It was one of two campaign events DeStefano, New Haven's mayor, held at Connecticut Wal-Marts to call attention to his plan to bring universal health care to the state. DeStefano has made universal care a centerpiece of his campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor.

(Click here for more information on the effort to bring universal health care to Connecticut. Click here to read the health care position paper of DeStefano's rival for the gubernatorial nomination, Dan Malloy. Don't click for Republican Gov. Jodi Rell's health care plan; she hasn't introduced one.)

DeStefano originally planned to hold his Tuesday morning event by the entrance to the Stratford Crossing Wal-Mart. In order to avoid a confrontation with security (although that might have made a Michael Moore-esque photo op, had TV reporters shown up), the campaign moved the press conference to the other side of Route 110.

At the press conference, DeStefano spoke of how major employers have passed nearly $20 million a year of health care costs for their employees onto the backs of state taxpayers, because their employers turn to the state government's HUSKY program. The campaign listed the top four offenders, based on 2004 figures:

&#149 Wal-Mart: 824 workers costing $5.6 million from HUSKY

&#149 Stop N Shop: 741 workers costing $5.1 million

&#149 Dunkin Donuts: 530 workers, $3.6 million

&#149 McDonald's: 460 workers, $3.1 million.

DeStefano's universal health care plan would force major employers to offer a minimally acceptable health care plan for their workers or sacrifice all state tax breaks. If they do offer an acceptable health care plan, they would be eligible for a 50 percent cut in their corporate income tax rate, from 7.5 percent to 3.75. So there's a carrot as well as a stick.

The plan would eliminate corporate income tax altogether for smaller businesses that offer decent health insurance. Those companies would also be able to participate in a newly created Connecticut HealthCare Consortium that, by including a large number of Connecticut businesses and families, would negotiate for lower premiums.

"Universal health care is the best way to grow jobs," DeStefano said Tuesday. When he first announced his plan, Rell's campaign called it a job-killer because it raises companies' costs.

Rosa Soto, who's 51, is a Wal-mart greeter in New Britain. Her family has health insurance through her husband's job at a hospital. She spoke Tuesday about her less fortunate coworkers who have to take second jobs to afford health care.

"One of my coworkers is a department store manager," she said. "In addition to Wal-Mart, he works a second job to help pay the bills." It costs him $700 a month to insure his family. DeStefano cited a United Food and Commercial Workers survey that showed full-time Wal-Mart employees paying 27 percent of their income on health insurance.

After the press conference, DeStefano was asked if customers shoulder some of the blame for the poor health insurance at Wal-mart -- since they choose to shop for the lowest possible prices, even if that comes at the expense of workers' pay or benefits or jobs (since Wal-Mart buys many products from low-wage countries).

DeStefano argued that it makes sense for the company as well as the customers to price products slightly higher in order to pay for better health care. "A customer at Wal-Mart should see a savings in their own health care premiums" as a result of employees no longer failing to receive preventive care, then running up large government-supported hospital bills.

The manager of the Stratford Crossing Wal-Mart, Tony Spears, referred all questions to a 1-800 number. He promised that a real person, not a computer, would handle the call. He was wrong. A prerecorded voice promised "Your call is important," but a journey through a half-dozen options failed to yield either a human or a relevant option for a comment.