Redstate

New ORleans is gone would need total evacuation!

So what if WalMart is looted the priority is get the people out. EVACUATE!!!! I am disgusted that as wealthy as America is they cannot even do what Cuba did to evacuate 200,000 of its citizens from a hurricane!

that Wal-Mart has stepped up to the plate, and big-time, too.  It it too difficult to be appreciative, as a fellow-American, or does your partisanship forbid you from thinking that anything positive can come from such an "evil source?"  This will be a time of the good, the bad and the ugly - let's try to keep the good that people (Repubs and Dems alike, corporations and unions)are doing and will do for months and perhaps years to come, instead of recrimination and finger pointing.  Don't fret, the bad and the ugly will be there when you need it most.

Even Reporters are crying and angry and frustrated!!!!

I prefer keeping a clear head during a crisis and trying to come up with the most effective solution(s) for both the immediate and long-term problem(s).  Seeing a reporter emote on the camera does not further that end.

responsible for evacuation, and plans for eventualities are those organizations within the states affected.  Absent that organization and planning, whether by such absolute devistation or poor planning, other agencies must come on board, by trying to communicate where there is NO COMMUNICATION, coordinate where there is NO COORDINATION;  so other states, the Federal Government, private business, individuals, and the many Charities are trying to become an effective working unit.

Does it bother me - YOU BET.  All I can do in Oregon is donate my blood and treasure, and pray, hoping those that can be there, will be there.

Where are the BUSES!!!!

Do you really think this is a lack of busses? If the roads were clear and the city were not under water, do you really think it would be that hard to drive up several hundred busses to the dome?

You're harping on an evacuation that is underway, slowly. It's painful. It's overwhelming. But if people could even WALK to the city limits where it's dry, don't you think they would?

Good gracious you act as if these people are sitting on their rooftops of their own accord.

On the number of exclamation points each poster is able to use per day.  They really use their effectiveness when three are used per sentence particularly after words that are shouted in ALL CAPS.

Second and seven, Jasmine in the armchair. FEMA on the right, National Guard is wide left.

have somewhere to go, to give shelter, food, water - There has to be a plan, I'm telling you - -do you want buses willy-nilly driving around - There has to be a plan for evacuation and settlement - there has to be food, water and shelter to wherever the buses are going.  Use some common sense.  Helicopters are rescuing the most isolated - Ships are getting into position as floating hospitals.  Everything was destroyed - school buses, boats, police cars, ambulances - not to mention being inundated by water and inaccessable.  Please! - all we can see are the bits and pieces in front of the cameras.  Every state is coming forward.  The best that can be done, will be done.

...they're sure to have quarters and rations there, along with a built in MP police force. Also, the crazies have been yammering for years about various sites renovated or constructed by FEMA -- here's one such crazy person -- and one would think those camps, which were constructed (if they were constructed at all, some of the locations hold nothing except paranoid fantasies) for emergencies like this, seem like decent options.

YES!! DRIVERS!!! AND BUSSES!!!!

the Mayor of New Orleans did say that they are in desperate need of buses.

Don't forget that there are between 15 and 20 thousand people at the Convention Center.  It's going to take a LOT of buses to move that many people.

no matter what it will never be enough for people like you.  I could give you the shirt off my back, the shoes on my feet, and my Levis and you'd either complain that I didn't give you my underwear too or you'd complain that I was naked.

Get a grip honey!

I just saw that Chevron gave 5mil to help the relief effort. Wonder how the libs will respond to that? or just ignore it and continue to rave about the "evil oil" companies.

Good for them. I still won't shop there.

that's the nice thing about America, you don't have to.

for starters they should have given 10 mil since NO would not be having all of these problems if it weren't for the big oil companies.  ;)

only you would see that as the most important angle.  Sigh.

If they can move 1.5 million Mexicans across the border every year, they should be able to move everyone out of NO in about a week.

$15 million dollars is less than a single day's worth of profits for Wal Mart...  In fact, it is a little more than HALF a day's worth of 2004 profits (Saturdays, Sundays and holidays included)

Whoop de whoop!...

