Matt Stoller is a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. You can follow him at http://www.twitter.com/matthewstoller
For the first time ever, a strike is taking place in America aimed at the most powerful company in the economy: Walmart. Workers at Walmart stores across the country, as Josh Eidelson reports, are threatening to walk out on Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. These labor actions are coming on top of earlier labor actions at Walmart’s warehouse contractors linked to “non-payment of overtime, non-payment for all hours worked, and even pay less than the minimum wage.”
The possible strike could be very significant, because the target of the strike is the most important driver of the race to the bottom economy. Walmart is massive – the company is the largest private employer in the US, with more than 2 million employees. The average American household spends $3500 at Walmart, and in 2006, the company alone represented 2.3% of the American GDP. The company is so powerful that when a Walmart Supercenter comes into your community, the entire community’s obesity rate increases. It is also, as New America scholar Barry Lynn has argued in End of the Line, a force that has reshaped the American corporate world.
Though known for suppressing wages, I found evidence that the company is willing to change working conditions with sufficient pressure. According to St. Louis Federal Reserve President William Poole, the last time there was significant labor unrest at Walmart, in 2006, the company raised wages at 700 stores. Poole, like many at the Fed, regularly spoke with Walmart executives, and they gave him unvarnished views about their business practices because they believed (as did Poole) that the information would be used solely for macro-economic forecasting. On March 27-28, 2006, Poole said that his Walmart contact told him the company would not raise wages, and was planning on moving their work force increasingly towards part-time employment. Poole was interested in this because of its bearing on inflation. “Wages,” he said, “and these are for hourly workers, are absolutely flat – no increases whatsoever in the last year and no increases planned going forward.” Poole continued, “About 20 percent of their associates are part time and that they are going to be increasing that share to 40 percent so they can staff at peak times and get more productivity out of their workforce.”
Just two months later, Poole offered some very different and shocking news, “My Wal-Mart contact also said that “Wal-Mart is in the process of raising starting wages in about 700 stores. This is the first time in eight years of talking with him that I’ve heard any comment like that. He said that some of the raises are part of the Wal-Mart, I’ll call it “Social/political” agenda because of all the controversy about Wal-Mart.” The FOMC transcripts are as close as we’re going to get to internal corporate dialogue without discovery or leaks. The reason I found this information is because Walmart has become a significant presence at the Fed; forecasters at the key Federal Open Market Committee meetings increasingly rely on what the retailer tells them about the economy. Now, FOMC transcripts aren’t released for at least five years, so we don’t know whether this strike is registering with those high level policymakers. But the last time there was a far less aggressive union-backed attack on Walmart‘s business practices, it did.
As for the strike, it is potentially one of the biggest stories of the year, a genuine challenge to the current economic order. Walmart has set the tone for the global economy, becoming a massive trading empire on the order of the British East Indies Trading company. Walmart has, as New America scholar Barry Lynn argued in End of the Line, reshaped the American corporate world. The key to Walmart’s dominance is the way that it electronically tracks all of its merchandise through an enormously efficient supply chain – the data Walmart has about who buys what and when is incredibly valuable to manufacturers. Beyond that, the size of Walmart – eight cents of every dollar spent on retail in the US goes through the company – means that selling at scale in the US means selling through Walmart. In order to sell there, though, Walmart walks into your company and dictates how you are to manufacture, price, and package your product. As Lynn writes:
Once set in motion, the shift of power and initiative from manufacturer to retailer tended only to accelerate. The more Wal-Mart learned about the operations of its suppliers, the more it was able to compare one supplier to another, to spot inefficiencies and demand fixes, to zero in on profit centers inside its suppliers. As time went on, Wal-Mart was able to dictate not only how its suppliers packaged and distributed their products, but what they manufactured, how they manufactured, how much money they made on their businesses, and indeed whether they would remain in business at all. Wal-Mart became not merely the market leader; in many senses, it became the market itself.
Rubbermaid and Newell, Kellogg’s and Keebler, Kraft and Nabisco, and Procter & Gamble and Gillette are all mergers forced by Walmart’s buying system. As Lynn notes, “Wal-Mart is so powerful that even many giant and long-independent producers—firms like Procter & Gamble and Unilever—dare not question its dictates.” The logistics revolution that has ripped through the American economy, de-industrializing the country and deflating wages, came through Walmart. This process brings low prices, but has also put the entire economy at risk with its lack of redundancy and concentration of key supply bottlenecks in unstable areas.
The company, not surprisingly, is also known for brutal tactics against workers. It is known for retaliating against employers who attempt to organize. Walmart employees often rely on food stamps and Medicaid, because of insufficient wages and lack of adequate health care. In 2005, according to St Louis Federal Reserve President William Poole, Walmart “observed among their own employees a reduction in health care utilization – that is, fewer doctors’ visits – but an increase in emergency room visits. Apparently employees are struggling some to make the co-payments and that kind of thing, again emphasizing the stress that exists in many lower-income households.”
