Wal-Mart Sellout

Wal-Mart's decision to support greater government control of health care is not a sign that companies "believe in" socialized medicine on principle. Instead, it represents Wal-Mart's attempt to gain a competitive advantage against its competitors.

Its competitors tend to have fewer employees with health benefits than Wal-Mart, so government proposals to require companies to pay for employees' health insurance hurts Wal-Marts' competitors more than Wal-Mart.

It is a sad and disturbing day to see one of America's great companies succumb to the political and PR assault waged against it by "playing the game" of trying to use the government to help yourself relative to your competitors.

But that's what happens in our mixed economy, part capitalist and part socialist, particularly when the socialist part is on the ascent.