Speaking to Current TV host Cenk Uygur on Monday’s episode of “The Young Turks,” Grayson called Walmart “the largest recipient of public aid in the country,” saying their low wages force workers to take food stamps, housing assistance and Medicaid just to get by.
“The taxpayer pays for the earned income credit,” he said. “The taxpayer pays for Medicaid. The taxpayer pays for unemployment insurance when they cut hours down. And the taxpayer pays for other forms of public assistance like food stamps. I think the taxpayer is getting fed up of paying these things when, in fact, Walmart could give every employee its got, even the CEO, a 30 percent raise and still be profitable.”
While all that is true, it neglects the very simple fact that Wal-Mart is also paid heavily in public aid money. Meaning its customers spend millions of dollars in food stamps every year at the extremely large retailer. Spending for the federal food stamp program, SNAP, was $71.8 billion last year. Though it's very hard to state how much of that goes directly to Wal-Mart, it's safe to assume it's in the billions.
For instance, in the State of Oklahoma alone, in a two year time period the Wal-Mart stores located there received $500 million in food stamps. That's one scarcely populated state in just two years. So yes it's safe to say when you add in Grayson's point about low wages, earned income credit and health care, Wal-Mart is the largest recipient of public aid in the country. No doubt about it. It's time they give back.
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