It is also a huge political force – the company successfully fought off a massive gender discrimination suit struck down by the Supreme Court on technical grounds. New York Public Advocate Bill de Blasio unveiled the site Six Degrees of Walmart after the company was caught in a bribery scandal in Mexico (where it is the largest private employer). Deflating worker wages and weakening political constraints are core to the Walmart model, as important as pulling in products from China and forcing a restructuring of the American supply chain.
Beyond that, Walmart has become a significant contributor to macro-economic forecasting. I went through the transcripts of Federal Open Market Committee meetings for the Federal Reserve from 1999-2006, searching for Walmart. The FOMC is the key economic policymaking body in the central bank, making decisions about interest rates based on the discussions among the various officials at the Fed. Walmart was mentioned at every single meeting in 2006, often multiple times. In 2005, the company was mentioned at every meeting but one. In fact, Walmart has been a constant topic of discussion at the FOMC from 2001 onward. Because of its scale and remarkable amount of data, the company actually has more granular data about the economy than most macro-economic forecasters. As Fed Board Governor Randall Kroszner said in a June 2006 meeting, Walmart officials “effectively know what retail sales are before the numbers are reported because their sales are so highly correlated with overall retail sales.”
Starting in 2001, the FOMC began relying more and more on Walmart in its discussions. In 2002, the company was mentioned in the context of a longshoreman’s strike and inflation. In May 2003, the Fed Governors looked to Walmart to see if there was a sales bounce due to the end of the war in Iraq (there wasn’t). In June, the FOMC began to gauge the macro-economic impact of inequality using advice from Walmart – Walmart officials “were not optimistic” that Bush’s second tax cuts would help sales, because the tax cuts went mostly to wealthy people who didn’t shop there. In 2004, Walmart began warning of high energy prices, and that consumers were “liquidity-constrained”. The company saw in its sales figures that consumers were increasingly living paycheck to paycheck. In 2005, the company began worrying about a “strange” situation – the consumer was tapped out, but sales were up and Walmart couldn’t figure out why. This was a hint of the credit bubble, but the Fed ignored it.
The company at this point isn’t just a key purveyor of lower labor standards and a globalized and concentrated supply chain, it is a key tell for policymakers. Walmart data was used by the Federal Reserve’s FOMC to understand labor markets, inequality, health care costs, supply chains, and inflation. As the global recession began to come into view, one FOMC member noted, “It’s certainly disconcerting to hear that one of the largest private institutions in the world – Wal-Mart – is missing its growth targets fairly significantly.” It is as if the new maxim had become, what’s good for Walmart is good for America.
In the 1950s, the so-called “Treaty of Detroit”, an agreement between government, business, and labor for ever increasing wages at automakers, set the tone for the next twenty years of political economy. From the 1970s onward, the new social contract was increasingly set, not just by companies like Walmart, but by Walmart itself. As a new social contract, let’s call it the “Treaty of Walmart”, emerged as a deal cut between the US government, the Chinese government, and global trading corporations, American society began to reflect a race to the bottom. This strike is thus worth watching – if Walmart loses some pricing pressure because of tactics that impact the company’s supply chain or ability to sell, we’ll be in uncharted territory.
44 comments
Comments are closed.
Interesting stuff, thanks. Hope I can find the book somewhere.
The book is called “Cornered” by
Barry Lynn. I’ve seen him also explain
to an incredulous American public the
fact that there are infinitely more Mom
and Pop businesses in France than there
are in America. Here he is on Book Tv
Cspan:
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/
291718-1
Please don’t remove this comment.
What is the story with the right hand
margin of your comments box??
I’ll try again with the link to Barry Lynn
on Cspan:
“Cornered” American monopolism:
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/291718-1
Why Walmart failed in Germany:
http://www.iwim.uni-bremen.de/publikationen/pdf/w024.pdf
Fascinating.
Agreed.
It was amusing that German shoppers complained about being harrassed at the store by strangers- e.g. the greeters. I’ve never cared for the phony conviviality of it myself.
Wow. Fascinating paper. Thanks for posting that link.
Here is the correct Amazon link to the book ‘End of the Line’
http://www.amazon.com/End-Line-Coming-Global-Corporation/dp/0767915879/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350043601&sr=8-1&keywords=Barry+Lynn+end+of+the+line
The link in the post points to a documentary about overfishing.
The historical context here is good. The Comparison to the British East India Company is intriguing and quite apt no matter where it comes from (and very good it it’s yours, Matt). The Treaty of Detroit was indeed a critical index in manufacturing employment, not just for the companies but their huge volume of suppliers. The ‘Capitulation of Wal-Mart’ has been ruinous for our country, and problematic for others, where growth has come with the work but where the ability to multiply off of that growth is severely constrained by Wal-Mart’s sticky fingers on product and ordering. Wal-Mart is a ‘retail trust,’ as is Amazon. Both should be broken up, but that’s work yet to done. And better done _after_ the first big wave of labor organizing, I would say. Wal-Mart is too big a target to maneuver. Yes, they have a great deal of power, just as did Standard Oil. But where are they going to go? They can’t take their football and go home.
