Jake Johnson at CommonDreams writes—Analysis: Major Corporations Have Spent Just 6% of Tax Cut Windfall on Workers. Guess Where the Other 94% Went.
Almost everyone—nonpartisan commentators, economists, and even President Donald Trump's chief economic adviser—predicted that corporate shareholders and CEOs, not workers, would be the primary beneficiaries of the Republican tax law, and several recent analyses have shown that prediction to be right on the money.
While many corporations immediately launched aggressive PR campaigns crediting the tax plan Trump signed in December with new "investments" in employees, a study by the nonprofit group JUST Capital published on Wednesday found that the sensational headlines touting worker bonuses obscured the fact that the vast majority of the law's benefits have gone straight to the pockets of wealthy shareholders.
"Post-tax cut raises, bonuses, and other worker investments announced by 90 of the largest publicly-traded corporations average just six percent of the total windfall these companies have received from the biggest tax cut in U.S. history," the group found.
The analysis also showed that 56 percent of these worker investments came in the form of one-time bonuses, not permanent pay raises.
Additionally, the vast majority of companies examined invested none of their windfall into new jobs, while just a few companies invested a large percentage—a fact that skews JUST Capital's averages, making it appear that all of the companies invested more in jobs than they actually did. [...]
"American companies have announced more than $178 billion in planned buybacks—the largest amount unveiled in a single quarter, according to Birinyi Associates, a market research firm," notes Matt Phillips of the Times.
TOP COMMENTS • HIGH IMPACT STORIES
QUOTATION
“I just got a rather nasty shock. In looking for something or other I came across the fact that one of my cats is about to be nine years old, and that another of them will shortly thereafter be eight; I have been labouring under the delusion they were about five and six. And yesterday I happened to notice in the mirror that while I have long since grown used to my beard being very grey indeed, I was not prepared to discover that my eyebrows are becoming noticeably shaggy. I feel the tomb is just around the corner. And there are all these books I haven't read yet, even if I am simultaneously reading at least twenty...”
~Edward Gorey, Floating Worlds: The Letters of Edward Gorey and Peter F. Neumeyer (2001)
TWEET OF THE DAY
BLAST FROM THE PAST
On this date at Daily Kos in 2008—Republicans To Use The Troops For Political Gain.
Once again showing that "supporting the troops" is just a slogan, Senate Republicans unexpectedly agreed to debate Senator Russ Feingold's bill that would require troops to begin withdrawing from Iraq within 120 days and cut funding for further combat deployments. Is it because Republicans have finally decided to listen to more than 60% of the American people?
Or did they finally realize that the ever-increasing cost in blood and treasure is too high a price to pay? Of course not. It's because Republicans:
...want to highlight the security achievements over the past year under President Bush's troop buildup strategy.
That's right; they want to do a little political grandstanding on the backs of the troops that they claim to support.
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: Ben Carson makes himself at home, at work. And you pay for it. The collusion nexus and "engagement maximization." Joan McCarter remembers the Moonies, who are back, somehow. Another government shutdown looms. GOP needs Dem help fixing their tax scam!
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