your first mistake is the assumption that i am against assisting the poor. just how many times in this thread alone have i stated that it is the abuse and scope of the system that i find fault with? your second error is in assuming i have no problem with "corporate welfare". the very idea that the taxpayer should have to bail out "too big to fail" corporations is a page right out of the statist playbook and is a blatant case of government too neatly in bed with business.
on the other hand, what gets lumped in as "corporate welfare" is not just such handouts and sweetheart loans as we have seen lately. yours is the perfect example of the sorts of trade-offs made every day to bring revenue into a city. you may not like walmart, but it is among the largest private sector employers in the country today. you may not like the low wages and lack of benefits packages, but the unskilled and semi-skilled workers that they are employing must be trained for their duties and are easily replaceable. though there are few career openings in such a store, it is gainful employment that allows people to make their own way in the world. that the opening of a walmart often spells the end of many mom and pop enterprises is regrettable, but the battle between mass marketing and niche stores has been going on for longer than these warehouse stores have been around. when the concept of supermarkets first came on the scene, they were seen as the death knell for the independent butchers, bakers and grocers that had held the market up to that point. supermarkets are now considered the mainstay of the industry, leaving the smaller specialty stores to find their niche or fold. is it so odd that a city might be willing to give a few breaks to a company that offers massive employment opportunities to its less fortunate and under educated citizens, brings business from outside the city and provides a constant revenue stream for civic improvements?
the difference between individual and corporate welfare is that something is demanded in return for one and the other is simply charity. the notions that food stamps act as stimulus or that government mandated handouts are anything more than a temporary and often deleterious solution to poverty are insipid political gestures. that they are a necessary part of sustaining society is obvious, but attempting to paint them as a positive indicator of our civilization is ludicrous.