Wal Mart as an Agent of Socialism

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this decision by the Maryland legislature to override the Governor's veto of a bill forcing Wal Mart to basically provide enough of a health care benefit to their employees to keep them off the state Medicaid system.

I'll be the first guy to jump on the bash Wal Mart bandwagon, and I refuse to shop in the places, but this seems like a screwy approach. Although the bill does not specifically name Wal Mart, it's "over 10,000" employees in the state provision singles them out in the state. Why not everyone? Really? I guess it's better than nothing, but it's a little solution to a big problem.

As I noted here, it's generally in the interest of big business to pursue a sane national healthcare plan. From GM on the brink of insolvency to Verizon dumping benefit plans, healthcare costs seem to top any other impediment to competing in the global economy, where even the high wage nations we compete with spend a fraction of what we do on healthcare. Oh, and they're healthier, as well.

But what I neglected to consider was that low wage employers like Wal Mart like the current system just fine. As long as the keep the unions out, they can continue to barely subsidize employee health care and rely on the state to provide for a healthy workforce. Sound like socialism to me, right Rush? Sean? Bill?