By Mickey Friedman
March 3, 2019
I am always amazed when the President and Republicans and multi-million dollar TV commentators talk about how great the economy is. It reminds me of the influential book by Michael Harrington, “The Other America.” The few inhabit the America where the economy works mightily for them; the many, whether they appreciate it or not, carry the water for the others.
Remember the tax cut – the tax cut that has brought our national debt to $22 trillion dollars – touted by Republican politicians and corporate leaders as the well-needed tax relief necessary to stimulate our economy? AT&T chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson declared: “Congress, working closely with the President, took a monumental step to bring taxes paid by U.S. businesses in line with the rest of the industrialized world … This tax reform will drive economic growth and create good-paying jobs. In fact, we will increase our U.S. investment and pay a special bonus to our U.S. employees.”
Absolutely, positively. Jobs, bonuses, better wages, trickling down in great gifts to us all.
“You’re going to see the economy take off like nothing we have seen in a generation,” Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the House majority whip, told Fox News.
Then Stephenson, a long-time Republican donor, announced AT&T would gift $1,000 bonuses to some 200,000 employees. What we learned later from the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and conservative website, Brietbart News: “Multinational conglomerate AT&T is continuing to layoff American workers across the United States after raking in billions in additional profits from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.”
Breitbart wrote: “Despite enjoying a $20 billion tax windfall from President Donald Trump and the GOP’s tax cuts in late 2017, AT&T executives are starting off the new year by laying off hundreds of Americans and potentially thousands by the end of the year.”
Larry Robbins, the vice president of CWA Local 4900 told IndyStar that AT&T was laying off workers at the same time as it publicly celebrated the benefits of the tax bill. “We believe the $1,000 bonus and the promise of 7,000 new jobs are all a publicity stunt,” Robbins said.
According to The Hill, Brian Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast NBC Universal touted its $1,000 bonuses: “Based on the passage of tax reform and the FCC’s action on broadband, Comcast announced that the Company would award special $1,000 bonuses to more than one hundred thousand eligible frontline and non-executive employees.” Comcast said that it expected to hire thousands of new employees as a result of the investments.
But a Newsweek story noted: “Comcast Fired Hundreds of Workers Before Christmas Before Pledge to Give $1,000 ‘Trump Tax Cut’ Bonus … Just two weeks before Christmas, hundreds of Comcast door-to-door salespeople were called into company offices and fired from their jobs …
“Unlike the bonuses, the layoffs were not announced, but instead gleaned from documents … Comcast spokesperson Jenni Moyer told Newsweek: ‘Periodically we reorganize groups of employees and adjust our sales tactics and talent.’
After Southwest Airlines announced its $1,000 bonuses the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) told ThinkProgress that the gesture isn’t enough to make up for years of workers’ stagnant pay and the company’s unfinished collective bargaining agreement, which is currently under negotiations.
Remember Trump’s and Congressman Ryan’s FOXCONN? The Chicago Tribune wrote: “Fueled with billions in taxpayers subsidies, Foxconn would build a 22 million-square-foot campus, filled with 13,000 highly paid workers … But a year and a half later, a central question remains: Where are the jobs? Foxconn had only 178 employees on board as of December, missing its first year-end hiring target of 1,040 jobs and leaving millions of dollars in incentives on the table.”
Meanwhile, according to the AFL-CIO, in the U.S., “the average wage – adjusted for inflation — has stagnated for more than 50 years. Meanwhile, CEO’s average pay since the 1950s has grown by 1000%.”
Also: “In the 1950s, a typical CEO made 20 times the salary of his or her average worker. Last year, CEO pay at an S&P 500 Index firm soared to an average of 361 times more than the average rank-and-file worker, or pay of $13,940,000 a year.”
Or this: “The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data today issued its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, which shows that total household debt increased by $32 billion (0.2%) to $13.54 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2018. It was the 18th consecutive quarter with an increase and the total is now $869 billion higher than the previous peak of $12.68 trillion in the third quarter of 2008. Furthermore, overall household debt is now 21.4% above the post-financial-crisis trough reached during the second quarter of 2013.”
Student loan debt: “Outstanding student loan debt increased to $1.46 trillion from $1.44 trillion.”
And this: “younger borrowers are struggling most acutely to afford their auto loans.”
In 2019, it’s the economy, stupid.
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“2019: The Economy, Stupid” was first published in the February 21, 2019 edition of The Berkshire Record
For more information:
“AT&T Continues Laying Off Americans After Profiting Billions from Tax Cut”
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/02/03/att-continues-laying-off-americans-after-profiting-billions-from-tax-cut/
“AT&T, touting bonuses and investment fueled by tax reform, quietly lays off thousands”
https://www.indystar.com/story/money/2018/01/02/t-touting-bonuses-and-investment-fueled/992690001/
“Comcast announces $1,000 bonuses after passage of tax bill”
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/365908-comcast-announces-1000-bonuses-in-response-to-tax-reform
“Comcast Fired Hundreds of Workers Before Christmas Before Pledge to Give $1,000 ‘Trump Tax Cut’ Bonus.”
https://www.newsweek.com/comcast-fired-500-workers-christmas-after-pledging-give-employees-1000-bonuses-771789
“Union to Southwest: $1,000 worker bonuses don’t make up for years of stagnant pay”
https://thinkprogress.org/southwest-union-pay-freeze-81909f81462e/
“As Foxconn changes Wisconsin plans, job promises fall short”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-foxconn-plant-hiring-target-20190205-story.html
“CEO Pay Skyrockets To 361 Times That Of The Average Worker”
Diana Hembree, May 22, 2018, Forbes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/dianahembree/2018/05/22/ceo-pay-skyrockets-to-361-times-that-of-the-average-worker/ – 781d92a776dd
“Total Household Debt Rises as 2018 Marks the Ninth Year of Annual Growth in New Auto Loans – Auto Loan Balances Continue Rising; Younger Borrowers Struggle With Auto Debt Delinquencies”
February 12, 2019
https://www.newyorkfed.org/newsevents/news/research/2019/20190212