The Waltons - the owners of Walmart - earn $25,000 a minute.

[Uncle Joe]

Link to tweet

[zentrum]

1. Teach it, Bernie!

[Sneederbunk]

2. Go j

Go John-Boy!.

[Uncle Joe]

3. The Waltons

America’s 1% hasn’t controlled this much wealth since before the Great Depression



(snip)

In 2015, the top 1% of Americans made 26.3 times as much income as the bottom 99 percent — an increase from 2013, when they earned 25.3 times as much, according to a recent study released by the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning Washington, D.C. think tank.

A family needed an annual income of $421,926 to be part of the 1% nationally, the study said, but in some states the threshold was higher. The top 1% of Americans took home more than 22% of all income in 2015, the study found. That’s the highest share since a peak of 23.9% just before the Great Depression in 1928.

(snip)

“Rising inequality affects virtually every part of the country, not just large urban areas or financial centers,” said Estelle Sommeiller, a socio-economist at the Institute for Research in Economic and Social Sciences in France and author on the study. “It’s a persistent problem throughout the country — in big cities and small towns, in all 50 states. While the economy continues to recover, policy makers should make it a top priority to grow the incomes of working people while reining in corporate profits.”

(snip)

Another theory on the cause of the rising inequality: The decline of unions, according to a study released by the EPI in August 2017. Today, only 11% of American workers are covered by unions, which is a sharp contrast from the 1950s when a third of the U.S. workforce was unionized or in a job represented by a union. Union workers these days earn on average 13.2% more than non-unionized workers with similar education and experience in the same sector.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/wealth-inequality-in-the-us-is-almost-as-bad-as-it-was-right-before-the-great-depression-2018-07-19

[George II]

6. As we used to say in Brooklyn, "put your money where your mouth is". His books are still listed....

....for sale on the Walmart website.

[Uncle Joe]

10. As we used to say in Nashville, "some people can't see the forest for the trees."

Bernie has been using Walmart and Amazon's platform to spread the message against their unjust and dysfunctional policies; that's the forest.

[George II]

12. He should stand on principle and stop helping to feed the profits of both Amazon and Walmart.

He damages his message by essentially violating it himself.

[Uncle Joe]

16. Do you support Bernie's principles?

[George II]

18. Here we go with the deflective questions. One principle that I support....

....is that if I'm going to tell other people to do something, I damn well make sure I do it myself.

If I don't like the business practices of Walmart, I won't support Walmart in any way.
If I don't like the business practices of Amazon, I won't support Amazon in any way.
If I believe in a $15 minimum wage, I'll work hard to get it done at home before I lecture others around the country to get it done.

Those are among MY "principles".

[Uncle Joe]

19. If you don't like the business practices of Walmart and Amazon and you were smart

you would use the most efficient means to spread the message against them even it included their platform.

If you want to "tilt at windmills" then open the equivalent of a lemonade stand to move the people and good luck with that.

I don't know where you got the idea that Vermont is not part of the country?

P.S. Bernie's principles are the issue and if you don't support them (which I don't believe you do) as you couldn't bring yourself to answer the question, that's explains your deflective posts on this thread.

[George II]

22. If one were "smart" (as you put it) one would use EVERY means to resist - there's more....

....to "spreading the message" than just talking. Another expression we used in Brooklyn that I've heard all my life, "Actions speak louder than words".

So, if BS's principles really are the issue, he should be living up to the very principles that he espouses.

[LanternWaste]

20. Cool movement of the goalposts!!!

But we still say that. Everywhere. And unlike the consistent citations of bumper stickers in place of objective evidence, this one is actually relevant.

(space provided free of charge below to insert another bumper sticker...)

[OKNancy]

4. Average hourly wage at Walmart for full time is $14.26

God, I hate saying anything remotely nice about Walmart but that is what this link says

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/05/08/walmart-wages-what-do-walmart-managers-and-hourly-workers-make/1147546001/

also:
In February, Walmart introduced paid time off that employees can use when they're sick or otherwise need to miss work. For having spotless attendance, employees can earn an additional 25% on their quarterly bonuses.

The retail giant also has increased education options for employees and trained about 450,000 employees last year through the Walmart Academy program.