Interesting to note that Britain’s own “Mini Me” version of Walmart (Tesco) is failing under its much derided “Fresh ‘n Easy” brand in the US. Similarly Walmart is unable to dominate (and so is toying with the idea of quitting) the UK due in large part to its in-yer-face low rent Asda flag of convenience brand being so brazen about its naffness (The Walmart connection was found to have radioactive waste levels of toxicity and the association was downplayed as far as possible).
My take on these respecive failures is that there are some undercurrents of cultural division and nationalism around the notion of exploitative business practices as demonstrated by these two unacceptable faces of capitalism. I’m amazed that both operators manage to get away with wrapping themselves in jingoistic pathos.
Hopefully their respective consumer bases will give them their comeuppances.
Perhaps consumer boycotts will work in Britain or Germany. But around these here parts, at lest to date, our “consumer revolts” tend to look more like this article from just last year:
“This year, reports of injuries, fights and at least one shooting have come in from across the country, with one California customer even fending off competing shoppers with pepper spray. The incidents are a grim reminder of the 2008 Black Friday stampede at a Long Island, N.Y., Wal-Mart that left one temporary store employee dead and a pregnant woman hospitalized.
Wal-Mart spokesman Greg Rossiter said he doesn’t think Black Friday shopping violence is a singularly Wal-Mart phenomenon, though he declined to elaborate on the record. ”
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/11/black-friday-walmart-violence.html
Despite overwhelming evidence, way too many Americans still conditioned to think they are corporate pets, rather than livestock.
Interesting to note that the five owners of Wal-Mart have a higher net worth than all of their 1.4 million US workers combined.
Madame DeFarge would have said: “aux barricades!”
Instead we get….(sound of crickets chirping…)
WalMart supplier actions reminds me somewhat of Sears in the old days: Sears would start buying from a manufacturer steadily increasing purchases until they became over 40% of the manufacturer’s business, then offer to buy the business with the threat of going elsewhere unless the company was sold to them.
“Catch-22 says they can do anything we can’t stop them from doing.”
I was going to make the same point about Sears acquiring its suppliers. Urban folklore possibly, but I heard it a very long time ago.
I think Frontline or someone did a documentary short about WalMart buying practices in China. In a “free” market, the lowest cost of production determines the methods of production regardless of financially unrecognized side effects.
WalMart has had more affect on people in China and offshore than it has on consumers and workers in the U.S. Which makes this a very important topic.
Back in the days of the 1960s when Sears was the big cheese in American retailing most everything they sold was a captive brand. Some names still exist such as Kenmore, Craftsman, and the like. At that time Sears for example only sold Kenmore appliances and Craftsman hand tools at least in the stores.
Yes, indeed they did.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/view/
A paraphrased trnascript, I’d guess you call this. Both RCA and Rubbermaid and their history with the cut-throat tactics of WallyWorld.
http://www.uky.edu/CommInfoStudies/IRJCI/reports/reportswalmart.htm
I firmly feel all workers deserve a fair wage but at the same time a prevailing wage. These are better dictated by market forces and not cohersion or work stopages. In so doing the later wages will then rise outside of the initially affected host. This can and will hurt businesses bottom line along with employment.
Dumbass.
Gregg Sir,
Your post is so ‘ill informed’ and inaccurate that it beggars belief!
No doubt you believe Mitt Romney is the ‘second coming of christ’ and his running mate is an intellectual giant blessed by the Virgin Mary herself.
In future, could you perhaps post on websites that are advocates on neoliberal economic bullshit and leave the adults here to have an informed conversation based on a respect for humanity, and not as its appears with you, a total disrespect for humanity but utter respect for mammon – much of which by the way is stolen.
Your firm feelings reveal a pathetic lack of basic understanding regarding labor history and policies.
Can you please reveal which university has provided you with a chair in economics from which to share such feelings?
Gregg,I sense that you might be sincere, but you fail to recognize that Strikes ARE part of the “market forces” you bring up. It is called the ‘labor market”. Also, how fair is a wage if the recipient is elgigible for food stamps?
One thing I got my right wing friend to concede: That when the wealthy oppose raising the minimum wage because it will “hurt employment opportunities” for the underclasses they are being hypocritical- they oppose wage raises because it takes money out of their pockets.
It’s also because it can rapidly become self reinforcing by reducing the amount of labour supply, those folks that are working two or three jobs and god knows how many hours might cut back on their hours if the get a decent pay rise. That would change the supply demand balance leading to further wage rises, which in turn could lead workers to reduce their hours……… I mean let’s be honest how many folk would work a 60 to 70 hour week if they could afford not to
In other words…. Low wages cause unemployment by increasing labour supply, the exact opposite of what we are taught. Also once you have low wages then high unemployment is needed to maintain them because otherwise you could get sudden wage rebound, or the situation I described above which I call accelerating labour supply collapse
Labor is not just an economic input. It’s people, real people and not corporations.
