North Carolina's textiles industry has been economically undone by Wal-Mart's China First procurement policy. As if those employment losses weren't bad enough, the state has also been engaged in a multi-year legal battle to get the giant retailer to pay its fair share of state income taxes.

Two years ago, the Wall Street Journal ran a story revealing that Wal-Mart pays billions of dollars a year in rent for its stores, but in 25 states...