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No Trickle Down from GOP Tax Cuts to Workers

Written by Subject: TAXES: Federal

No Trickle Down from GOP Tax Cuts to Workers

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

Trump's touted "middle class miracle" was a bald-faced lie.

Corporate predators don't share their wealth with workers. Nothing different was expected from the great GOP tax cut heist.

Following enactment of the measure into law, Trump told his super-rich Mar-a-Lago friends: "You all just got a lot richer."

Last November, he lied saying the bill "is going to cost me a fortune." He'll pay millions of dollars less in taxes. He, his super-rich friends and corporate predators will make out like bandits.

Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) called the notion of corporate America "sharing a big slice of their huge Trump tax cuts with their workers through bonuses and wage hikes is mostly hype."

Less than 10% of Fortune 500 companies "announced any plans to share the tax-cut wealth." Amounts they have in mind are peanuts compared to their multi-billion dollar windfall.

Corporate predators intend using their tax benefits for greater executive pay and bonuses, stock buybacks, mergers and acquisitions, as well as other investments - not sharing the wealth gained with workers. Announced wage increases are largely unrelated to the tax cuts.

According to ATF, "(d)ata about each corporation's tax savings is very limited." Apple is the largest beneficiary from what's known - a $40 billion tax break on its offshore profits. The company announced a one-time bonus for employees of $300 million."

Many companies intend stock buybacks. Announced ones amount to about $100 billion so far. They "put money in the pockets of already wealthy shareholders and divert precious resources from making new investments or raising workers' pay," ATF stressed.

Announced job cuts so far in 2018 number 27,000 by eight companies alone, thousands more by others.

Few companies announced intended investments with windfall tax savings. "There is a very good chance" that planned investments have nothing to do with the tax cut, ATF explained.

Bank of America announced one-time $1,000 bonuses for 145,000 employees - 5% or less of its single-year "$2.7 - $3.5 billion" tax saving.

It announced $5 billion in stock buybacks, along with eliminating free checking accounts for customers with low bank balances.

Carrier announced layoffs at its Indiana plant - despite a deal Trump claimed he struck with the company's management to save jobs.

The plant got around $7 million in tax incentives and training grants to keep operating in Indianapolis for 10 years.

Other companies announcing layoffs include AT&T, Comcast, Walmart, Humana, Chesapeake Energy, Kimberly-Clark, Macy's, Pfizer, Wells Fargo, Dish Network, GE Schenectady, Microsoft, Cigna, Sturm Ruger, Dunkin' Donuts, Hess Corp., Blue Cross Michigan, Lord & Taylor, Pabst Brewing and Hearst Magazines from what's know so far.

VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html


www.universityofreason.com/a/29887/KWADzukm