----------------------

FWIW: I never went to Walmart until 1. The corner store closed. 2. I retired 3. I had a bum knee then knee replacement so I love their order online then pick it up. ( I'm a widow, so no help)

[TexasBushwhacker]

31. But only 1/3 of Walmart workers are full time

and those full timers average only 34 hours per week. If they were making $14.26 an hour working 40 hours a week, they'd be making over $29K. Instead, that missing 6 hours a week translates to over $350 a month less. That's real money.

Of course most of the TWO THIRDS of Walmart workers working part time (less than 30 hours a week) wish they were working full time and wish they were getting $14.26 an hour.

[George II]

5. Minimum wage in Vermont is $10.78 per hour.

[Uncle Joe]

7. Which would go to $15 per hour if Bernie gets his way.

What's your point?

[George II]

9. The point is his own state has a very low minimum wage. What has he done to get it raised?

[Uncle Joe]

11. I believe you do know how our government works, don't you George?

[George II]

13. What does that mean Joe?

[Uncle Joe]

15. Bernie is not King, he's not even the governor of Vermont but more to the point

his push to raises wages across the nation to $15 would most assuredly include Vermont; which is one of our states.

[George II]

17. Yes, he's not King, nor does he sit on the Board of Walmart.

If he can't get his people at home to do it, how is he going to get it done elsewhere?

[progressoid]

27. Why do you keep harping on that?

He's has nothing to do with state laws. You're embarrassing yourself.

[George II]

28. What does he have to do with the pay structure of Walmart?

[Blue_true]

35. He is a very powerful politician in his state.

But you say that he is helpless when it comes to jawboning a higher minimum wage in Vermont, yet he is supposed to get a minimum wage that is $3+ higher nationally, including in red states? OK

[Blue_true]

33. So Bernie will do something nationally that he has not help make a reality in his

home state. Ok.

[Blue_true]

32. George, bad man, pointing that out.

Senator Sanders is too busy fixing the nation's problems to worry about what is happening in little old Vermont. That is why when Vermont democrats needed $2 billion to kick start Single Payer in Vermont (Bernie number 1 platform issue), Senator Sanders completely bailed on them, saying that the issue was a issue that leaders in Vermont needed to solve. I am still scratching my head about Bernie's claim given that he WAS a Vermont leader, but I am sure that a Bernie fan will march right out and explain how Senator Sanders will somehow get national Single Payer when he didn't lift a finger to help democrats there make Vermont a shining test case for Single Payer. Subsequently to the Single Payer fiasco (they could not get the money and Vermont didn't have it), democrats there lost the governorship and lost ground in the Legistlature.

[George II]

34. Bazinga!

[infinite_wisdom]

21. Bernie is a US Senator

the minimum wage is determined by the state government, unless they choose to default back to the federal minimum wage ($7.25 / hour)

Not sure what he can do outside of talking to state reps about the issue.

There are only 7 states that have a higher minimum wage than Vermont. So they're doing pretty good.

http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx

[George II]

24. If that's the case, why is he in Arkansas lecturing Arkansans about a $15 minimum wage?

[infinite_wisdom]

38. Because he's running for President...

and he's seeking a $15 Federal minimum wage.

He would not lobby the state government of Arkansas to do it. He knows that would be a waste of time.

[George II]

41. Then he should be in the well of the Senate talking about it, not a private company in Arkansas.

Last I heard, the Board of the Directors of Walmart doesn't write and pass Federal legislation.

[Uncle Joe]

42. Do you mean like this?

(snip)

The Stop WALMART Act

This time, they're introducing another aptly-named bill: the Stop WALMART Act, which is short for the "Stop Welfare for Any Large Monopoly Amassing Revenue from Taxpayers Act."

It's tailored to put pressure on the Walton family personally, which as Sanders noted in an announcement about his new bill is Walmart's largest shareholder (about 50 percent of its stock), and the wealthiest single family in the United States,

"Since 1982, the wealth of the Walton family has increased about 10,000 percent, and the family now owns more wealth than the bottom 40 percent of Americans. Meanwhile, 55 percent of Walmart's associates are food insecure," Sanders wrote.

So, this new Stop WALMART Act would prevent public companies from buying back their own stock, a move that greatly benefits current shareholders, unless:

They pay all their employees at least $15 an hour,
Their CEO is paid no more than 150 times as much as the pay of the company's median employees, and
Every employee has the ability to earn at least seven sick days per year.