Pardon me for not being overwhelmed with awe at Wal Mart's "genorosity" here...

The maintenance guy in my office building who makes $12 an hour and who has two little kids gave me $300 in cash to give to Red Cross for him since he doesn't have a credit card..

That's about FIVE days of net income from him...

Let's talk about people who make REAL sacrifices!...

Screw Wal Mart!

Wal Mart should be giving $150 MILLION....  AT LEAST!..

I don't know why so many self-proclaimed "conservatives" are in blinf and ignoratn love with Wal Mart (aka, "The Chinese Military Funding Corporation")

guy proves my point.  

The left will never think it is enough.

Your comment is stupid.

I am NOT a "leftist"...  If I had my way, I'd sink every boat full of Wal Mart bound Chinese crap and bomb the hell out of China's burgeoning missile bases on the Straights of Taiwan right now.

$15 million dollars is less than HALF A DAY'S pay from Wal Mart...

You nutsos can gripe all you want, but that's just how it is...

Anyone who trumpets Wal Marts's "genorosity" for dishing out a half a day's pay is just farting in the wind..

So, I guess mini-stores handing out FREE stuff is not enough either.

Seriously, you are unhinged and just stupid.

Less than a SINGLE DAY'S PAY from your glorious Wal Mart/Chinese Distribution Center in Katrina relief....

That's just how it is pal...

You can call names all you want....

But the truth is the truth, and there isn't a whole lot you can do to refute it...

We're all supposed to bow down to Wal Mart because they dished out a measely HALF A DAY'S worth of profits?...

A HALF A DAY?....

And ignore the fact that this ONE company accounts for more TEN PERCENT of our trade deficit with China?!...

Wal Mart spends $15 million just on ADVERTISING in a WEEK!....

WHOOP DE FRIGGING WHOOP!...

WHAT "genorosity"!...

Not ME buddy!...

People who can't deal with facts always want to ban those who show them up...

Your request is typical of an ignorant, narrow-minded and insecure mentality..

Why don't you just deal with the reality, instead of trying to hide from the truth?...

$15 million dollars is about HALF A DAY'S worth of Wal Mart's profits (including weekends and holidays too!)

Less than a single week's worth of Wal Mart's advertising budget!....

PERIOD...

Some "generosity" THIS is!...

1. Less than ONE percent of Wal Mart stores are closed because of Katrina..  And looting is occuring at only a few of these stores.
   
2. Losses will largely be taken by Wal Mart's INSURERS and by government unemployment insurance who will pay the idle employees...  NOT by poor, poor, Walmart...

If you are going to feel sorry for someone...  Feel sorry for the small businessman in New Orleans who has been decimated by Katrina...  Instead of feeling sorry for Wal Mart...

First of all, I have many, many friends dotted along the coasts of LA, AL, & MS, so I don't need you to tell me who to feel sorry for.

My best friend's family nursery in coastal AL is utterly destroyed.  Her brother, an EMT, is out giving people food, non-perishable milk, and water to those in need.  In return for his actions, he gets his generator stolen from an idiot he just helped an hour prior.

Another friend's childhood home is nothing but a pile of rubble.  Many are without power and have sustained enormous amounts of damage to their homes.  One even has a family member still missing.

I could go on and on.  Do not lecture me about who I should feel sorry for.

As for Wal-Mart, I'm going to applaud any company that steps up to the plate and donates anything to help these people.  I am not accustomed to biting a hand that has reached out to feed me or someone I love.

For the record, as far as I can tell, Wal-Mart has pledged more money to help these folks than any other corporation.  If you can prove otherwise, then please do.  If not, then shut the hell up!  

I doubt that walmart is actually sacrificing profit here.  Most likely it is simply going to use this as a tax deduction.

The plight of your family and friends is lamentable and tragic and is shared by many people who need help.  However, it has nothing to do with Wal Mart.

