"I dont think they get subsidiaries from the government pretty much"
Alla, think again. And they do not carry the rest of the society on their shoulders... another thing they fail to do, is pay their fair share of taxes while using incentive dollars to take their companies (and therefore jobs) over seas.

Maria, considering you had great difficulty spelling the word imbecile - I would refrain from calling anyone an idiot. I have just 3 words for you: Hooked on Phonics.
Maria, I guarantee that you would lose that bet.

Natan, I did not come here to try to change anyone's mind... I was just disgusted by some of the comments that I had the misfortune of reading earlier in this thread.

"althogh their prices are not that competetive and merchandise is of less than superior quality), pay income taxes, provide jobs... Are they doing all this out of the goodness of their heart or to make a profit"
If their prices are not competitive then they would lose their customers to another store and go out of business, as they should. Ditto merchandise is of less than superior quality. If one is looking for superior quality one would visit Fortchunoffs or Gergdorf and Goodman, not Walmart. I am sorry, Lina, but I have to conclude that your argument is devoid of common sense. And, no they are not doing all this out of the goodness of their heart, but to make a profit. As I and most of us would expect them to do. After all this is still a capitalist country and companies are allowed to make a profit, no? Although this all may soon change.

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Новые фотки - у дочери на дне рождения. 16 лет. Very BIG DEAL !!!

Maria, just when I thought that you couldn't sink any lower, you proved that you obviously could. I know that you must deem yourself to be a great beauty... sorry to disappoint you... on second thought - ignorance is bliss... You must be familiar with the expression: "dumb is forever"...

Natan, if the Walmart store sells their "crap" for $10, and "mom and pop" sell the same "crap" for the same price... but ony Walmart gets various government incentives such as keeping the sales tax - which will go out of business first?

I don't deem myself to be a great beauty, but rather a person with common sense which you my friend obviously lack.

The only thing that is obvious here, Maria, is that you tend to overuse the word obvious.

Ok, Lina, now that you used this line about Walmart "keeping sales taxes" twice, maybe it is time for you to actually show where you've got this information and back it up with a little more than just simply stating it. How about it?

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Новые фотки - у дочери на дне рождения. 16 лет. Very BIG DEAL !!!

Lina, people that make 150K and above, make it at work. (think Pilots, Doctors, Lawyers, Engeneers, Programmers, Politicians)
Now people like Warren Buffet, Angelina Jolie, Trump etc. those are < 0.01% and with all the money they make - do not pay for much of the societal needs in Taxes.
And as far as people who find enough nahal'stva to not pay taxes how about hm... IDK...oh: Timothy Geithner ;-)