As such, we’re not like the cakes-and-ale of econ 101. We can’t be banked without cost, we can’t be discounted if damaged, we can’t be bought ahead of time. You can argue the labor is separate from the laborer, if you’re ready for some nasty surprises.
I assume you’re praising a ‘free’ market. While it’s an assumption underlying academic economics, it’s nonexistent in the real world. The degree of manipulation by the moneyed class is arguable, the reality of manipulation is not.
And, of course, cakes-and-ale don’t have inherent rights. Nor can they cooperate for their common good, nor can they feel empathy for each other. Nor can they look ahead and say, ‘Them today, us tomorrow.’
Whatever they teach at Wassamatta U., the real world depends on rising above the brutality of homo economicus.
Or defeating it with the equal and opposite brutality of homo revengeicus.
Gregg,
Like Monday1929 I also believe your comment to be sincere, so I will respond accordingly.
Unions exist to provide a balance to the power exercised by a corporation. When employees bargain collectively, rather than individually, the company is forced to listen. This is all a part of the market economy.
Looking at this on an economic level, ensuring that employees are paid a proper wage actually benefits the corporation in the long run because the employees can then actually afford to buy their products. This boosts the economy. Driving down wages increases the profits for the company, and benefits the executives at the top, but does not benefit the economy as a whole.
With increasing demand from well-paid employees, companies will sell more products and be able to hire more staff.
Sounds like win-win to me :)
Does anyone know if a plan is in effect to eventually seek union recognition, or are they using an alternative worker association strategy to avoid the pitfalls of a recogntion campaign?
The Walmart Warehouse Workers in the supply chain were being advised by the UFCW, and at least one report said that they were teaching them the steps to unionization (tall order with Walmart).
Now that the *retail* workers are beginning to walk out (small numbers, but spreading), it may be a different ballgame.
Different labor historians offer their advice, warning that the stakes for workers are high, given that if there were a prolonged strike, WallyWorld could just close the store, wait a year…and come back in.
I was glad to see that one day seventy or so CTU striking teachers went and walked with the Elwood Warehouse Workers one day. Lots to do in the way of worker solidarity.
Yay CTU!!!
See NC 2012-10-11 at “Association.”
However, the sourcing on this story is pretty thin (and I’m not at all sure that’s a bad thing).
Good luck driving a stake through the heart of Walmart, which has destroyed communities from coast to coast. Enter Walmart and all of a town’s Main Street businesses go under within a year. Industrial capitalism at work/at its worst.
A gigantic problem w/ Walmart and other big boxes is dependence upon the automobile, the customers are the company solution to the ‘last mile’ problem. This leads to millions of redundant car trips ==> fuel ‘use’ (which is capital destruction benefitting Walmart execs but hastening the end of the economy as a whole).
Next up is more RIFD and customers checking themselves out of the stores and replacing thousands of cashiers. BTW, the largest single group of box-store employees is security, to watch the workers and try to keep theft losses under control.
The conditions of the immediate post- world war two period will never be repeated, the US produced almost 10 million barrels of petroleum every single day, when US oil fields began to deplete in the early 1970s there was no more domestic capital expansion to divvy up with workers. The price demanded for imported capital was exported manufacturing jobs. This is the ‘cars for jobs’ trade that we are stuck with right now. We have the cars but we have to dig ourselves deeper into debt in order to keep and run them. We don’t have the jobs. We are at the point where the jobs aren’t coming back and soon we won’t be able to run the cars, anyway.
Industrialization requires a constantly increasing flow of capital from mines and wells into garbage dumps, the ocean and the atmosphere. The process is nothing other than collateral for trillion$ in finance loans most of which go to ‘entrepreneurs’ and ‘tycoons’ who are the beneficiaries of this cock-up of a system. With a diminishing flow of capital the system is breaking down, the collateral is actually worthless.
Repositioning groups within this system is non-productive: any gains by Walmart employees will be offset by losses elsewhere … the only sacrosanct entities are not even the executives and Wall Street crooks … but the precious automobiles which will be preserved until the very end …
steve from virginia:
[The conditions of the immediate post- world war two period will never be repeated, the US produced almost 10 million barrels of petroleum every single day, when US oil fields began to deplete in the early 1970s there was no more domestic capital expansion to divvy up with workers. The price demanded for imported capital was exported manufacturing jobs. This is the ‘cars for jobs’ trade that we are stuck with right now.]
Could you expound on that, or post a link for further reading? I have never heard our decline in manufacturing trend equated with the drying up of American oil fields that way. I’d like to know if there’s more evidence aside from the timing coincidence.
