employer, the cost of the premium, which is exaggerated, is reflected in the amount of pay. Pay would be higher if employers didn't provide medical insurance. Which they shouldn't. The American medical industry is dysfunctional and corrupt, and medical insurance is much more expensive, premium-wise, than it should be. There should be a single payer arrangement ("Medicare for All" or some other arrangement), so that the government would provide medical access, control it better (lower the cost of it), and employers could pay more.
Somebody also needs to stop this game whereby people and companies with plenty of money somehow pay little, or even no, tax, and the whole thing should be supported by the taxpayers, who should be all of us, in proper proportion.
Economic Justice has never been a strength of the American Economic System. The Wealthy own the means of production and they routinely abuse that power to degrade the economic welfare of their employees...
Unions flourished for a short time and improved the lives of American workers until the Justice Department undermined the majority of them.
Especially under President Trump the Justice Department is in fact the INJustice Department!
This is the case at Walmart. The people you were stocking the shelves, ringing up the sales and gathering up the shopping carts are not paid enough to survive without getting SNAP benefits and Medicaid. Cheapskate Walmart doesn’t pay them enough or offer proper benefits. The taxpayers are being used.
The article goes on to show that Walmart is just one of many corporations who shove the burden of a living wage back onto the taxpayer vis government programs. But there is a lot of nuanced information in the article worth exploring. Walmart is just a part of the whole picture.
Walmart is the largest of these companies and well-known that pays their employees so little that they need SNAP and Medicaid.
You've loosely alluded to, but not directly discussed, one part of the problem. When medical insurance is covered by the employer, the cost of the premium, which is exaggerated, is reflected in the amount of pay. Pay would be higher if employers didn't provide medical insurance. Which they shouldn't. The American medical industry is dysfunctional and corrupt, and medical insurance is much more expensive, premium-wise, than it should be. There should be a single payer arrangement ("Medicare for All" or some other arrangement), so that the government would provide medical access, control it better (lower the cost of it), and employers could pay more.
Somebody also needs to stop this game whereby people and companies with plenty of money somehow pay little, or even no, tax, and the whole thing should be supported by the taxpayers, who should be all of us, in proper proportion.
That's on the list of article I plan to tackle.
Let me know if you want outside relevant input. 305-891-5030 or 305-542-9719.
Economic Justice has never been a strength of the American Economic System. The Wealthy own the means of production and they routinely abuse that power to degrade the economic welfare of their employees...
Unions flourished for a short time and improved the lives of American workers until the Justice Department undermined the majority of them.
Especially under President Trump the Justice Department is in fact the INJustice Department!
Excellent, comprehensive article! Thank you.
Thank you for the kind words 🙏