by Jake Johnson
Apple announced Tuesday it will spend $100 billion buying back its own stock – 333 times the amount it has spent on one-time worker bonuses.
As even one member of the Republican Party was forced to admit earlier this week, President Donald Trump’s $1.5 trillion tax cut has done virtually nothing for the vast majority of American workers—but evidence continues to roll in that it has been a massive boon for the largest corporations.
According to new data compiled by S&P Dow Jones Indices, America’s biggest and most profitable companies are on track to hand “a record $1 trillion to investors through dividend increases and stock buybacks.”
A major example of companies using their tax savings to buy their own stock instead of boosting investment or giving workers raises came on Tuesday, when Apple announced it would be spending $100 billion on buybacks, which the New York Times reports is “by far the largest increase in its already historic record of returning capital to investors.”
As Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) noted in response to the company’s announcement, $100 billion is 333 times the amount it has given workers in the form of one-time bonuses.
“This is more proof that the Trump tax scam was never meant to benefit workers,” ATF tweeted on Tuesday. “It was designed to benefit the wealthy, rich CEOs, and big corporations.”
.@Apple has just announced that it will be using the bulk of its #Trump tax cuts spending $100B to buy back its own stock, benefiting rich CEOs & wealthy shareholders. That's 333X MORE than what it's giving workers in one-time bonuses! https://t.co/P4tHT3fAmB
— Americans For Tax Fairness (@4TaxFairness) May 1, 2018
Tax reform could have transformed the lives of working families and children. Instead, the GOP tax law is allowing big corporations to funnel obscene amounts of money to wealthy shareholders. https://t.co/icjKh010YT
— Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) May 1, 2018
Apple’s announcement comes on the heels of a slew of giddy profit reports by Wall Street banks, which have already raked in billions thanks to the Trump-GOP tax cuts.
Contrary to repeated promises from Republicans and the Trump administration that the tax law would spur a wave of new investment, the Times reported on Monday that “hard evidence” of a massive investment boost has yet to appear, while there is plenty of evidence that companies are following Apple’s lead and dumping their tax savings into the pockets of ultra-wealthy executives.
“Trump and GOP lawmakers said the huge corporate tax cuts were going to be ‘rocket fuel’ to increase corporate investment,” wrote author and labor reporter Steven Greenhouse on Tuesday. “So far the tax cuts have been rocket fuel for just one thing: a surge in stock buybacks, making the rich even richer.”
Viewers are encouraged to subscribe and join the conversation for more insightful commentary and to support progressive messages. Together, we can populate the internet with progressive messages that represent the true aspirations of most Americans.