Very expensive book but worth every penny: “Energy and the Wealth of Nations” by Charles Hall and Kent Klitgaard
http://www.amazon.com/Energy-Wealth-Nations-Understanding-Biophysical/dp/1441993975
You might also want to check out Reiner Kummel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKYir4MxrgA
He has a book out too: http://www.amazon.com/Second-Law-Economics-Frontiers-Collection/dp/1441993649/ref=la_B004VRWCOK_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350144850&sr=1-1
***The conditions of the immediate post- world war two period will never be repeated***
My theory on all this is the fact the Oligarchs after WWII were scared shitless of Communism. Most of the cold war took place because of rich man’s paranoia. In order to head of Communism in the U.S. they grudgingly accept sharing the increase in productivity with the workers. When the Soviet Union fell, they were no longer threatened. From that point forward they worked tirelessly to crush labor and unions. They are almost completely successful today.
In addition to everything that’s been said, it should bee noted that women still make less than 80 cents on the dollar of men in this country and that needs to change.
I wouldn’t doubt that it will change, with the result to be $1.00 + $ 0.80 ÷ 2 = 0.50 each ( if you’re lucky).
The bench mark won’t be reaised for benefit female worker to bring about a desried equality yet lowered for males, and then while on a sliding scale will continue to descent for all ( but those at the very top).
“One is not born, but becomes a woman. No biological, psychological, or economic fate determines the figure that the human female presents in society: it is civilization as a whole that produces this creature, intermediate between male and ennuch, which is described as feminine” Simone de Beauvoir. 1952
“That is to say, we believe to be a physcial and direct perception is only a sophisticated and mythic construction, an “imaginary formation” which reinterprets physical features (in themselves as neutral as any others but marked by the social system) through the network of relationships in which they are perceived. But before being seen that way (as a woman or man)they first had to be Made that way.” Monique Wittig 1981
Women are a class, which is to say that the category “woman” as well as the category “man” are political and economic categories not eternal ones
30 years later and we are still mired in deliberate gender constructions that create dominant and inferior classes of humankind
Mike Krieger focuses on Walmart strike: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-10-12/mike-krieger-topples-last-domino
Walmart strike on Salon (with interview by Democracy Now):
http://www.salon.com/2012/10/10/walmart_strikers_raise_the_stakes_with_black_friday_ultimatum/
Nassim Taleb has some interesting things to say about over-optimisation and how it leads to failure.
In any case, Walmart has already got a TBTF status. So no matter what they do, they will be bailed out, either financially or via militarized police action on striking workers .
After all, how can the Fed(s) allow such a massive disruption in the supply chain /sarc.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jtes/walmart-workers-strike-for-safe-warehouse-conditio
Is Walmart Good for America? The company that destroyed to the US labor force, local communities,local commerce and businesses of the United States. We went from made in America to made in China thanks to Walmart and their incestuous grand bargain/relationship with Bill Clinton who brought us the WTO. See FRONTLINE explores the relationship between U.S. job losses and the American Wrecking machine Walmart
The six heirs to Walmart founder Sam Walton are worth $89.5 billion, or as much as the bottom 41.5 percent of Americans combined.
Hi, this is good information labour supply. it’s giving the nice information about labour supply. I like it, your blog. If you want more info please visit:labour supply
{
{I have|I’ve} been {surfing|browsing} online more than {three|3|2|4} hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. {It’s|It is} pretty worth enough for me.
{In my opinion|Personally|In my view}, if all {webmasters|site
owners|website owners|web owners} and bloggers made good content as you did, the {internet|net|web} will be {much more|a lot more} useful than ever before.
|
I {couldn’t|could not} {resist|refrain from} commenting. {Very well|Perfectly|Well|Exceptionally well} written!|
{I will|I’ll} {right away|immediately} {take hold of|grab|clutch|grasp|seize|snatch} your {rss|rss feed} as I
{can not|can’t} {in finding|find|to find} your {email|e-mail} subscription {link|hyperlink} or {newsletter|e-newsletter} service. Do {you have|you’ve} any?
{Please|Kindly} {allow|permit|let} me {realize|recognize|understand|recognise|know} {so that|in order that} I {may just|may|could} subscribe.
Thanks.|
{It is|It’s} {appropriate|perfect|the best} time to make some plans for the future and {it is|it’s}
time to be happy. {I have|I’ve} read this post and if I could I {want to|wish to|desire to} suggest you {few|some} interesting things or {advice|suggestions|tips}. {Perhaps|Maybe} you {could|can} write next articles referring to this article. I {want to|wish to|desire to} read {more|even more} things about it!|
{It is|It’s} {appropriate|perfect|the best} time to make {a few|some} plans for {the future|the longer term|the long run} and {it is|it’s} time to be happy. {I have|I’ve}
{read|learn} this {post|submit|publish|put up} and if I {may just|may|could} I {want to|wish
to|desire to} {suggest|recommend|counsel} you
{few|some} {interesting|fascinating|attention-grabbing} {things|issues}
or {advice|suggestions|tips}. {Perhaps|Maybe} you {could|can} write {next|subsequent} articles {relating to|referring to|regarding} this article.
