Jonah Goldberg talks about the Democrats' latest amusing dementia. So does Rich Lowry.

What the Dems need to do to get those Wal-Mart shoppers to vote Dem is just go further left. That's what the Dems have been lacking, a strong, flyover leftist, view on the world.

If only the Dems can just show those folks that saving money as they raise their families is just helping to support Wal-Mart's corporate greed. Or if those same shoppers can just decide to spend more at the mom & pops, and less at Wal-Mart, how it would help the little guy.

That is what Democrats are all about, helping the little guy.

There really is nothing new about the Democrat Party attacking a successful capitalist company. The template that profits are bad has been around for decades.

The only time profits are great is when a firm goes IPO, then we get a decade of dot.com booms, and no one cares if the stock prices are inflated until after the election and a Republican wins.

Costco offers better products at prices that are equal or better than Sam's Club (a Walmart company).

Costco employees are more friendly and helpful as well. Must be the better pay and benefits they receive.

Oh, and I forgot this

Walmart is going green and is now earning praise from no less a liberal than Al Gore. Good to see that the Right supports a company that has decided to change course and become environmentally responsible.

/snark

:-)

Costco sucks, it keeps pumping up the unit size. I remember when cream puffs came in 60 puffs a box only 3 years ago. Then it was 80, and now it's 90. As a result, I have to shop in both Wal Mart and Costco, getting really bulk items in Costco (like the water) and the rest at Wal Mart (like female hygiene items). Oh, and I have to pay a yearly membership fess at Costco. How lame is that?

If this is the new Wal-Mart (see Salon link above) I will shop there, happily:

The assembled employees did high-energy renditions of the Wal-Mart cheer, complete with fist-raising, grunting, and even a group wiggle. "Gimme a W! Gimme an A! Gimme an L! ... Whose Wal-Mart is it? Who's No. 1?" [Wal-Mart] CEO H. Lee Scott pumped his team up further by calling Wal-Mart's newfound environmental focus a "higher purpose." There was also a rare appearance from company chair Rob Walton Jr. -- son of Wal-Mart's legendary founder and, as it happens, a member of Conservation International's board -- who beamed, "I love, love hearing the progress that is being made."

Mid-afternoon brought a screening of "An Inconvenient Truth"; more than a few audience members could be seen dabbing teary eyes as the documentary drew to a close. Then the entire crowd erupted into a standing ovation when the lights came back on and Gore trotted up to the stage, Tipper in tow.

Pete, that yearly fee you pay at Costco (and Sam's, and BJ's, btw) is the price of entry for the savings you get. It's easy to find examples of single items that pay back the cost of that yearly fee. Example? Buying disposable contact lenses at a warehouse store versus buying them at an optometrists. One 6-pack makes up the fee right there, and if, like me, your eyes have different prescriptions, well, there's a dozen or more annual fees worth of savings every year.

The $35 fee isn't a big source of profit. It's key use is to filter out people who come just to shoplift or who aren't serious shoppers.

Yes I bought back my Costco membership several years over when I bought a flat planel monitor from them (when they were still halfway expensive). However, yes the sizes of some of the items only really pay if you have to feed an army, run a store, or stocking up on stuff for a office party or the like. Still good deals on clothes, wine, and coffee.

Not having a car, and being a single woman who lives by herself, I have no need to buy a membership to Costco so I can buy toilet paper in bulk. The nearest Costco is several miles from me, and I couldn't get their huge packages on the bus anyway. On the other hand, the Walmart is a couple of blocks away. There is a Whole Foods about an hour's walk away from me; I go there sometimes for luxury items, when I have the spare cash, but if the Dems want me to shop there all the time they can send a limo 'round.

I think that I'll set up a table outside a local Walmart and solicit donations to give to the employees. I'll suggest $0.01/item bought.

Any predictions how much money I'll get?