Corporate influence in the Oval Office is just wrong! Companies like Giant, Super Fresh, Food Lion and others have proven to give back to the community. Mind you, WalMart should be recognized for doing the same but you don't see the White House pimping these other businesses.
What's worse is, WalMart will force smaller companies to step up and demand the same, yet they can't purchase in the volume WalMart does, so we'll soon see WalMart being the only source out there selling any kind of grocery items. We've seen this kind of crap in the past. Show me a local Hardware Store any more. The Home Depot's and Lowe's crushed them.
What's the end result, cheaper products with far less quality. And why is that, because after placing multi million dollar orders in the beginning, the Home Depot Corporate Buyers started demanding lowers prices AFTER each company expanded their Plants to keep up with the demand. IF the manufacturer didn't do what Home Depot demanded they'd simply cancel further orders and work with another company willing to bow down to their demands.
So instead of getting a quality door, (for example) with three hinges, the new door would only have two hinges. One way or the other, in the end YOU lose out. Competition is a very healthy thing in America but we're seeing less and less of it because of the buying power of these large corporations.
Here's the real kicker though. These large companies then start demanding tax breaks from our government and guess what, they get it! The wet pants liberals in Washington just have no clue what they've done to corporate America and now the Obama's are leading the pack to make things worse now in the food industry!
As the WalMart's of this country take over the Giant's, Food Lion's etc., people will lose jobs and it trickles all the way down to the Farmers being forced to lower their prices OR go out of business. It forces Farmers to hire illegals to pay them less and take the risk so they can continue to sell to the WalMart's.
Yeah America, we're in really deep trouble when the White House starts pimping businesses like WalMart, you mark my words.
17 comments:
I'm so confused. Walmart provides cheaper products that possess a high demand by consumers and is therefore able to outcompete everyone. Thats bad. Yet you claim that Obama (the "socialist anti-capitalist dictator) is at fault. So which is it? Is he a socialist or hardcore capitalist?
Dear Wet Pants Liberal 11:02,
You are clearly missing the entire point. While the White House pimps ONE corporation and encourages America to buy from them, Giant, Super Fresh, Food Lion and others start losing more and more business. As they start disappearing, hundreds of thousand of good paying jobs disappear while WalMart doesn't pay JACK and most lose their job, their home, their car and the list goes on and on. I'm not going to waste my time explaing the rest to you because you cannot convince a wet pants liberal to ever see the TRUTH.
1102-Maybe you are unaware of Wal-Marts predatory practices. For example, Weber's contract with Wally world stated that Weber would have to take a loss on the first 3 million grills sold. Stuff like that drives down quality, forces companies to look to outsource production, and hurts the small to big guys on every level. Wal-Mart wins because Americans don't care about quality, they only care about price.
So Walmart's predatory practices such as contracts (into which each party enters voluntarily) should be controlled by the government.
Maybe giants and food lions of this world should have smarter people running the company.
Typical envy and bitterness. Just because you can't run your business well blame walmart and Obama.
Here's another idea - don't shop at walmar.
I agree with Joe that Obama shouldn't be promoting any one business. However, the idea that this is going to lead to Wal Mart taking over the world is ridiculous. I doubt anyone will pay much attention to what the Obamas are saying about this issue. People shop based on price, quality, quantity, etc., not on whether the First Lady made a public appearance with a store's CEO.
The fact that Wal Mart demands low prices from its suppliers is good. The fact that it pays the wages it does is good. That means lower prices for consumers. It means more efficiency in the supply chain. That is how wealth is created. If less efficient companies go out of business, that's good. These businesses were wasting resources and consumers decided they did not want to patronize them. If Giant can't be as efficient as Wal Mart, then it does not deserve to be in business.
And it has nothing to do with Wal Mart selling poor quality products. Wal Mart sells the same products as Food Lion or Target or the local hardware store. Wal Mart just sells them for less.
This is how the free market works. One company grows because it finds a way to serve consumers better and/or produce and sell things more efficiently. That's what Wal Mart has done. We all benefit from that.
Alex, let me explain a little something to you about the REAL corporate world most do not, (respectfully) understand here on the Eastern Shore.
You see Alex, I own a very large manufacturing company. There came a day when I started manufacturing for Sylvania is mass quantities. It was and still is a fantastic marriage.
The reason things have gone so well for so many years is the fact that we dealt with things on an up front basis. I knew what Sylvania could do to my company many years ago if they all of a sudden pulled the plug on me a few years into the agreement. So we made a commitment to one and other not to do such a thing and I would save their company millions of dollars.
A day came soon affter my contract with Sylvania where GE contacted me and invited me to Ohio. I met with the Vice President of GE and several of the top key corporate officers whereas GE flat out stated they liked my product and here's what we'll pay to have you outsource it for us. GA had a reputation of placing huge orders with a competitor and then forcing a buy out a few years later and usually the companies selling to them had no choice as they were strapped financially to mortgages to supply the demand GE placed on them.
I immediately told GE I really had no interest in selling to them, thanks but no thanks. I instead took the GE Lamps, converted them with my product and they were sold as a GE Lamp anyway, I didn't need Corporate GE and there was NOTHING they could do about it.
