The Supreme Court Has Chosen Business Over People

Wal-Mart Employees to Confront Stockholders

From Raw Story: 

[Kalpona] Akter [a former child sweatshop worker] will call on Walmart to sign a legally binding agreement to improve working conditions in her country’s textile factories that many of the company’s rivals have signed following a building collapse in April that left over 1,127 dead.

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Bangladesh’s textile workers work 11 to 14 hours a day, six, sometimes seven, days a week for $37 a month, says Akter. Conditions are dangerous. A total of 1,239 workers were killed in the recent building collapse outside Dhaka and a factory fire last year, and another 450 were reported ill this week, some hospitalized, after drinking unsafe water at another factory. “Whenever workers try to organise, they are threatened, beaten,” said Akter.

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[Barbara] Collins has worked for Walmart in Placerville, California for almost eight years, and is a full-time associate. “I was told when I first got hired that I had joined a family. A family that would give me the chance to provide, a family that would respect me and value my work. Unfortunately I soon discovered that was not the case,” she said. “Despite my hard work I soon discovered that Walmart was a place that liked to say one thing and do another.” 

She said irregular hours left her unable to pay for healthcare for her family. One week she could work eight hours, the next 40. “Healthcare costs do not change, but my pay and hours do,” she said. She said the instability left her unable to keep up with her premiums. “We need public assistance to survive. Living in low-income housing, relying on food stamps, not being able to afford healthcare, is not my definition of providing a good job,” she said.

Just think of how much money would be saved by tax payers if corporation like Wal-Mart actually paid a livable wage.

Senate Passes Internet Sales Tax Bill

From USA Today: 

The Senate passed a bill Monday night aimed at making it easier for states to collect sales taxes for online purchases, but its final prospects remain uncertain. 

Even so small online retailers are already thinking about the bill's potentially large impact on their operations.

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The issue pits retail behemoths such as Walmart and Amazon against small online sellers such as those on eBay in a fight for price and industry dominance. Those in support of the bill, which include Walmart, Amazon and Target, argue they're at a 5% to 10% price disadvantage by having to charge sales tax. States argue they're missing out on much-needed revenue. Last year, states could have collected more than $11 billion in online sales tax revenue, according to a study by the University of Tennessee. 

"The attempt to do this was almost inevitable given the billions of dollars of transactions that are now being conducted electronically," says Dan Effron, a partner in the tax services group of Marcum LLP, an accounting and consulting firm. But, he says, "I in no doubt agree that the burden of complying with this law on small to medium-size businesses would be a real hindrance." 

Online retailers say the administrative burden of collecting sales tax would curb business growth and make it harder to compete. Perhaps the most contentious provision is a $1 million small-seller exemption — anyone with less than $1 million a year in out-of-state sales wouldn't have to collect sales tax. Small sellers and their advocates say that number is too small.

Senator Warner (D-VA) & The Market Fairness Act