Letter: The quiet majority

The link below is a letter that was published in The Daily Astorian on May, 24, 2013.

Letter: The quiet majority

Three cheers for Jeff Jacques and his support of Walmart and the silent majority of Northwestern Oregon and Southwestern Washington (“Walmart welcomed,” The Daily Astorian, May 10). For every so-called winner in this anti-Walmart campaign, there are also big losers, and they are the area shoppers and the unemployed.

As Jacques has said, the anti-Walmart voices are the same ones that shot down liquefied natural gas facilities, the coal facility in Longview, Wash., and soon, I’ll bet, the shipbreaking facility at Tongue Point. There have been no new major employers since the fish canneries and the lumber mill disappeared.

I sincerely hope that Walmart and the city of Warrenton continue their battle against the good ol’ boys, the do-gooders and The Daily Astorian so that the quiet majority can be counted as winners.

Sixty-five bike racks in Warrenton? Get real.

By William Hill 

Haters derail Walmart in Warrenton, OR

The link below is the letter that was edited and published in The Daily Astorian May 10, 2013.

 Walmart Welcomed

Clatsop County Residents Against Walmart, a useless organization.

I’m certain the unheard majority of Northwest Oregonians hope Walmart doesn’t give up on the idea of moving here, but you wonder how long they’ll endure the hate groups who want to stop them. Liquefied natural gas, the coal facility in Longview, Wash., the chance to level the old and ugly outdated hotel at the Port of Astoria and build a brand new motel with a beautifully landscaped green belt walk way, have been derailed – now Walmart.

It’s unbelievable how these small groups of local/state bureaucrats, and a very loud, vocal minority of Walmart haters jumping up and down, with the help of groups with names like the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals and Clatsop Residents Against Walmart (CRAW), keep from improving our community. Their primary goal is always to halt businesses and jobs, and thus much needed tax revenue from coming to our area.

The wetlands permitting process is a complete joke. They let Home Depot, Costco, Taco Bell, Lum’s Auto Center, two auto parts stores, and a strip mall be built in wetland areas near Warrenton. But Walmart? Oh no, they have to have this kind of store front and have this many bicycle racks, and on and on.

They invent anything – any ridiculous attempt to stop them – not because they’re worried about wetlands, but because they want us to continue to be held hostage by Fred Meyer and Safeway and their outrageously high prices. Small towns and small businesses in cities like Astoria must evolve. The mom and pop stores don’t offer the choices or the prices low-income earners need to support their families.

The Daily Astorian’s bleeding heart editorial pieces, and the letters to the editor by many readers, are always quick to point how the school district, the college, the public transportation system, the “this program” and “that program” need taxpayer funding – but they, along with this small loud minority, continue to stop any attempts of business from taking root.

Instead, the answer is always to swamp us working people with higher taxes, not to solicit business and the jobs and tax revenue they would generate. The Warrenton City Planning Commission needs to be replaced with members who understand that courting business, not bending to these groups, is what’s needed. If not, the store that will turn the highest profit may be Goodwill, another brand-new structure built near the same wetlands these Walmart haters are crying about.

I guess I’ll continue to take the one-hour car ride every two or three weeks, and take my money to Longview or to Vancouver, Wash., Walmart to save money on toiletries, clothes and groceries, like I’ve been doing since I moved here in 2007. Thanks, Oregon.

Wal-Mart Haters: Please! Get a Life...

I read this story on the ABC news website yesterday, watched the video embedded in it and the hypocrisy angered me. Click on the link below:

Walmart CEO Pay: More in an Hour Than Workers Get All Year?

Here’s a small excerpt:

“Wal-Mart CEO Michael Duke's $35 million salary, when converted to an hourly wage, worked out to $16,826.92. By comparison, at a Walmart store planned for the Windy City's Pullman neighborhood, new employees to be paid $8.75 an hour would gross $13,650 a year.”

Someone please explain to me why this is a bad thing? No one seems to bitch about what Bill Gates makes or what Steve Jobs made. Please, for those of you that hate big corporations if you must single out Wal-Mart then you must hate them all.

People want to bash Wal-Mart but the fact is they are one of the very few successful businesses left in the US that offers a large variety of good products at a reduced price, they actually make a profit and lastly they return money to their shareholders. This is the American way and free enterprise at its best. If the unions take over Wal-Mart say goodbye to the last great discount store in America.

As for those who complain that Wal-Mart destroys small business in small towns you have to be from a large union metro area like Chicago to even make such a claim. Why? Because in a metro area you have a million choices and stiff competition thus keeping prices down.

Growing up in good old small town America I lived with the local merchants shoddy products and inflated prices on goods and services. A good business can and will succeed in a small town if they have the right niche and the right price. If they can’t compete then they should get into a business that can make money in a small town. For the food and clothing business the days of the Mom and Pop store is over in small town America and in my humble opinion this isn't a bad thing at all. I say, bring on Wal-Mart!

Also...Wal-Mart is not forcing a single employee to stay and make lower wages. Wal-Mart is not meant to be a career job for some people, it's a starter job. Those that do stay with Wal-Mart have to work their way up the ladder with hard work and commitment. This is how it should be, not just at Wal-Mart but with any business. The bottom line; it is a job and in this terrible economy any job is a good job if you’re an independent bootstraps kind of person who seeks to pull your own weight.

Most of us can’t get these cushy union grocery store jobs where people make $15 to $25 an hour/w benefits wrangling shopping carts. Meanwhile the price of their food is so unbelievably expensive you can barely begin to afford it. But hey, no worries, at least you’re supporting some overpaid uneducated unmotivated flunky to push shopping carts around right?

The reality is people who drop out of HS or who only have HS diplomas shouldn’t expect to walk into a job and make the big money immediately. No one is entitled to a thing in this world; it takes hard work to advance and must be earned.

I buy stuff at Wal-Mart all the time in Longview, WA and Woodland, WA. Why? Because the Fred Meyer store here is an overpriced joke with mostly unhappy employees who could give a damn about customer service.

We have a new Costco here but just like every other Costco the only thing I like about them is the price and quality of their meat. The rest of their bulky products are way overpriced if you took the time to compare them to Wal-Mart.

The Safeway in Astoria has friendly employees but still their prices are too high for a small mostly blue collar town which Astoria is.

Soon we’ll get a Super Wal-Mart here in Astoria and I can’t wait. I support Wal-Mart in big metro areas and especially in small town rural America. I have absolutely no shame or guilt whatsoever when I shop at Wal-Mart. Furthermore, I will never apologize to anyone for wanting to save the money that I have honestly earned and worked hard for.