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Posts published in “Day: July 9, 2009”

The Wal-Mart shift

July 9, 2009
walmart

Wal-Mart

The Wal-Mart store which has served the Lewiston-Clarkston area is undergoing a move, from Lewiston on the Idaho side of the Snake River to Clarkston on the Washington, and shifting from a standard store to a larger supercenter. The new Clarkston facility opens sometime later this month; the Lewiston store will close after an overlap of a month or so.

The departure from Lewiston will result, naturally, in a loss of tax revenue in Nez Perce County, which has county officials concerned.

None of which is an unusual development, except maybe for the shuttle across state lines. But a slice of commentary in the Right Mind blog seems to cry out for response:

"I can’t figure this out. The progressive-liberals say that when Wal-Mart comes to town, jobs disappear. But now they are saying that when Wal-Mart leaves town, jobs disappear. Sounds like global warming to me: everything bad is caused by it."

Okay, let's break this down.

Some businesses add to the size of a local economy - the big paper mill at Lewiston, for example. Others operate within the size and structure of a location's overall economy: Few retail or local service businesses make the economy larger. In a place like Lewiston-Clarkston, there are a limited number of retail dollars available to spend. Add new retail to the mix and you're not expanding the number of dollars available for retail spending, you're just slicing the pie thinner. That is why when a giant like Wal-Mart comes to town, a number of smaller businesses are likely to shut down, because the revenues and the margins become too thin for them to continue to operate.

If Wal-Mart leaves a town (not something that has happened in a lot of places), that effect theoretically should over time reverse itself: Smaller businesses should arise to fill the gap. But that's not relevant to Lewiston-Clarkston, which is one economic community; the new store will serve the same population as the old one did. And because it is adding new grocery and other facilities, the effect may turn out to be the shutdown of some local grocery-related business. Lewiston-Clarkston will not, after all, have any more dollars available for spending on groceries after the supercenter opens than it does now.

The tax dollars paid by Wal-Mart will still be paid, only on the Washington side of the line - no massive change there, except for which county gets the money. But perhaps Right Mind has an answer to why this corporation, which according to so much conservative theory ought to be driven so heavily in its decisions by tax rates, should move from lower-tax Idaho to higher-tax Washington. Unless, perhaps, taxes are not after all the only consideration driving business location decisions . . .

Inside at a nervous time

July 9, 2009

Imagine coming to work knowing that this is Black Thursday, the day layoffs hit at your workplace, only no one knows, yet, who or how many. What would that be like?

For anyone not personally familiar with the dynamic, a page at Oregon Media Central will give you the whole eerie feel, from inside the newsroom of the Salem Statesman-Journal. (The news seemed to be, six employee losses plant-wide, but some of the information was uncertain, and there may have been more.

Updates continued all day, reporting on the scene, up to a little over an hour ago. The first one, at 9:30 a.m., started this way:

It doesn't seem to have started here yet but is nearly sure to be this morning. The pub's office is dark right now. Everyone keeps scanning the newsroom to see who is leaving; some gallows humor. Definitely more fake chuckling than usual. Also, more all-black ensembles.

I think a lot of people are following Gannett blog or the #blackthursday tag on Twitter via cell. I know I am.

Rex Rammell’s America

July 9, 2009

We just finished watching (on DVD) the John Adams miniseries. It won a lot of awards; it gets here a recommendation to watch. As a drama, it was flawed in structure, rambling (determined to rope in all the key elements of Adams' adult life) and a little unfocused, but the history is mostly accurate, and the people and setting are a lot like what it must have been like: Difficult, messy, contentious and very human.

It turns out to be locally pertinent viewing. This morning an e-version of a new book out by Idaho Republican (this time around, and at the moment) gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell, A Nation Divided: The War for America's Soul (available via his web site), and quite a bit of it reaches back to that time. Sort of.

Here's one summation, near the start of the book:

In the beginning there were socialists and capitalists. The socialists said “let us force our neighbors to be charitable that all mankind may be equal.” The capitalists said “let us give our neighbors freedom that they may choose to be charitable for charity freely given is true charity.” But the socialists disagreed that man could ever rise to be charitable; he must be forced. The capitalists disagreed. And henceforth the war for freedom began.
And men made themselves kings and rulers. And despotism and tyranny abounded. And man lost his freedom. And the capitalists fought back as blood covered the earth. And the great Father who sits on his throne in the heavens watched and wept as man fought for his freedom. But man was not worthy of freedom. And more blood covered the earth. Then a righteous people arose and the Father said it is time for man to be free. And the people fought against the King and the Father sent his angels. And the people won their freedom. And the people knew they must bind the ambitions of men. So they assembled their wisest and counseled together and asked the Father to help them create a Constitution. But men’s thirst for power continued. And the Constitution was argued and its meaning distorted. And men began again to lose their freedom…

To say that passage is representative of the whole book (upwards of a quarter of it is given to texts of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and an essay by Ezra Taft Benson; a lot of it goes to quotes) would be unfair, but it does indicate where Rammell is going. Here's the way Rammell closes his take on America's past, present and future:

"…And the capitalists fought back for their freedom and vowed to save the Constitution. And God was on their side. And the armies of socialism led by Satan began to fear. And good men and women rallied to the cause. And the Constitution’s original meaning was accepted. And America reset her course. And she returned to her glory. And freedom and happiness were once again found in America!"

Hard to say how even to describe something like that. But by way of putting it into context, a viewing of John Adams would be useful.

Comments are welcome.

InvestigateWest

July 9, 2009

This looks good, if they can sustain it - always the difficulty.

A group of former reporters for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (journalists not at the online version) have launched a site called InvestigateWest, aimed at offering investigative reporting, with a "focus on stories involving the environment, health and social justice." We'll be checking in regularly on it.

From its launch press release:

Incorporated as a 501(c)(3) to conduct journalism for the public trust, InvestigateWest last week became a founding member of the nonprofit Investigative News Network aligning more than 25 investigative news organizations. Funding strategies, news distribution and administrative costs could be pooled among partners like the Center for Investigative Reporting, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and newer ventures such as the New England Center for Investigative Reporting at Boston University and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism in Madison.

InvestigateWest has received a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism, in-kind contributions from major firms, including the K&L Gates law firm and Point B Solutions Group in Seattle, and donations from individual donors, and is actively fundraising from individuals and foundations. Our journalists are already reporting a number of stories for which we are developing media partnerships and seeking funding. Those interested in making a tax-deductible donation can send donations to InvestigateWest at 600 N. 36th St., Suite 316, Seattle, WA, 98103.

It's hoping for a budget of around $1.3 million; according to the P-I, about $3,000 has come in so far. The intent is to run a major investigation out each month, but the site also has a couple of blogs going for more frequent output.

In theory at least, the web should be a great place for investigative reporting. Even many overtly political sites have done some fine investigative work, leveraging not only electronic newsgathering and fast delivery but also the mass of information that audiences know, but in the past wouldn't have been able or willing to contribute. If it works, it cold be one of the answers people in journalism have been looking for.