If I had bowed down to the extremely reduced price GE was offering at the time I would have folded in 2 or 3 years. This is what Home Depot, Lowe's and WalMart do to the good hard working American companies. Their product is only in demand for so long, so they truly don't care. All their interested in is the absolute lowest cost they can get. The smart one, (like me) turn down their offers and continue to stay in business today.
Now, many of the products that used to be made by American Manufacturers are being copied and purchased from companies overseas. America, (mainly those in Washington) sold out America and screwed us in a very big way. Government is NOT always right and they need to stay the hell out of business, period.
My gosh hes seen the light.
Well, you just prove my point. Why won't other "hard working American companies" follow your example? Because they do not understand the consequences of contracting with larger companies like GE and Walmart.
My point is that you cannot blame walmart or GE for running an effective supply chain. Isn't this was capitalism is all about? The smart ones stay afloat and the dumb ones fail.
Microsoft started in Gates' basement, so did Aerotek.
As for outsoursing to Asia, it is simply cheaper to manufacture there. Leaving politics out of it, it's just a sound business decision. As a capitalist business owner why would you pay $2 for something that you can get for $1?
I agree that government should stay out of most business. Manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers should enjoy a true laissez-faire. However I think that government regulation is required for financial institutions.
Alex, it's no secret to the IRS that my company was a 84% Net Prifit Corporation. I manufacture into very specialized industries where my volume was much smaller than the every day business or residential lamp usage. Therefore I could demand unbelievable prices for my product, yet keep other manufacturers away from slowing down their assembly lines, (costing them millions) to try to compete.
It's not like I was selling an interior door where many could compete against me.
So other hard working companies can't AFFORD to do what I did and certainly can't today, that's for sure.
I would pay $2.00 for an American made product over a $1.00 part made in China, believe me. You know those compact fluorescents we mentioned in an earlier post today, check out where they're manufactured before you buy them!
Finally, government regulations is how we got where we are today. FREE TRADE needs to end immediately! It's probably too late but it needs to stop now. Salvage what money we have left and if other countries want to sell to Americans, MAKE THEM PAY A PRICE TO DO SO!
Three dollars a week for workers in China, heck thats slavery buddy. Everytime we buy a product we are supporting and condoning it.
"Finally, government regulations is how we got where we are today. FREE TRADE needs to end immediately!"
Free trade is the absence of government regulations and government taxes on imports. If you want the government to get out of business decisions, then you want free trade. If you want government to interfere in the economy, you want protectionism or "fair trade." All "fair trade" is the government setting rules and regulations and tariffs in response to special interest lobbying.
Sure, you'll reply, the free trade deals we have today are government-managed trade. True, to some extent. These deals still retain some elements of protectionism in order to satisfy the "fair trade" lobbyists in the U.S. But these trade agreements significantly reduce government regulation as it pertains to trade.
Marc, do you have any idea what FREE TRADE does to American manufacturers? Tying those two statemments together was a bit unfair as well. Government needs to get out of private business unless it can kill you. Free Trade is completely different. Charge for every Toyota coming in at the same rate they charge us to export a vehicle going there. Make them purchase the same volume of products there as they sell here. DO YOU GET IT NOW?
I wonder how long you would have to let those ocean going super ships just sit before they sing a differant tune, just them sit.
So what you are saying is that the government should only interfere in the economy if you think that government interference is a good idea? You don't like Obama boosting Wal Mart but you want the government to penalize consumers who buy foreign goods?
I say that the government interference in the economy is a bad thing, whether it's the Obamas shilling for Wal Mart, the health care bill, or trade restrictions. Let people buy goods and services from anyone they want to buy from. Don't have the government telling businesses how to operate or consumers what to buy.
I know exactly what free trade does to U.S. manufacturing -- it helps it. U.S. manufacturing's output peaked in 2008 at $5.34 trillion. It went down last year due to the recession. During the free trade era (late 70's or so until now) manufacturing output in the U.S. has steadily increased. That's a simple fact.
Free trade helps U.S. manufacturers cut costs, get supplies at better prices, and drives them to be more efficient.
Perhaps if free trade went out the window and the moneys collected put to use, we as the American people would not have to be taxed as hard as we are.
Joe, this happened right here on the Eastern Shore in the poultry industry. At one time there was a strong and solvent company known as Maryland Chicken Processors that was owned and operated by Otis Esham. They purchased the old Coldwater Seafood plant in Nanticoke and began producing chill pack/tray pack chicken simialr to Holly Farms which is now Tyson. They distributed their products to various chains as well as distributors. Along came Pathmark and probably behind the scenes their executives thought they could capture the minds of the Chicken Pluckers by offering a favorable contract. Lo and behold Md. Chicken took them up on this and 90% of their production was devoted to Pathmark. Then one fine day they told them what they would pay and that was the beginning of the end of Maryland Chicken Processors. I was a 100% supplier of poultry boxes to them and I lost as well. This was also the case with General Metalcraft in Dover when they had Sears take over most of their production, another story with the same results. I can share many stories as I delt with almost every industry as a key supplier of Packaging.
Marc, I completely agree with you on free trade but you cannot have complete governement deregulation in all types of businesses. Government (federal, state, or local) should be involved in regulating of financial institutions, insurance companies, healthcare providers, and possibly the education system.
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