(snip)

https://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/after-brilliant-thing-sen-bernie-sanders-just-did-in-congress-everything-at-walmart-could-change.html

[George II]

43. Yep. What's the status of that bill? How many members of the Walmart Board will vote on it?

[Uncle Joe]

44. The CEO of Walmart now publicly supports raising the minimum wage although you know

he has no vote in the Senate and there is no telling what he is lobbying for in private.

Bernie wasn't in Arkansas to argue for that state to raise the minimum wage to $15, he was specifically targeting for Walmart as an invited proxy, of course you know that.

My question to you is why can't he do both?

[George II]

45. The CEO of Walmart has supported raising the minimum wage as far back as 2015.

When was the last time Sanders addressed the Vermont Legislature regarding the Vermont minimum wage?

[Uncle Joe]

46. Bernie has been pushing Walmart to raise the minimum wage even further back in time

As a Congressman and Senator Bernie has never pushed any individual state to raise the minimum wage, that's not his role.

Bernie has for decades been pushing the nation to raise the minimum wage to a livable wage.

If Bernie was a Governor or member of the state legislature in Vermont then your argument would have some measure of logic or common sense, sadly it doesn't.

You never answered my question "why can't Bernie do both?" target mega-corporations and the federal government to raise the minimum wage to a livable wage?

[George II]

47. As a Congressman and Senator it's his role to push a corporation to raise it's minimum wage?

[Uncle Joe]

48. As an invited proxy and you still never answered my question.

Last edited Thu Jun 6, 2019, 12:15 PM - Edit history (1)

[VarryOn]

52. I live in Arkansas...

$15/hour is not enough!

I live next door to Bentonville. Had no idea Sanders was in the area.

By the way, the shareholders meeting isnt until Friday the 7th. Not sure what meeting he attended. Glad he was here!

[Blue_true]

36. He is a very powerful citizen of Vermont.

If he can't use his clout to get a $15 wage in his home state, how will he do that in Arkansas given that republicans there will have to enact such a change?

[infinite_wisdom]

39. Seems you are getting desperate

with the anti-Bernie stuff here.

This line of attack you are trying to use makes no sense and you know it.

[Blue_true]

50. It makes perfect sense.

The man is supposedly campaiging for a $15 minimum wage in the whole country. But he has not used his influence within his own state.

Contrast that to a Congressperson like Jayapal, who used her influence in Seattle to push a $15 minimum wage and after being elected to the US Congress, continued to use her influence at home to push for a statewide $15 minimum wage. Now she may support Bernie, she is pretty far left and I don't know whether she has endorsed yet, but her endorsement certainly would not be because Bernie used factors that are within his control to get the type of change I acted that she did.

[SouthernProgressive]

8. Takes Sanders around a week to make that much. NT

[Hassin Bin Sober]

23. That would equal $1.3 million.

Last year they earned, with book royalties, in the mid $500k range. You need a different calculator.

[SouthernProgressive]

25. That's right, he went down in 2018 to just over half a million. Over 10 grand a week.

1.3 million in 2017. Seems to be right in line with what I said. Think it was pretty similar in 2016.

Two out of the last three years he averaged that in a week. Not too shabby.

[Martin Eden]

14. Then let's tax them $22,500 a minute (90%)

Nobody "earns" that much money.

[bobbieinok]

26. Seeing this criminal income should make everyone agree to some sort of cap or tax or SOMETHING on su

NO ONE EARNS THIS AMOUNT!!!

[rogue emissary]

29. Help everyone out, please label threads like this as a Bernie Sander's video.

[Uncle Joe]

30. My threads are 98.75% Bernie threads

so if you see my name on it, you can count on it be a Bernie thread or video.

[Blue_true]

37. Good point. I believed your threads were 100% Bernie threads, but you know what you have posted

better than I do.

[LibFarmer]

40. Bernie can set an example

Stop Walmart and Amazon from selling his books. If Bernie pulls his books, a lot of the other authors/publishers will pull them.

Facing bankruptcy, Walmart and Amazon will come to the bargaining table and offer to raise minimum wage to $30 per hour and offer free housing to all their employees.

Lead us Bernie!!!

[jalan48]

49. More benevolent Oligarchs is what we need! What's next, Feudalism was a great form of government?

[unblock]

51. Stop saying they *earn* that kind of money

They're in a position to extract that kind of money, but did they really earn it?