Wal-Mart continues its PR spin

It's great that Wal-Mart handed out $270+ million in charitable donations last year and of course, it's nice to see that their "associates" received bonuses last year. Heck, Wal-Mart even points the AP to a specific individual who made "substantially more than $1,000" which may be common or it may be the exception that proves the rule. Putting aside the warm and fuzzy PR spin, why can't Wal-Mart finally get serious about the bigger issue of health care?

Let's say a full time worker picks up a bonus of $1,000 or even $1,500 and then pays taxes on that amount. How many months insurance for a family will that cover? One? Two? I think it might be too generous to say three months. This kind of PR spin reminds me of the tax cuts that the GOP loves to roll out. Sure a few extra bucks in your pocket is fine, but what about the 800 pound gorilla in the room called health care? Health care for families is still an after-tax tax since so many families have to at least contribute to the health care fees, it is high time we quit this silly distraction and get serious.

Perhaps Wal-Mart can shed some light on it's seriousness about how it really cares about its "associates". The CEO is making north of $16 million in total compensation (no doubt including health care for that particular "associate") and the corporate profit for 2006 was $12.6 billion. Quit the side show and get serious.