Here's something for NY's 2006 candidates

In Thursday's New York Sun, John Stossel explains how Wal-Mart is good for America and the attacks against the company are ill-advised.

First, Stossel approaches the myth of Americans not getting something in return as Wal-Mart makes millions. But we are the consumer. We do get something in return.

Take the simplest example. I buy a quart of milk. I hand the storekeeper money; she gives me the milk. We both benefit, because she wanted the money more than the milk, and I wanted the milk more than the money. This is why often both of us say "thank you."

Because it's voluntary, business is win/win. A transaction won't happen unless both parties benefit. Each party ends up better off than he was before. And when you have millions of successful transactions, you end up very well off - like the owners of Wal-Mart.

Why yes, that's it. As a business owner, my job is to provide a service to the consumer who wants my products. My goal is to make money, your goal is to own the goods I provide. Sounds like a win-win, doesn't it?

Wal-Mart started with one man and a vision. He opened a small store and from there expanded that business because that is simply the American dream. Free Market, right? Well, the market isn't as free as it used to be, but Wal-Mart founder, Sam Walton, was able to navigate through government regulations and create a large corporation.

In earlier eras, John D. Rockefeller and Cornelius Vanderbilt were depicted as evil. But the condemnation rarely came from consumers. It was competing businessmen who complained. And newspapers lapped it up, calling them "robber barons."

Vanderbilt got rich by making travel and shipping cheaper. Lots of people liked that. No one was forced to buy the oil on which Rockefeller got rich. He had to persuade people by offering it to them for less. He offered it so cheaply that poorer people, who used to go to bed when it got dark, could now afford fuel for their lanterns. These are "robber barons"?

"You could not find a more inaccurate term for these men than 'robber barons,'" said philosopher David Kelley. "They weren't barons. All of them started penniless. And they weren't robbers, because they didn't take it from anyone else."

Somehow, as time went on, capitalism started becoming evil. You can make money, but as soon as you reach a certain threshold, you become evil and must be penalized. Is that what our Founding Fathers fought for?

As for the issue of Wal-Mart's low wages to employees and lack of health coverage, Stossel hits the nail on its head.

"None of them was drafted. None of them was forced to work at Wal-Mart," said Brink Lindsey, a senior scholar at the Cato Institute. "That means that if they're working there, presumably, that was the best job they could get.

We have to remember, we are free to work anywhere we are offered a job. A Wal-Mart can come into a community and provide lots of jobs for individuals who would otherwise not be working. Many people who seek jobs at a business at Wal-Mart are going to school and simply need part-time work. Other employees are retired and because of how poorly government provides for them with social security, require a job to supplement their income. And work is all voluntary.

I think many anti-Wal-Mart folks forget is the big box store is usually a primer for getting a young person started in the workforce or a job where a local senior can keep themselves busy and be friendly to many of their neighbors. And Stossel closes by including something Democrats don't want you to repeat. A success story because of Wal-Mart.

Before Sha-ron Reese was hired at Wal-Mart she was on welfare. She'd lost custody of her kids and was homeless, living in her car. California store manager W.C. Morrison took a risk and hired her. "She had no references," he told us. "She had no work experience."

In her own words, she was "raw." But Morrison took a chance on her. That changed her life. Today, Reese has two people working for her. She's got her own apartment. She's regained custody of two of her kids. And she's a Wal-Mart customer. "Everything, just about, that's in my house," she said, "Wal-Mart sells."