Furthermore, Wal Mart SHOULD be expected contribute more to the Katrina relief effort than any other US corporation.  It has many operations in the affected region and it is the largest company and employer in the country.

Finally, to reiterate the reality you simply refuse to ackowledge...

15 million dollars is LESS THAN HALF A DAY'S WORTH OF PROFITS...

While every dollar counts, and while Wal Mart has no legal duty to contribute anything...  The fact remains that this donation is HARDLY a "generous" donation from a company with over TEN BILLION DOLLARS in annual profits!...

Wal-Mart is not bound by anyone or anything to give one damn dime to anybody.  They owe nothing to anyone but their shareholders.

Get a grip and go berate someone else.

this donation is HARDLY a "generous" donation from a company with over TEN BILLION DOLLARS in annual profits!

We can't tell whether that's true or not without knowing what their asset base is. Ten billion in profits could be 1000% return on assets, or it could be a 1% return on assets... in which case we could do better putting money in a passbook savings account than investing in Wal-Mart.

Just telling us some big number doesn't say anything. What's the return on assets?

10.52%.  The company runs at a 3.56% profit margin.

This guy is an idiot.  He need to be banned.  If we had voice monitors on our keyboards, he would have been screaming "Wal-Mart is evil"  at the top of his lungs all freakin' night.

People like him make me sick.  Sometimes I think this place is turning into the WWF instead of an intellegent place to do political discussions.  Get rid of the idiots now, please!

2 million, the 15M is an additional donation.  Last year their total charitables were over 170M, the bulk of it to "on the ground" local orgaizations in the communities that Wal-Mart stores are located.

But, to this guy, it will never be enough.  Corporations are evil, and if profit were outlawed we would all be rich.

You read too far into Walmart's actions, just like they want you to.

Walmart is a publicly traded business.  It will not do anything that hurts its value.

$15m, that's great.  I mean, it totally helps, of course.  Free stuff?  Yup.  But I suggest you look at the total cost of this donation, which will have "Walmart" written all over it in big signs and press releases, as about 2% of the overall annual advertising budget of the company.  Walmart has a 3.6% profit margin on annual revenue of $298 billion.  They spend $15 million every 30 minutes just to operate.

As was originally pointed out, Walmart has been getting a little bit of bad press.  This donation thing is great press.  It's great advertising, and it's good for the company.

I don't deny it's a great thing for them to make these donations.  But I do deny they're driven by some kind of humanitarian force.  It's a business.  "Good" or "Evil" is not even part of the equation.  They are driven to minimize cost while maximizing revenue, by hook or by crook.  Period.

 too far into anyone's reasoning for help.  I don't care what their reasoning is, just that they are trying to help.  That's all.

The idiot has yet to provide any links whatsoever to back up any of his claims.  He has yet to provide any evidence that any other company has even come close to the monetary amount contributed by Wal-Mart.  All he has done is scream and holler that Wal-Mart isn't doing enough.  Where is Target?  Where is K-Mart?  Where is Sears? Costco?  I'm sure they are out there contributing as well.  Where is the outrage regarding their donations?

Puhleeze.  This guy is just an unhinged idiot.  Nothing more, nothing less.

American citizens and corporations are some of the most generous on earth, yet it is never enough for some.  Plain and simple.  

Hyperbolize much?

It's a nice move by Wal-Mart.  Let's not get carried away.

Corporations have no business engaging in pure altruism with shareholders' assets.

OTOH, 1 million displaced or homeless folks who are going to need to replace a lot of stuff over a very short period of time at rock bottom low prices - now there's a market.  Not to mention that dead consumers buy very little.

Seems like cheap advertising/good will and a smart business move.

American citizens and corporations are some of the most generous on earth, yet it is never enough for some.

I think it bothers a lot of people that these corporations are only generous in a self-serving way.  They feel, "What's generous about this, if it is done solely to benefit the company?"

So they say, "Actually take a loss for the cause--then I'll think you're generous."  But a company can't just do that; there would be shareholder lawsuits and all kinds of mess.

