Forbes reports on Wal-Mart joining forces with SEIU and the Center for American Progress:

As for the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress, it has an added incentive to welcome Wal-Mart into polite company. While the left has shunned the corporate behemoth for years, according to its Web site Wal-Mart gives the think tank between $500,000 and $999,999. Perhaps CAP will get more than just brownie points from the Obama administration for brokering this deal.

As Meghan McArdle explained yesterday, it's not likely that Wal-Mart is acting out of some enlightened sense of self-interest, but rather "because [this bill] raises the barriers to entry in the retail market." In other words, Wal-Mart will use its influence in the health care reform process to go after its smaller competitors and by "transferring costs to the tax payer whenever possible." But the Center for American Progress, check in hand from Wal-Mart, is now running a special on propaganda:

On the whole, this is a win-win for reformers. The nation’s largest employer has embraced a mechanism that enhances the existing system of employer-based coverage, levels the playing field between employers and preserves the employer contribution — an important source of funding for health care reform. In turn, it has requested that we guarantee cost reductions and steer clear of a policy that undermines low-wage workers. Let’s hope the Senate Finance Committee is listening.

Expect a hard-hitting question from one of CAP's crack reporters at Obama's next press conference.

HT: Michael Moynihan