News Wal-Mart Boozes Up Dry Counties
First Wal-Mart went organic, sparking fears among farmers and environmentalists that the retail giant could use its clout to weaken standards, lower prices, and encourage markets overseas to the detriment of US farmers.
Now it’s making a different enemy: Latter-day prohibitionists in the Bible Belt, where Wal-Mart is making a push to persuade hundreds of “dry” counties, where no liquor can be sold, to go wet. From the NYT:
Attempts by Wal-Mart and others to allow alcohol sales in other places that remain dry — 415 counties in the South and in Kansas still prohibit such sales — are meeting fierce resistance from some church groups and religious leaders. They argue that returning to the days when liquor flowed will mean more family violence, under-age drinking, drunken driving and a general moral decay in the community.
These are the same people, remember, who had absolutely no problem letting Wal-Mart sell handguns (a policy the corporate giant has since revoked.) But the Times says even some red-state residents are starting to see the light:
But voters are increasingly likely to follow their pocketbooks rather than the words of their pastors. Alcohol proponents often make the case that liberalizing laws will increase tax revenue and reduce the need for property tax increases, an issue looming large in voters’ minds.
This is the ONLY thing I might even think about considering supporting Wal-Mart for.