RUSH: Here’s David in Tulsa. It’s great to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Hey. Good afternoon, Rush. Yeah, my brother called me up. He lives in Washington, DC, and there’s an uprising going on there with the city council. As you know, they’re trying to impose an artificial minimum wage on Walmart, and Walmart’s threatening to cancel six stores that they’re gonna open there. He’s one of the citizen who’s, obviously, gonna try to apply for a job there. The city council has miscalculated big time, because the citizens know that Walmart’s not bluffing about closing those stores, and they’re more than happy to work for the minimum wage ’cause they know it’s not gonna be their salary or their wage forever.
RUSH: It’s not just that. It’s not just that, David. It’s not just that Walmart’s an employer. Walmart’s where you go to get cheaper things. If Walmart pulls out of there, it obviously takes a lot of jobs with it. But it also takes low prices.
CALLER: Oh, absolutely. And the stores who are in the area, they want the foot traffic that the Walmart stores are gonna bring. They’re not concerned about the competition. They’re saying, “Hey, that’s gonna bring more people that are gonna walk to our door.”
RUSH: All right, let me ask you a question. You’re saying that you’re hearing a lot of citizens in DC are furious about Walmart pulling out. Who are they mad at?
CALLER: They’re mad at the city council —
RUSH: A-ha.
CALLER: — for wanting to impose the artificial minimum wage.
RUSH: Are they really?
CALLER: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. My brother said that his friends are furious, and people are talking about it on the news. People are calling City Hall and saying, “Hey, look. You know, Walmart’s not bluffing. They make the profit that they have without those six stores.”
RUSH: But the city council is gonna try to get the population all angry at Walmart for pulling out.
CALLER: Yeah, but it’s backfiring on ’em. The citizens know that Walmart is not bluffing. They’re saying, “Look, we want the jobs. We want the work.”
RUSH: Yeah, I’ll tell you, I —
CALLER: “We want to be able to shop.”
RUSH: I would hope that’s true, but I don’t know. I just have so many doubts about places run by Democrats. I mean, the people in those towns elect these people. They must believe what they say. I don’t know. I hope you’re right. I hope what you’ve heard is right, David, that they’re angry at the city council. Hell, the city council doesn’t even pay that wage to anybody, and they’re demanding others do?
It’s not just Walmart, either. It’s all big box stores that happen to be Walmart’s size. There aren’t very many, but they don’t have unions.
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