I {want to|wish to|desire to} {read|learn} {more|even more} {things|issues} {approximately|about} it!
|
{I have|I’ve} been {surfing|browsing} {online|on-line} {more than|greater than} {three|3} hours {these days|nowadays|today|lately|as of late}, {yet|but} I {never|by no means} {found|discovered} any {interesting|fascinating|attention-grabbing} article like yours. {It’s|It is} {lovely|pretty|beautiful} {worth|value|price} {enough|sufficient} for me.
{In my opinion|Personally|In my view}, if all {webmasters|site
owners|website owners|web owners} and bloggers made {just right|good|excellent} {content|content material} as {you did|you probably did}, the {internet|net|web} {will be|shall be|might
be|will probably be|can be|will likely be} {much more|a lot
more} {useful|helpful} than ever before.|
Ahaa, its {nice|pleasant|good|fastidious} {discussion|conversation|dialogue} {regarding|concerning|about|on the topic of}
this {article|post|piece of writing|paragraph} {here|at this place} at this {blog|weblog|webpage|website|web site}, I
have read all that, so {now|at this time} me also
commenting {here|at this place}.|
I am sure this {article|post|piece of writing|paragraph} has touched all
the internet {users|people|viewers|visitors}, its really really {nice|pleasant|good|fastidious} {article|post|piece of writing|paragraph} on building up new {blog|weblog|webpage|website|web site}.
|
Wow, this {article|post|piece of writing|paragraph} is {nice|pleasant|good|fastidious}, my {sister|younger sister} is analyzing
{such|these|these kinds of} things, {so|thus|therefore} I am going to {tell|inform|let know|convey} her.
|
{Saved as a favorite|bookmarked!!}, {I really like|I like|I
love} {your blog|your site|your web site|your website}!
|
Way cool! Some {very|extremely} valid points! I appreciate
you {writing this|penning this} {article|post|write-up} {and the|and
also the|plus the} rest of the {site is|website is} {also very|extremely|very|also
really|really} good.|
Hi, {I do believe|I do think} {this is an excellent|this is a great} {blog|website|web site|site}.
I stumbledupon it ;) {I will|I am going to|I’m going to|I may} {come back|return|revisit} {once again|yet again} {since I|since i have} {bookmarked|book marked|book-marked|saved as a favorite} it. Money and freedom {is the best|is the greatest} way to change, may you be rich and continue to {help|guide} {other people|others}.|
Woah! I’m really {loving|enjoying|digging} the template/theme of this {site|website|blog}.
It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s {very
hard|very difficult|challenging|tough|difficult|hard} to get that “perfect balance” between
{superb usability|user friendliness|usability} and {visual appearance|visual appeal|appearance}.
I must say {that you’ve|you have|you’ve} done a
{awesome|amazing|very good|superb|fantastic|excellent|great} job with this.
{In addition|Additionally|Also}, the blog loads {very|extremely|super} {fast|quick} for me on {Safari|Internet explorer|Chrome|Opera|Firefox}.
{Superb|Exceptional|Outstanding|Excellent} Blog!|
These are {really|actually|in fact|truly|genuinely} {great|enormous|impressive|wonderful|fantastic} ideas in {regarding|concerning|about|on the topic of} blogging.
You have touched some {nice|pleasant|good|fastidious} {points|factors|things} here.
Any way keep up wrinting.|
{I love|I really like|I enjoy|I like|Everyone loves} what you guys {are|are usually|tend to be} up
too. {This sort of|This type of|Such|This kind of} clever work and {exposure|coverage|reporting}!
Keep up the {superb|terrific|very good|great|good|awesome|fantastic|excellent|amazing|wonderful} works guys I’ve {incorporated||added|included} you guys to {|my|our||my personal|my own} blogroll.|
{Howdy|Hi there|Hey there|Hi|Hello|Hey}! Someone in my {Myspace|Facebook} group shared this {site|website} with us so I came to {give it a look|look it over|take a look|check it out}. I’m definitely {enjoying|loving} the information.
I’m {book-marking|bookmarking} and will be tweeting this to my followers! {Terrific|Wonderful|Great|Fantastic|Outstanding|Exceptional|Superb|Excellent} blog and {wonderful|terrific|brilliant|amazing|great|excellent|fantastic|outstanding|superb} {style and design|design and style|design}.|
{I love|I really like|I enjoy|I like|Everyone loves} what you guys {are|are usually|tend to be} up too. {This sort of|This type of|Such|This kind of} clever work and {exposure|coverage|reporting}! Keep up the {superb|terrific|very good|great|good|awesome|fantastic|excellent|amazing|wonderful} works guys I’ve
{incorporated|added|included} you guys to {|my|our|my personal|my own} blogroll.
|
{Howdy|Hi there|Hey there|Hi|Hello|Hey} would you mind {stating|sharing} which blog platform you’re {working with|using}? I’m
{looking|planning|going} to start my own blog {in the near future|soon} but I’m having a {tough|difficult|hard} time {making a decision|selecting|choosing|deciding} between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your {design and style|design|layout} seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something {completely unique|unique}.
