Wal-Mart Goes LeftWhy Is It Pandering To Blue State America?

by Kirk MacDonald, Capitol Research Center: Wal-Mart, the family-friendly, patriotic company founded by the late Sam Walton has transformed itself into a reliable ally of the political left in order to boost revenues by pacifying its growing chorus of critics. The company now funds radical groups and intimidates its suppliers into adopting its liberal, Big Government agenda.

Below are a few excerpts from the CRC's August 2007 Organization Trends: - Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott has embarked on an aggressive strategy of pushing his company to the left in order to appease liberals and boost sales in left-leaning states.
- Wal-Mart brought longtime Democratic operative Leslie Dach aboard to preside over the mega-retailer’s dramatic left turn. The rainmaker left a plum post at a posh Washington, D.C., public relations firm last year and now serves as Wal-Mart’s executive vice president of corporate affairs and government relations.
- In 2004, the company’s charitable foundation, the Wal-Mart Foundation,
gave $732,350 to groups on the political left, while just $2,530 went to groups on the political right. (See “Funding Liberalism with Blue-Chip Profits,” by David Hogberg and Sarah Haney, Foundation Watch, August 2006.)
- Among the recipients were the NAACP ($60,850), AARP ($3,750), the Izaak Walton League ($2,250), League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) ($12,000), the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation ($10,000), and abortion rights group Planned Parenthood ($2,500).
- The biggest recipient of Wal-Mart money that year —at $630,000— was the National Council of La Raza (Spanish for “The Race”), a mostly left-wing Hispanic advocacy group . . . [Read More]
ARRA Comment: Ouch, I spend a lot of money at Wal-Mart. It's our biggest retailer. As the reports says, "It is hard to imagine Walton, a conservative who died weeks after receiving the award, being pleased with his company’s new found liberal bent."

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Tags: Capitol Research Center, Wal-Mart