Wal-Mart's Great Leap Forward

Wal-Mart's recent agreement to allow its Chinese workforce to unionize is highly disingenuous, says Nader. Chinese unions are state-controlled, so will actually operate as an efficient enforcement mechanism.

It is tactics such as these that are allowing Wal-Mart to wreak such havoc with standards of living around the world -- and raiding taxpayers' pocketbooks in the process. One recent study found that the social supports necessary to feed and shelter the children of the employees from "one 200-person Wal-Mart store could cost federal taxpayers over $420,000 per year. These costs include subsidized lunches, health insurance and housing assistance, federal tax credits and deductions for low-income families, among other examples of Wal-Mart’s freeloading."