Back in the saddle

Wal-Mart is apparently baring its anti-labor teeth again, by opposing legislation in Maryland and New Jersey to force employers to provide health insurance for its workers. Wal-Mart claims that the legislation is merely a sham designed to scapegoat the company for the country's health care woes, since the bill would only affect Wal-Mart (in Maryland, at least). The only reason that's true, of course, is that only Wal-Mart is profitable enough to employ the number of people needed (10,000) to trigger the proposed legislation. Oh yeah, that and the fact that Wal-Mart is notorious for its lack of a decent employee health plan. What gives the lie to Wal-Mart's defense of itself in this matter is that they are fighting the bill as it exists, rather than seeking to sponsor a similar bill with a lower employee threshold, which would thereby also include Wal-Mart's competitors. Daily kos has a verrry interesting take on this here, where he ingeniously proposes enlisting Wal-Mart in supporting a universal/national health care system funded not by employers, but by the government. Brilliant!