Irony at its finest

Wal-Mart, through its Sam's Club division, has just released a survey that finds business owners are wary about their economic futures. While more confident than consumers about the economy, these entrepreneurs continue to plan layoffs, possibly at even greater rates than at present. Could the fact that Wal-Mart is putting them out of business, or at least making business more difficult, have anything to do with this? This may be the first time a company releases a survey where it is a major contributor to the problems it's investigating. Ah irony!

The survey also mentions how health insurance expenditures are a major problem for the average small employer. Maybe these businesses should follow the Wal-Mart model and shift its health costs to the state.