Elected officials opposing Wal-Mart!

Opposing Wal-Mart was already a pretty easy position to take in New York City Democratic politics, but thanks to The New York Times' report of an extensive bribery scheme on the part of the company in Mexico, and similarly extensive efforts to cover it all up, that position just got a whole lot easier.

At a press conference earlier today, a plethora of officials, including three top tier mayoral candidates, blasted Wal-Mart for its various sins. And each of them emphasized that they do not want the superstore within the boundaries of New York City, thank you very much.

Declaring Wal-Mart's corporate boardroom a "crime scene," Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer "wished them luck in their upcoming criminal investigation" and stated, "They've disgraced the United States of America."

"We're not here today to say no to big business, we're here today to say no to bad business, and that's what Wal-Mart is," former Comptroller Bill Thompson contended. "You go back and look at the history of Wal-Mart: child labor allegations, discrimination against women, [and] discrimination against seniors. That's Wal-Mart."

"Wal-Mart is one of the biggest reasons why middle class is in decline in this country," Public Advocate Bill de Blasio said. "These are bad guys. They are bad actors. They do not belong in New York City."

While Assemblyman Rory Lancman, a candidate for congress in Queens, took an even sharper tack and called for the Justice Department to investigate political and charitable contributions Wal-Mart has made in New York, just in case they've been bribing government officials like they did in Mexico.

"We know they know of price of buying government favors in Mexico and I think all of us are deeply concerned that they may know the price of buying government favors in the United States and possibly New York," he said. "I think that the Justice Department should examine very, very closely those who have accepted contributions from Wal-Mart."

Update: Wal-Mart's communications team requested a quote favorable to them also be present in this post. Here's one from company spokesman Steve Restivo:

“Our track record as a good corporate citizen is well known and in large cities like New York, residents continue to choose to shop and work at Walmart. As a result, we continue to evaluate opportunities here to make access to our stores more convenient for customers.”

Watch the Wal-Mart hate bonanza below:

(Photo: Getty)

After The New York Times uncovered the internal reaction of Wal-Mart's top executives to an extensive bribery scheme in Mexico, depicting the company in a fairly negative light, a variety of New York City politicians latched onto the report in order to further their arguments against the superstore ever setting up shop in the city. The group of elected officials who have sent out statements on the issue includes three top mayoral candidate in 2013, as well as a congressional contender in Queens, demonstrating the salience of rhetorically torching the company in local politics.

Saying that "Wal-Mart has once again revealed it's true colors," Council Speaker Christine Quinn was particularly critical of the company in her statement:

"The corporation's tactics of bribery, scheming and corruption are the latest in a litany of despicable business practices including discrimination, worker mistreatment and predatory pricing. This is precisely the type of business we do not want in our communities and I remain committed to fighting against Wal-Mart's corporate poison from entering the five boroughs.

Wal-Mart's actions in Mexico should be fully investigated and they must be held fully accountable for any laws, American or Mexican, that were broken."

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who was actually first out of the gate in sending out a statement reacting to the report, echoed Ms. Quinn's thoughts:

"New York City cannot open its doors to a company that sanctions bribery and then covers it up as a part of doing business. Walmart is notorious for breaking its promises to communities, but these new revelations show Walmart is just as willing to break federal laws. New Yorkers should be put on notice: there is no tactic too underhanded for Walmart to try in order to open here. If we are going to prevent the loss of thousands of New York City jobs and avert a race to the bottom in retail wages, we need to redouble our efforts to keep Walmart out."

As did Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer:

"A company that tries to bribe its way into a community has no place in New York City. Once again Wal-Mart has shown itself to be a bad corporate actor and a bad neighbor, a company whose black marks already include predatory pricing and blatant disregard for the rights of working men and women."

Meanwhile Assemblyman Rory Lancman, who's running for congress in in a race that has seen opposition Wal-Mart cited as a key issue in labor endorsements, connected the bribes in Mexico to the company's surge of charitable contributions to New York City causes:

"This morning's New York Times story regarding allegations that Walmart orchestrated a $24 million bribery campaign to gain favorable treatment by the Mexican government should be a wake up call for New Yorkers who have witnessed Walmart's aggressive lobbying effort and recent streak of opportunistic 'philanthropy' in our city. Elected officials in New York have an obligation to stand up for workers and small businesses in our city and send Walmart a clear message, that whether it's through politically-motivated charity donations, campaign contributions or outright illegal bribes, our city is not for sale."

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Rep. Charlie Rangel in Harlem this morning. (photo credit: azi paybarah / observer)

Rep. Charlie Rangel said Governor Rick Perry's job creation accomplishments in Texas are nothing to be proud of because they pay such low wages "it's one stage away from slavery."

Rangel's harsh assessment comes the same day a New York Times review of Perry's record concluded "Texas has one of the highest percentages of workers who are paid the minimum wage and receive no medical benefits."

It also comes one day after former President Bill Clinton called Perry a "good-looking rascal" whose anti-government platform was "crazy," during a speech to firemen in midtown Manhattan.

Perry -- the longest serving governor in Texas history -- formally kicked off his presidential campaign on Saturday, largely on the strength of having created more jobs in Texas since 2009 than any other state in the nation.

This morning, Rangel appeared inside the Harlem office of the New York Urban League with fellow Democrats Senator Gillibrand and Assemblyman Keith Wright. They were urging the congress to passage of the federal Urban Jobs Act, which they said would pump $200 million into underserved communities to help prepare young, at-risk youth to enter the work force.

After the announcement, I asked Rangel his thoughts about Wal-Mart, the mega retail chain store which has been looking to open its first New York City store in Brooklyn, promising to offer low-income shoppers cheap merchandise and a plethora of jobs.

"Any large retail establishment would have an economic impact, not only in the merchandising but also in the lives of the people who work for them," Rangel told me. "So, I think that saying that we should have a living wage is consistent with what anybody would want. And Wal-Mart has demonstrated they have the ability, if not the will, to provide that as well."

When asked if he'd support the store if they offered living wage compensation to employees, Rangel demurred, and, unprompted, went after Perry.

"I'm just saying, generally speaking, you don't want people taking advantage of poverty. The guy from Texas, he's got the highest job accomplishments in the country, Governor Perry, but it's one stage away from slavery, from what I understand the salaries are."

A labor-backed  anti-WalMart group is out with a video today, featuring Councilman Charles Barron and other local residents talking about their appreciation for local store owners who go out of their way to help local residents.

The aim is to pressure Wal-Mart and the developer who is working with them, Related, to speak with local residents about their plans.

"As a New Yorker, I also value public dialogue, and was distressed to hear that your company has declined invitations to engage community members in public discussion," the group wrote in an automatic letter they hope supporters will send to the head of Related.

Wal-Mart has argued that when they've opened up stores, other businesses improved.

Brothers (left to right) Mark and David Weprin, in Brooklyn last week. (photo credit: azi paybarah / observer)

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