Walmart Does it Better Than Booker

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

The conservative blogosphere is abuzz this week with a story out of Washington, D.C., where local politicos and activists are attempting to drive out Walmart by inflating the minimum wage. There’s nothing harder to watch than a gaggle of self-righteous morons who are convinced they’re being clever but, in the process, are actually injuring themselves and everyone who relies upon them.

Does any of this sound familiar, Save Jerseyans? It should. The City of Newark passed on a Walmart store of its own back in May, a decision blessed by its own Mayor Cory Booker (D-Twitter), the same man who is currently running for U.S. Senate on a “job creation” record… despite the fact that unemployment in Newark is significantly higher today than when he assumed office…

…and who is currently proposing a nearly $3/hr minimum wage bump.

Let’s get our facts straight.

Misinformation abounds about Walmart on the Internet, just like ignorance concerning basic economic principles runs rampant in virtually all segments of modern American society. For example, did you know that around 1/3 of Walmart employees join the company after leaving supermarket chains where they earned less? Walmart employs approximately 1% of the American workforce according to some estimates, and let’s be brutally honest for a moment (we always are here at Save Jersey): the world’s largest big box chain provides much-needed employment to unskilled laborers hailing from some of our society’s poorest demographic cleavages. Single mothers, the elderly, the disabled, young people who have no valuable skills (yet), etc. Thank God Walmart is there to give’em a job! And for what it’s worth, Save Jerseyans, these same workers, their families, and the community at large can afford a standard of living thanks to Walmart’s low prices than they could ever hope to afford if the local mall and regular retail stores were their only options for consumption.

Chew on this heaping helping of irony: don’t liberals frequently cite the need for employment — however poor the compensation might be — as a justification for immigration amnesty and lax enforcement? They’re absolutely right about one thing: a job for these folks is typically better than none at all. So why does a company that employees roughly 1 in every 150 American citizens deserve their scorn? When was the last time you saw a group of college students or OFA groupies protest a farm that hires Mexican migrants for well under the minimum wage with zero benefits?

Politicians like Cory Booker love the poor alright… so much that they seem determined to create as many of them as they can with a painfully-boneheaded series of interventions in a free market that’s made America the wealthiest nation in world history. Another fun stat? If your annual adjusted gross income is $34,000 a year, then you are lucky to be among the top 1% wealthiest human beings currently living in the world. Congratulations!

But if you’re like many Americans who gross 5-figures but don’t feel “relatively wealthy” then you certainly shouldn’t feel guilty for the privilege; our government is doing everything it can to make you poor. Barack Obama’s policies have dramatically increased inequality in America by making it hard for employers — most of whom operate small businesses — to give their workers full-time positions. Employers don’t give richer with fewer shifts producing products or providing services… everyone loses. Visit our minimum wage archives for all the info you’ll ever need (or want) on the topic.

So please don’t blame capitalism or Walmart for unemployment, particularly in our urban areas. The folks who want to drive America’s #1 private employer out of business properly deserve all of our collective anger. Like Cory Booker.

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