McDonald's, the Corporate Welfare Moocher
"the Times noted another interesting and crucial point, one that is seldom discussed: Namely, the issue of what is often called corporate welfare. While the conservative right is content to shame poor mothers for receiving federal assistance, rarely do they dare call, say, General Electric or Walmart "welfare queens," despite the fact that they receive enormous direct and indirect taxpayer subsidies year after year. This is true for McDonald's, as well: The Times observes, "Through it all, taxpayers continue to pick up the difference between what fast-food workers earn and what they need to survive. An estimated $1.2 billion a year in taxpayer dollars goes toward public aid to help people who work at McDonald’s." What is highlighted here is a kind of indirect subsidy McDonald's enjoys because of its refusal to pay workers a livable wage. Why raise the wages of these workers or provide them with benefits, the argument goes, if the taxpayer is there to provide "the difference between what fast-food workers earn and what they need to survive"? And why reward workers of little stature when you can reward influential executives and fat-cats instead?"