So better than Costco, better than IBM, worse than Microsoft, a lot worse than Exxon-Mobil. If they are rapers and pillagers, they aren't very good ones.

reply to you and the poster above - I think it's great these companies are donating, and for me the problem isn't that they didn't donate enough, it's that it is a clear PR move and little more. Not to say that they don't care at all about the NO situation, but mini-walmarts? come on...

If it WASN'T a PR move, why not just hand the money to Red Cross without contacting the preznit and making some giant relations circus out of it with mini-stores etc.? The people need food, water and to get the hell out of NO, NOT a bunch of chinese-made products that ultimately are destroying American jobs. Same with Chevron, no company donates significant funds to such a thing without there being a PR benefit. If you think otherwise, you clearly don't know how big business works.

only hurt the community. In fact, one could argue all the bannings that have happened here will only lead to it being a wingnut echo chamber. You need various voices to keep any debate strong and interesting, like it or not.

thanks for telling us what we need after being here a total of 5 minutes and eleven seconds. RedState has many a liberal & moderate voice. They just don't allow talking point drivel.

I have adopted Thomas' policy of not wrestling with pigs.  No more lefties or idiots for me.  Only commenting to someone who seems to have a reasonable sense of debate.

There  are so many that I assume they are kept around like sideshow freaks to either be pitied or provide perverse amusement as they dribble their drivel down their chins onto their keyboards. I do admit that it is fascinating how stupid, ignorant, inexperienced they are. They must all be sophomore poli sci majors.

I didn't know we had a 100% bracket.

Wal-Mart took in 17.1 billion profit last QUARTER! They stick you and I with the check for their employees' health care each year...and 15 million is all they've got for the effort? And I love how redstate.org puts the decimal and cents in the title of that post! Some psychology at play there...perhaps some guilt over whoring out the blog for this government health care junk-addict of a corporation.

How a conservative could support this small business destroyer baffles me.  

$15 million is NOTHING!

Ready to spend other people's money like water.

Ready to criticize generosity.

Disgusting.

Usually means that a comment is not serious.

They don't destroy small businesses any more than any other superior competitor does.

Everyone who disagrees with you is a "troll"?

You are a narrow-minded person.

Wal Mart is not legally obligated to give a cent to the Katrina relief effort..

However the company is morally obligated to do a LOT better than a HALF A DAY'S WORTH OF PROFITS!...

Anyone who trumpets Wal Mart's 15 million dollar contribution as some sort of miraculous "generosity" is WAY off the mark...

The management of the company does not own the company. They do not own its profits. They can't just give it away... it's not their money to give.

Presumably they have some leeway with the shareholders to do a certain amount of this stuff. But to just arbitrarily decide to give away the owners' money is not something they are authorized to do.

If you do not understand simple, basic facts about what corporations are, then don't comment on it.

If the shareholders wish to cash out their Wal-Mart stock and donate the proceeds to the Red Cross or the Salvation Army, they can do that. Some of them probably are.

. . .I am reminded of the countless idiots--epitomized for me by a couple of LA radio personalities who have gone on to other things--who were fond of whining about how Bill Gates "only" gave a few tens of millions of dollars a year to charity, as it represented such a small share of his total wealth.  There is nothing more firmly rooted in the psyche of the lefty than the ability to be self-righteous about how other people spend their money.  The troll's main sin here is an utter lack of originality.

Including donations to charities...

THAT is how it works..

Directors have a fiduciary duty to the CORPORATION and NOT to the shareholders....

However, your argument is absurd even assuming your point is valid..

You are saying that Wal Mart CAN'T give money, but that we are supposed to be awed by the fact that they DID give money?...

"Directors have a fiduciary duty to the CORPORATION and NOT to the shareholders". The shareholders are the corporation. Go read some corporate bylaws and cure your ignorance.

Directors have a fiduciary duty to the CORPORATION and NOT to the shareholders....

