IT'S NOT FOR NOTHING THAT IT'S CHENEY'S FAVE COMPANY

My YDN column for this week - asking why some Democrats are siding with Wal-Mart and against the growing movement to hold it accountable - is on-line here:

Wal-Mart economics have rightly inspired an increasingly organized and effective backlash from Americans in red states and blue ones who recognize that there are just and efficient alternatives to the Wal-Mart model of driving down wages and benefits through willfully high turnover, illegal squeezing and silencing of employees and intentional exploitation of marginalized groups. Wal-Mart's critics recognize that companies can turn a profit by investing in their workforce and that government has a crucial role to play in paving the high road by rewarding progressive business policy. They recognize that real economic freedom is fostered when government protects the rights of all workers and ensures that work pays in America. So, in its best moments, has the Democratic Party. Which is why it's a shame to see Democratic congressmen and consultants carrying water for Wal-Mart.

More on this topic from Jonathan Tasini here. Some selection from the Little Wild Bouquet Wal-Mart-blogging archives: Wal-Mart to cast out the sick; the Costco alternative; Wal-Mart discriminates against the disabled on the cheap; Wal-Mart compares regulation to book-burning; Robert Reich lets Wal-Mart off easy; Wal-Mart's sweetheart deal not so popular; Wal-Mart CEO defends punitive liquidation; Wal-Mart hearts Bush; Wal-Mart tries cuddly rhetoric; Wal-Mart slapped on the wrist for union-busting; Wal-Mart locks in its workers...You get the idea.