P.S {My apologies|Apologies|Sorry} for {getting|being}
off-topic but I had to ask!|
{Howdy|Hi there|Hi|Hey there|Hello|Hey} would you mind letting me know which {webhost|hosting company|web host} you’re {utilizing|working with|using}? I’ve loaded your blog in
3 {completely different|different} {internet browsers|web browsers|browsers} and I must say this blog loads
a lot {quicker|faster} then most. Can you {suggest|recommend} a good {internet
hosting|web hosting|hosting} provider at a {honest|reasonable|fair}
price? {Thanks a lot|Kudos|Cheers|Thank you|Many thanks|Thanks}, I appreciate it!
|
{I love|I really like|I like|Everyone loves} it {when people|when individuals|when folks|whenever people} {come
together|get together} and share {opinions|thoughts|views|ideas}.
Great {blog|website|site}, {keep it up|continue the good work|stick
with it}!|
Thank you for the {auspicious|good} writeup. It
in fact was a amusement account it. Look advanced to {far|more} added agreeable from you!
{By the way|However}, how {can|could} we communicate?
|
{Howdy|Hi there|Hey there|Hello|Hey} just wanted to give you a quick heads up.
The {text|words} in your {content|post|article}
seem to be running off the screen in {Ie|Internet explorer|Chrome|Firefox|Safari|Opera}.
I’m not sure if this is a {format|formatting} issue or something to do with {web browser|internet browser|browser} compatibility but I {thought|figured} I’d post
to let you know. The {style and design|design and style|layout|design} look
great though! Hope you get the {problem|issue} {solved|resolved|fixed} soon.
{Kudos|Cheers|Many thanks|Thanks}|
This is a topic {that is|that’s|which is} {close to|near to} my heart… {Cheers|Many thanks|Best wishes|Take care|Thank you}! {Where|Exactly where} are your contact details though?|
It’s very {easy|simple|trouble-free|straightforward|effortless} to find out any {topic|matter} on {net|web} as compared to {books|textbooks}, as I found this
{article|post|piece of writing|paragraph} at this {website|web site|site|web page}.
|
Does your {site|website|blog} have a contact page?
I’m having {a tough time|problems|trouble} locating it but, I’d like to {send|shoot} you an {e-mail|email}.
I’ve got some {creative ideas|recommendations|suggestions|ideas} for your blog you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great {site|website|blog} and I look forward to seeing it {develop|improve|expand|grow} over time.|
{Hola|Hey there|Hi|Hello|Greetings}! I’ve been {following|reading} your {site|web
site|website|weblog|blog} for {a long time|a while|some time} now and finally got the {bravery|courage} to go ahead and give you a shout out from {New Caney|Kingwood|Huffman|Porter|Houston|Dallas|Austin|Lubbock|Humble|Atascocita} {Tx|Texas}!
Just wanted to {tell you|mention|say} keep up the {fantastic|excellent|great|good} {job|work}!
|
Greetings from {Idaho|Carolina|Ohio|Colorado|Florida|Los angeles|California}!
I’m {bored to tears|bored to death|bored} at work so I decided to {check out|browse} your {site|website|blog} on my iphone during lunch break. I {enjoy|really like|love} the {knowledge|info|information} you {present|provide} here and can’t
wait to take a look when I get home. I’m {shocked|amazed|surprised} at how {quick|fast} your blog loaded on my {mobile|cell phone|phone} .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .
. {Anyhow|Anyways}, {awesome|amazing|very good|superb|good|wonderful|fantastic|excellent|great}
{site|blog}!|
Its {like you|such as you} {read|learn} my {mind|thoughts}!