Like I said, if you don't understand simple, basic facts about what a corporation is, don't comment on it.

but I've visited quite frequently. The rash of bannings over difference in opinion has kept me from posting because I knew I too would be banned if my views didn't mesh with the more angry and irate conservatives here. Bannings are called for at the drop of the hat, and unlike most sites which only ban for serious offenses, this will result in a mindless echo chamber of the most shrill, irrational voices present i.e. those always calling for said bannings.

But hey, it's YOUR site, right?

I take this lack of response to mean you have nothing meaningful to respond with. Thanks, one of my first posts and I WIN!

I could get used to this shooting of fish in a barrel...

whatsoever to back up any of his claims. Where is Target?  Where is K-Mart?  Where is Sears? Costco?

What does K-Mart have to do with anything?..

You are comparing the world's largest company to much smaller companies, one of which that has just emerged from bankruptcy.

This fallacious reasoning is tantamount to comparing the charitable contributions of Bill Gates to those made by a homeless person.

You are babbling nonsense..

The FACT remains that 15 million dollars is merely HALF A DAY'S profit for Wal Mart..

PERIOD....

And this kind of "genorosity" is hardly anything to jump up and down about...

You just have to deal with it...

<blockquote<There is nothing more firmly rooted in the psyche of the lefty than the ability to be self-righteous about how other people spend their money.</blockquote>

LOL...

This whole thread is based on how Wal Mart has spent its money...  

Funny how when the numbers start to get debated, then anyone who isn't idiotically shaking their Wal Mart pom-poms is a "leftist" or a "troll"...

You Wal Mart cheerleaders can dance around the truth all you want, but the fact that Wal Mart has committed less than a HALF A DAY'S worth of profits to the Katrina relief effort is HARDLY an act of corporate "heroism"...

Sure every bit helps... Sure Wal Mart didn't legally have to give a cent...

But MORALLY, the company should do better than five hours worth of profits....

Anyway you look at it...

"It's a business.  "Good" or "Evil" is not even part of the equation." For your information, good and evil, right and wrong, employee welfare and a lot of other moral considerations enter into every business decision and 99.99% of business decisions are made in an attempt to adhere to the positive side of the equation. Who are you? Marx reincarnated?

Corporate directors have a fiduciary to the CORPORATION...

The only duty they have to the shareholders is in the CORPORATE interest...  And in most states, shareholders are at the BOTTOM of the totem pole...  ... a director's duty to shareholders is superceded by a statutory duty to creditors of the corporations.

Directors DO NOT have an obligation to make shareholders wealthy...

They DO NOT have an obligation to distribute earnings in dividends...

And they DO have the authority to make charitable contributions with corporate funds...

PERIOD.....

YOU need an education...

about 15 years old if you think that this is how corporations work.

Like I did...

And then get back to me on corporate law, chief...

Corporate directors have NO obligation to distribute earnings to shareholders... And they DO have the authority to make charitable contributions with corporate funds...

THAT is just how it is, Sport...

Deal with it...

You are lying by omission, by which I mean you are making true but narrowly-drafted statements which appear to buttress your position, but which in fact are irrelevant. You appear to be hoping that a couple of things dressed up to look like trees will obscure a forest.

No such luck.

A board is under no obligation to distribute earnings to shareholders because it is often in the shareholders' interest that the earnings be re-invested in the business so as to pursue growth, and hence capital gains. Capital gains are taxed lightly, while dividends are taxed twice under 'soak the rich' principles. This is sufficiently well-understood by even financial neophytes that if you don't understand why this is true, you should just go away before embarrassing yourself further.

To say that boards can make charitable contributions is not the same thing as saying they can do so willy-nilly. If hauled into court by shareholders for giving too much away, they would have to have been "reasonable," whatever that means in that courtroom at that time.

You wish to drive those who may not be familiar with the subject to accept concepts which are just false, and you are doing so by playing the shyster. This is not cool.

Why is he still here?  He has done nothing but spew garbage and insult, to my knowledge, the largest single monetary pledge made by any American corporation.  I asked him to provide documentation of any other corporate contributions and he provided nothing.  He has provided nothing but strife.  At times like this, why would you guys let him stay?  I just don't get it!!!

