A general view of a Wal-Mart store …
By Jessica Wohl
Wal-Mart ending membership in conservative group
ROGERS, Arkansas (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's No. 1 retailer and the biggest seller of firearms in the United States, is dropping out of a U.S. conservative advocacy group that has been a lightning rod over voting and gun laws.
Wal-Mart said late Wednesday it is suspending membership in the American Legislative Council (ALEC), which the retailer joined in 1993.
ALEC sparked controversy recently because of its involvement in voting laws and in "stand your ground" gun laws, including the one under scrutiny in the Florida killing of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in February.
A coalition of liberal advocates targeted the group for its support of the self-defense laws.
ALEC, which serves as a forum for corporations and mostly Republican state lawmakers and lobbyists to discuss model legislation, has been criticized by liberals for promoting laws that require photo identification to vote.
ColorOfChange, a liberal advocacy group for black Americans, has said the voting laws put the poor and minorities at a disadvantage.
In April, ALEC said it was abandoning the committee that worked on "public safety and elections" to focus on the economy. Despite the change, Wal-Mart decided it was no longer focused on the same issues as the council.
"Previously, we expressed our concerns about ALEC's decision to weigh in on issues that stray from its core mission 'to advance the Jeffersonian principles of free markets,'" Maggie Sans, Wal-Mart vice president of public affairs and government relations, said in a May 30 letter addressed to ALEC's national chairman and executive director.
"We feel that the divide between these activities and our purpose as a business has become too wide. To that end, we are suspending our membership in ALEC."
Sans, who is also giving up her role as secretary of ALEC's private enterprise board, did not specify the issues that caused the split.
Wal-Mart has benefited from ALEC campaigns involving taxes, commerce and technology.
"While we are disappointed in Walmart's decision, we understand the unique pressures they are under," said spokeswoman Kaitlyn Buss.
"However, as we announced in April, ALEC is solely focused on limited government, free-market solutions in the states that create jobs and improve the economy."
ALEC believes its member companies are being targeted with campaigns that produce "manufactured outrage and the facade of grassroots support," she added.
Wal-Mart is the latest group to back away from supporting ALEC, including Coca-Cola Co, Kraft Foods Inc, McDonald's Corp, Procter & Gamble Co and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Wal-Mart's announcement comes as it grapples with recent allegations of bribery at its Mexican unit and a management decision to squelch an investigation -- a likely subject at the annual shareholders meeting on Friday.
(Reporting By Brad Dorfman; editing by Michael Perry and Jeffrey Benkoe)
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Today is
Walmart's Decision by Attrition, understands that "Minorities Matter To Their Bottom Line"
Walmart decided to end its membership with the "conservative group" "American Legislative Council" (ALEC), which is the group that designed the "Stand Your Ground Law", and the "Voter ID Laws" for conservative states around the country.
Wow...., I guess the fact that poor people around the world are the primary customers of Walmart, and the fact that most poor people are minorities, ......being a member of a group that create racist laws and laws that directly affect minorities' rights to vote may appear to be counter productive, because if minorities decided to stop shopping at Walmart, guess what..., it wouldn't take 60 days for Walmart to collapse.
I call the decision by Walmart to "suspend" it's membership with ALEC, a decision of "attrition", meaning, this decision was forced by circumstances and not a decision that Walmart would have freely chosen.
Get this... the reason why Walmart cites as the reason for "suspending" their membership with ALEC...
"and oh by the way... is suspending actually removing the membership?"
I digress....
the reason that Walmart's Maggie Sans uses is..., due to the fact that ALEC has strayed from Jeffersonian principles of free markets.
For those who know not of Jefferson's principles of free markets... here is the significant snippet:
"Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations — entangling alliances with none." ~ Thomas Jefferson
Hay Maggie..., "entangling alliances with none".... YOUR A REPUBLICAN/CONSERVATIVE..,
that is
a Alliance................. with republicans.... thank you...
Oh... by the way.. Maggie Sans.. you also have a role with ALEC as the "Secretary of Private Enterprise Board"... HELLO.....
"The principles of Jefferson are the axioms of a free society." ~ Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln use of the word "axioms" means " a self-evident truth that requires no proof."
By now, I guess you get my point with respect to how I feel about Walmarts public announcement of their "suspension of membership with ALEC".
It took websites like "ASKFMB.COM" and others, who have demanded names of those who are members of ALEC, which specifically identify the entities that provide the incentives for organizations like ALEC to do their work, and before these entities recognize that they will be "identified", forcing them to take actions which have the appearance of their refusal to participate in groups that condone "Racism & Class Type Degradation", these groups had not intensions of leaving ALEC.
Years ago, the Stand Your Ground Law came under fire...., and months ago, the "Voter ID Laws came under fire", but, it wasn't until recently that entities like "ASKFMB.COM", having requested a list of people who serve as the creators and backers of laws like "Stand Your Ground Laws" and "Voter ID Required Laws" has companies like Walmart and their employees have taken this stance of "discontent with ALEC".
Suffice it to say, "We Are Not Impressed"!!!
In My Opinion
ASMFMB
5/31/2012
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