Forbes reports on Wal-Mart joining forces with SEIU and the Center for American Progress:
As for the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress, it has an added incentive to welcome Wal-Mart into polite company. While the left has shunned the corporate behemoth for years, according to its Web site Wal-Mart gives the think tank between $500,000 and $999,999. Perhaps CAP will get more than just brownie points from the Obama administration for brokering this deal.
As Meghan McArdle explained yesterday, it's not likely that Wal-Mart is acting out of some enlightened sense of self-interest, but rather "because [this bill] raises the barriers to entry in the retail market." In other words, Wal-Mart will use its influence in the health care reform process to go after its smaller competitors and by " transferring costs to the tax payer whenever possible." But the Center for American Progress, check in hand from Wal-Mart, is now running a special on propaganda:
On the whole, this is a win-win for reformers. The nation's largest employer has embraced a mechanism that enhances the existing system of employer-based coverage, levels the playing field between employers and preserves the employer contribution - an important source of funding for health care reform. In turn, it has requested that we guarantee cost reductions and steer clear of a policy that undermines low-wage workers. Let's hope the Senate Finance Committee is listening.
Expect a hard-hitting question from one of CAP's crack reporters at Obama's next press conference. HT: Michael Moynihan