Though I doubt that it will override what some 3rd rate law instructor in the 4th rate law school this guy must have attended, said in Intro to Business Law 101. However, taking the bar exam at 15 is commendable.

I figure there is some utility in drawing out the talking point and hammering it. I hadn't seen anybody try to BS his way through this one before. Usually they just go away, assuming that the real reason you don't want corporations to give all their money to the poor is that you are a moral inferior. This one actually tried to pretend he knew what he was talking about.

Besides, don't you think he makes lawyers look kind of stupid and sleazy? With all the lawyers around here, we have to take such opportunities where we can get them.

I gave up wrestling with pigs yesterday.  :)

Give it back, I don't want to share with you.

do a double take when I first read his drivel.  Couldn't believe my eyes at first and the I saw the "i" on the end.

I figured this new one was the high speed, German version.

You think he's the new and improved model? Nick, I'm hurt. See if I bother defending you on other websites anymore...

my tendency to interpret "German" as "improved" annoys my wife to no end...

interpret "German" as "improved"

I don't necessarily do that, even though it's probably true that Germans have more intelligence per square head than other people.

that you were incapable of responding to...

Again, calling names and talking trash are the easiest way out of an argument you can't win, so I'm honored.

You have won a Great Victory. Now move along, you are taking up space on the screen with your self-aggrandizement.

We are back to having one. The other one, as feared, went too fast, careened out of control, and ran into a Thomas.

You know, the fact that those "Mini Chicom distributors" are giving away things for free.  Free, friend, not at cost, below cost, etc.  This, in addition to the $15 million they are donating.

Frankly, who cares if it's a PR stunt...if you needed food or diapers for your kids, would you really be turning up your nose at them?  Gee, somehow I doubt it.

One of the things the left is blind to, is human nature, including their own. the left likes to think of themselves as altruistic moral giants that seek to do good only for goodness's sake alone and they value good intentions producing bad results more than do good results.

But in an ultimate sense most every act any human makes is in no small way perfomed for self serving reasons. That the left deems this as intrinsicly bad is due to a world view that deems humans members of groups shaped by"society" and "economic class" rather than seeing individuals responsible for themselves and their families and subject to moral absolutes from God.

But, despite their world view, they are still humans subject to human nature and a conscious, and they desire to me liked like all people.

And so, the actions liberals take and the stands they take are partially because they know they are more likely to be liked if they do the right thing.

Desiring to be liked is no less selfish than desiring to make a profit.

The moral heart of capitalism (unlike the socialist-communist system which denies human nature and commands illogical "results" thought to be "fair") is that for a free person to succeed, they must find a willing free buyer for what they sell. Free People buy things they want. And they buy again and tell others to buy when satisfied.

This mirrors human nature and is why freedom works so well. it places human beings in the state of existence that God placed man in, or as close as we can come in a fallen world.

And so, socialists try to re-make man into a never having existed creature that does things with no relation to effort, merit and results.

So they end up having to slaughter and enslave men as they naturally resist acting against their nature.

Corporations are groups of individuals working together for a common goal the acheivement of which requires pleasing their fellow man.

It is a moral act to provide for one's own needs and one's families'needs thru work.

The great flaw in the socialist world view is that people not be responsible for themselves, individually, but rather that they all be responsible for each other and "do the right thing" which is impossible to determine apart from individual need!!! And so the system breaks down much as gas burning motor would on sand.

We all want "good press" not just corps. Socialists want good press because of their good intentions that all people have equal income and wealth. They aren't fazed by how their system fails miserably, becasue they are so riddled with un=requited guilt that they deem any acknowledged selfish desire to be worse than actual results that produce less suffering.

They need to acknowledge God, acknowledge and repent of sin, acceot that they are valuable loved children of God and then go about taking care of that creature that God loves in the mirror.

And what they will find is that as they seek to take care of their needs, they will interact with other such beings with the same motives and

voila

god's will be done