Wal-Mart's sensible turnabout on health care

LOS ANGELES, LOS ANGELES TIMES — Is Wal-Mart turning blue — blue enough to pull President Barack Obama's health care chestnuts out of the fire?

If the nation's largest employer is signing on to the president's agenda, his efforts to pass health care reform will have won an important ally. The company employs 1.4 million "associates," has stores in more than 400 congressional districts and maintains a powerful lobbying operation in Washington.

For years, Wal-Mart has been a poster child for low wages, skimpy health insurance and conservative red-state values. Just a year ago, Wal-Mart managers organized meetings in hundreds of stores to warn employees that if the Democrats won the White House, the company would face a disruptive unionization campaign.