Hightower Lowdown

Those who say that George W is not a "compassionate conservative," as he pledged to be when he first ran for president, obviously missed a remarkable, truly touching moment of Bush compassion in an action taken by his labor department last year. In a spirit of kindness and forgiveness that surely must stem from lessons he learned in Sunday school years ago, Bush & Company stepped in to prevent harsh treatment of someone who had made a mistake, compassionately offering leniency instead.

The someone was Wal-Mart. Its mistake was that it was caught in 85 violations of America's child labor laws. This was hardly Wal-Mart's first case of child labor abuse, and a less-compassionate president might have said, “Throw the book at the creeps!” But no, Bush's political operatives in the labor department reached a kinder, gentler settlement. Wal-Mart, with $312 billion a year in revenue, did have to pay a fine of $135,000, but it was allowed to keep denying that it had done anything wrong.

Then, showing a passion for compassion, the Bushites agreed that Wal-Mart would be given a 15-day notice before any further inspections of its stores! If inspectors find child labor abuses, Wal-Mart can avoid any punishment if it stops such practices within 10 days.

In fairness, Bush has to share credit for such a moving display of regulatory restraint. While George had the sensitivity to go along with the settlement, Wal- Mart's helpful lawyers substantially wrote it (rather than the labor department's own legal division, which was left out of the process). And, in a neat touch of teamwork, Wal-Mart and Bush's political appointees jointly wrote the press release about the deal.

Did I mention that Wal-Mart has given more than $4 million in campaign funds to Bush and the Republicans in the past seven years?