The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 4 of 9)

br> -- Bob Keiser br> Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania /p>

K. Andrew Jackson did an excellent piece on the Luddites of La-La Land who have kept Wal-Mart out of town. The anti-Wal-Mart types are in league with those I call the "watermelons," envirowackos who are green on the outside and red on the inside. They are bent on destroying our capitalistic free enterprise system in favor of their socialism.

Here in the small towns of the central Oregon coast, activist public officials have been successful in keeping out the "big box" stores like Wal-Mart, Lowe's, Home Depot, Costco, etc. We who live here are obliged to make one of two choices -- do without or drive some 70 miles one way to the state capital, Salem. Shoot, even the tiny hamlet of Squim, WA has a Costco. There is a Wal-Mart in Newport, about 18 miles south of my home and my wife and I make a weekly drive there for out needs though this Wal-Mart does not have a grocery section. However, we solve that problem by shopping at a Fred Meyer, aka Kroger, store. We do have some small supermarkets close by, but they are limited by selection and generally higher prices.

Now I do have a beef with Wal-Mart. In their policy of the lowest prices, most of what they sell is made in China or some other third world nation. The goods are somewhat shoddy, but you get what you pay for. We are blessed with an outlet mall that does offer some top of the line products at reasonable prices. The permanent residents here are, for the most part, retirees with limited incomes like myself. We do our best to keep costs down, but a couple of large discount stores close by would be a big help. The coast also has a problem that has been on-going for as long as I can remember. That is the cost of gasoline that skyrockets out of sight during the summer months. This compounds the problem of having to drive some distance for shopping. Last summer the price rose and is still up there with little hope of coming down even a little bit. It almost seems like there is a conspiracy to keep us retirees poor.

p>One final comment: Two days ago I made and impulse purchase in the local market. I picked up a bag of toasted bagel slices. They were delicious. In looking at the bag, I read that the company is based in Australia and the bagel chips are made in Bulgaria! br> -- Al Martin br> Depoe Bay, Oregon /p>

My problem with Wal-Mart is only that they seem to use government officials to use Eminent Domain to condemn homes and properties because WM promises more taxes than the original land owners.

p>Neal Boortz has been pressing this issue for a while now. br> --

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