States like Maryland should be applauded, not sued, for trying to address the tragic fact that in state after state Wal-Mart forces taxpayers to subsidize its health-care costs.

Rather than address the serious issues of unaffordable health care, poverty wages, crime, and sprawl, Wal-Mart?s latest and greatest public relations stunt is to try to rebuild a fraction of the very communities and small business it has helped destroy.

None of the changes address the key point that a 'Wal-Mart bank' would result in a dangerous concentration of economic power which is bad for consumers, small business, and our nation's economy.

All these initiatives are good for Wal-Mart but they don't address the core problems that they create for their workers and their communities.