The nature of the benefits a company offers should not be a political issue at all, but the distortions of the Democrats’ attacks on Wal-Mart are still worth noting:
Some Democrats, like Mr. Miller, want to focus on what Wal-Mart costs America. Mr. Miller seems to imagine that if the company didn’t exist, its workers would all be earning salaries comfortable enough to live without government subsidies. But it’s also possible that the workers would be out of work entirely.
Mr. Kerry himself, while campaigning in New Hampshire on October 10, 2003, said, “I think Wal-Mart’s health care practices are unconscionable, and the way they treat employees is not fair.” But the same Associated Press dispatch that reported that comment also quoted a Wal-Mart spokeswoman as saying that more than 90% of the company’s 1.4 million employees have health insurance, 50% through the company and the rest through spouses and other sources. The spokeswoman told the AP that of those participating in the Wal-Mart health plan,40% had no medical insurance when they were hired: “These are people who would’ve fallen through the cracks.” [NY Sun]