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<P>Walmart also faces <A
href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-12-13/walmart-vs-dot-union-backed-our-walmart">significant
challenges from union-backed groups</A> such as OUR Walmart, which came
to a head when the group called for mass protests at Walmart stores across the
country during the holiday season.</P>
<P>Obama stayed silent on the issue during this year’s holiday
season</P></DIV></LI>
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<P> </P></DIV></LI></UL></DIV></ARTICLE><ARTICLE id=post-69997
class="post-69997 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-democratic-donors category-obama-administration category-obama-campaign-2 category-progressive-movement tag-barack-obama tag-michelle-obama tag-sylvia-mathews-burwell tag-walmart"><HEADER
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<H2 style="COLOR: #fc3803" class=entry-title>Walmart Moves Into the White
House</H2>
<DIV class=subheadline>How money changed the president's tune on America's
largest retailer</DIV></HEADER>
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<P class=wp-caption-text>Sylvia Mathews Burwell / AP</P></DIV>
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<P><SPAN class=sep>BY: </SPAN><SPAN class="author vcard"><A class="url fn n"
title="View all posts by Brent Scher"
href="http://freebeacon.com/author/brent-scher/" rel=author>Brent
Scher</A></SPAN><BR><TIME class=entry-date pubdate=""
datetime="2013-03-05T04:58:17+00:00">March 5, 2013 4:58 am</TIME></P>
<P>President Barack Obama on Monday nominated Sylvia Mathews Burwell, president
of the Walmart Foundation, to be director of the White House Office of
Management and Budget.</P>
<P>Obama hiring from the ranks of Walmart is the latest development in the
company’s remarkable transition from enemy of Obama and the left to one of his
most reliable partners in the business community.</P>
<P>The relationship between Obama and the retail giant got off to a bad
start.</P>
<P>Obama <A
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/20/AR2011012003467.html"
target=_blank>declared that he would no longer shop at the store</A> during
his first presidential campaign. And Michelle Obama decided to <A
href="http://articles.latimes.com/2007/may/23/nation/na-briefs23.3">leave the
board of a major Walmart supplier</A>.</P>
<P>But things changed after Obama became president.</P>
<P>Walmart became a founding member of <A
href="http://freebeacon.com/the-how-to-talk-to-a-liberal-trade-group/">Business
Forward</A>, the Obama-friendly group that teaches participating businesses how
to put campaign spin on economic issues, almost immediately following the 2008
election.</P>
<P>Business Forward has become a reliable partner of the administration. The
organization’s members receive <A
href="http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/271349-obama-friendly-business-group-given-great-white-house-access">extraordinary
access to the White House</A> in exchange for donations and support for the
president’s agenda.</P>
<P>Business Forward boasted during the fiscal cliff negotiations that it
was hosting high-level Obama administration officials in a series of private
briefings for Walmart and other member groups. The businesses returned the favor
by <A
href="http://freebeacon.com/the-how-to-talk-to-a-liberal-trade-group/">parroting
the talking points</A> they were fed in the briefings to the media.</P>
<P>Jim Doyle and Bert Kaufman, two Democratic political consultants who run
a <A href="http://porticopolicy.com/">consulting firm</A> out of the
Business Forward office, lead Business Forward and are open about how it is
intended to work.</P>
<P>“The idea was to invite these [executives] back in town and get a sense of
what’s at stake with the fiscal cliff,” Kaufman said. “They go back home and
talk to their colleagues, their clients, and their networks. They write op-eds,
talk to reporters, and talk about the need for a balanced approach.”</P>
<P>Business Forward has also emerged as a financial backer for the progressive
movement.</P>
<P>The group sponsored a <A
href="http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=00116DF6-2819-4BC1-802E-DC45D02494D0"
target=_blank>meeting in January</A> between Democratic donors and the
officials <A
href="http://freebeacon.com/corporate-cash-financing-obama-501c4/">of Organizing
For Action</A>, the newly formed 501(c)(4) that grew out of the Obama campaign
and is poised to use the campaign’s infrastructure to advance the policies of
the administration.</P>
<P>The administration has been publically open about its improved relationship
with Walmart. Michelle Obama went from hiding connections with Walmart to being
one of its biggest cheerleaders.</P>
<P>The <A
href="http://news.walmart.com/news-archive/2013/02/28/first-lady-michelle-obama-celebrates-walmarts-progress-on-making-food-healthier-more-affordable">First
Lady visited a Walmart in Springfield, Mo.,</A> last week to celebrate its
progress on making healthy food more available in its stores.</P>
<P>The visit was part of her five-year <A
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/20/AR2011012003467.html">partnership
with Walmart</A> on her signature “Let’s Move” campaign. The partnership
was announced in 2011.</P>
<P><A
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/25/business/25walmart.html?_r=1&">Longtime
Democratic operative</A> Leslie Dach, who personally advised President Bill
Clinton during his impeachment and now heads public relations and government
affairs for Walmart, was with her for both events.</P>
<P>Dach has been a driving force in what the <I>New York
Times</I> described as Walmart’s “<A
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/01/business/wal-marts-good-citizen-efforts-face-a-test.html?pagewanted=all">aggressive
push to attract political support from Democrats and liberals.</A>”</P>
<P>The White House is giving Dach an opportunity to make his case. Dach appears
in the <A
href="https://explore.data.gov/dataset/White-House-Visitor-Records-Requests/644b-gaut">White
House visitor log</A> more than 25 times and has had meetings with
high-level officials such as Obama’s former Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel.</P>
<P>These partnerships do not come for nothing, however.</P>
<P>According to the <A
href="http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.php?name=dach%2C+leslie&state=&zip=&employ=&cand=&c2012=Y&c2010=Y&c2008=Y&sort=N&capcode=qc4sc&submit=Submit+your+Donor+Query">Center
for Responsive Politics</A>, Dach contributed $4,600 to Obama’s 2008 campaign
and an additional $23,900 to the Democratic National Committee.</P>
<P>Dach also <A
href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/80579_Page2.html">hosted a
fundraising event</A> during last year’s Democratic National Convention.
The event was billed as a reception honoring John Podesta and Neera Tanden of
the far-left Center for American Progress.</P>
<P>The Center for American Progress itself has received between <A
href="http://freebeacon.com/wal-mart-bought-that/">$500,000 and $1 million
dollars from Walmart</A> and <A
href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/why-does-walmart-get-pass_552365.html">avoids
criticizing it</A>.</P>
<P>Not everybody in the Democratic Party is keen on giving Walmart a free pass,
especially not the unions.</P>
<P>Walmart contributed $50,000 worth of gift cards for the Democratic National
Convention, but union forces within the party <A
href="http://freebeacon.com/dem-convention-returns-50k-in-walmart-giftcards-under-union-pressure/">forced
the convention committee to return the gift cards</A> because the
contribution was a violation of the DNC’s ban on corporate donations.</P>
<P>Walmart also faces <A
href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-12-13/walmart-vs-dot-union-backed-our-walmart">significant
challenges from union-backed groups</A> such as OUR Walmart, which came to
a head when the group called for mass protests at Walmart stores across the
country during the holiday season.</P>
<P>Interestingly, a group called WakeUpWalmart.com planned almost identical
protests against Walmart during the 2006 holiday season. Obama called the group
that year to say he was <A
href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2006-11-16-walmart-obama_x.htm">proud
of the work it was doing</A>.</P>
<P>Obama stayed silent on the issue during this year’s holiday
season</P></DIV></ARTICLE></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>