America's No.1! Republican tax cuts lead to a record $1,000,000,000,000 in stock buybacks

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday December 18, 2018 · 10:57 AM PST

2018/12/18 · 10:57

'Santa Claus' waves from the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on November 30, 2017 in New York. / AFP PHOTO / Bryan R. Smith (Photo credit should read BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images)

When the Republican Party gave away billions to the richest people and companies in our country, they promised everyone that the big hole in revenue their tax breaks were going to create would be filled by all of the jobs and revenue being created by big business. Everyone, except for the few hundred Republicans who voted to make this happen, said otherwise. In fact, even corporate CEOs said that this would not happen. The moment corporations counted up how much money they didn’t have to pay into America’s collective piggy bank, they began spending it on stock buybacks. Stock buybacks help to fill shareholders’ pockets in the short term. It’s like a Christmas bonus that makes everybody who is already pretty wealthy a little wealthier. Of course, we are America, goddamnit! So we do buybacks better than anybody!

US companies, led by Lowe's (LOW) and AbbVie (ABBV), rewarded shareholders by unveiling $34.4 billion in buybacks last week, according to TrimTabs Investment Research. That lifted repurchase announcements above $1 trillion for the first time ever, TrimTabs said, exceeding the prior record of $781 billion set in 2015.

The reason that tax cuts don’t work to stimulate growth in an already growing economy is that big business doesn’t care. Big business is only interested in profits. It develops its infrastructure and hires people based on that goal. Just ask giants like Verizon: they will tell you that they aren’t going to invest tax cuts in anything other than their own executives’ and shareholders’ pockets. Giving them tax breaks with zero strings attached results in them spending that money on making themselves wealthier. Period.

America's No.1! Republican tax cuts lead to a record $1,000,000,000,000 in stock buybacks

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