If Republicans want to cut the number of food-stamp recipients, they should support the ordinance passed this month by the Washington D.C. Council, which requires big-box stores like Wal-Mart to pay their employees at least $12.50 an hour.
On average, Wal-Mart pays its workers $12.67 an hour — which means that a huge number of its 1.4 million U.S. employees make a good deal less than that. By paying so little, the Bentonville behemoth impels thousands of its employees to use food stamps to feed their families and Medicaid to pay their doctor bills. It compels taxpayers to pick up a tab that wouldn't even exist if the company paid its workers enough to get them out of poverty.
How many such workers go on the public rolls? Some states occasionally survey where those employees work, and Wal-Mart almost invariably tops their lists.