You {seem|appear} {to understand|to know|to grasp} {so much|a lot} {approximately|about} this, {like you|such as
you} wrote the {book|e-book|guide|ebook|e book} in
it or something. {I think|I feel|I believe} {that you|that you simply|that
you just} {could|can} do with {some|a few} {%|p.c.|percent} to {force|pressure|drive|power} the message {house|home} {a bit|a little bit}, {however|but} {other than|instead of} that, {this is|that is} {great|wonderful|fantastic|magnificent|excellent} blog. {A great|An excellent|A fantastic} read. {I’ll|I will} {definitely|certainly} be back.|
I visited {multiple|many|several|various} {websites|sites|web sites|web pages|blogs} {but|except|however} the audio {quality|feature} for audio songs {current|present|existing} at this {website|web site|site|web page} is {really|actually|in fact|truly|genuinely} {marvelous|wonderful|excellent|fabulous|superb}.|
{Howdy|Hi there|Hi|Hello}, i read your blog {occasionally|from time to time} and i own a similar one and i was just {wondering|curious} if you get a lot of spam {comments|responses|feedback|remarks}? If so how do you {prevent|reduce|stop|protect against} it, any plugin or anything you can {advise|suggest|recommend}? I get so much lately it’s driving me {mad|insane|crazy} so any {assistance|help|support} is very much appreciated.|
Greetings! {Very helpful|Very useful} advice {within this|in this particular} {article|post}! {It is the|It’s the} little changes {that make|which will make|that produce|that will make} {the biggest|the largest|the greatest|the most important|the most significant} changes. {Thanks a lot|Thanks|Many thanks} for sharing!|
{I really|I truly|I seriously|I absolutely} love {your blog|your site|your website}.. {Very nice|Excellent|Pleasant|Great} colors & theme. Did you {create|develop|make|build} {this website|this site|this web site|this amazing site} yourself? Please reply back as I’m {looking to|trying to|planning to|wanting to|hoping to|attempting to} create {my own|my very own|my own personal} {blog|website|site} and {would like to|want to|would love to} {know|learn|find out} where you got this from or {what the|exactly what the|just what the} theme {is called|is named}. {Thanks|Many thanks|Thank you|Cheers|Appreciate it|Kudos}!|
{Hi there|Hello there|Howdy}! This {post|article|blog post} {couldn’t|could not} be written {any better|much better}! {Reading through|Looking at|Going through|Looking through} this {post|article} reminds me of my previous roommate! He {always|constantly|continually} kept {talking about|preaching about} this. {I will|I’ll|I am going to|I most certainly will} {forward|send} {this article|this information|this post} to him. {Pretty sure|Fairly certain} {he will|he’ll|he’s going to} {have a good|have a very good|have a great} read. {Thank you for|Thanks for|Many thanks for|I appreciate you for} sharing!|
{Wow|Whoa|Incredible|Amazing}! This blog looks {exactly|just} like my old one! It’s on a {completely|entirely|totally} different {topic|subject} but it has pretty much the same {layout|page layout} and design. {Excellent|Wonderful|Great|Outstanding|Superb} choice of colors!|
{There is|There’s} {definately|certainly} {a lot to|a great deal to} {know about|learn about|find out about} this {subject|topic|issue}. {I like|I love|I really like} {all the|all of the} points {you made|you’ve made|you have made}.|
{You made|You’ve made|You have made} some {decent|good|really good} points there. I {looked|checked} {on the internet|on the web|on the net} {for more info|for more information|to find out more|to learn more|for additional information} about the issue and found {most individuals|most people} will go along with your views on {this website|this site|this web site}.|
{Hi|Hello|Hi there|What’s up}, I {log on to|check|read} your {new stuff|blogs|blog} {regularly|like every week|daily|on a regular basis}. Your {story-telling|writing|humoristic} style is {awesome|witty}, keep {doing what you’re doing|up the good work|it up}!|
I {simply|just} {could not|couldn’t} {leave|depart|go away} your {site|web site|website} {prior to|before} suggesting that I {really|extremely|actually} {enjoyed|loved} {the standard|the usual} {information|info} {a person|an individual} {supply|provide} {for your|on your|in your|to your} {visitors|guests}? Is {going to|gonna} be {back|again} {frequently|regularly|incessantly|steadily|ceaselessly|often|continuously} {in order to|to} {check up on|check out|inspect|investigate cross-check} new posts|
{I wanted|I needed|I want to|I need to} to thank you for this {great|excellent|fantastic|wonderful|good|very good} read!! I {definitely|certainly|absolutely} {enjoyed|loved} every {little bit of|bit of} it. {I have|I’ve got|I have got} you {bookmarked|book marked|book-marked|saved as a favorite} {to check out|to look at} new {stuff you|things you} post…|
{Hi|Hello|Hi there|What’s up}, just wanted to {mention|say|tell you}, I {enjoyed|liked|loved} this {article|post|blog post}. It was {inspiring|funny|practical|helpful}. Keep on posting!|
I {{leave|drop|{write|create}} a {comment|leave a response}|drop a {comment|leave a response}|{comment|leave a response}} {each time|when|whenever} I {appreciate|like|especially enjoy} a {post|article} on a {site|{blog|website}|site|website} or {I have|if I have} something to {add|contribute|valuable to contribute} {to the discussion|to the conversation}. {It is|Usually it is|Usually it’s|It’s} {a result of|triggered by|caused by} the {passion|fire|sincerness} {communicated|displayed} in the {post|article} I {read|looked at|browsed}. And {on|after} this {post|article} Walmart, the Most Powerful Company in the World, Admits that Protests and Strikes Lead to Wage Increases