Paul Wilczynski's Observations

The Wal-Mart documentary

Robert Greenwald discusses a Wal-Mart documentary he's created.

The Wal-mart documentary had its genesis in the doctor's office.

Strange, but true. I was having a routine check-up for some fairly mundane complaint. As the exam went on and various tests were ordered, I began to mentally calculate how much the bill for this visit was going to come to. But I was thinking of a friend of mine -- a hard-working salt-of-the-earth kind of guy -- whose recent health crisis had severely strained his family's resources. He did not have the kind of high-quality health coverage that I had through the Directors Guild.

Days later, with my friend's situation still on my mind, I met a new neighbor who was a Wal-Mart sales clerk. He worked there full time but could not afford the health care plan they offered. Wait a minute, I thought. This clerk worked full time for a company whose profit was ten BILLION dollars annually, and they did not provide health care? But it got worse. The clerk said that the company had very kindly advised him how to apply for Medicare, so he could get public aid. So taxpayers were paying for Wal-mart employees to get medical care! I really found it hard to believe. I assumed that if it was true, it had to be an isolated incident. ...

posted by Paul Wilczynski @ 10:48 AM