Wage growth well short of what was promised from tax reform

[riversedge]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by muriel_volestrangler (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: The Hill



By Chris Macke, opinion contributor — 04/14/18 10:30 AM EDT






The latest Employment Situation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows weekly employee earnings have grown $75 since tax reform passed, well short of the $4,000 to $9,000 annual increases projected by President Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).
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Assuming a full 52 weeks of work, the $6.21 increase in weekly earnings would result in a $323 annual increase, nowhere near the minimum $4,000 promised and $9,000 potential annual increases projected by President Trump and Speaker Ryan if significant cuts were made to corporate tax rates.

Unless something drastically changes, it seems that Americans are going to have to settle for much less than the $4,000 to $9,000 projected wage increases. An extra $322 a year isn’t going to do much to pay down the $1 trillion in additional debt they are projected to take on as a result of the tax cuts.

Yet, a key part of the argument for the recently passed corporate tax cuts and more than a trillion dollars in debt was the substantial wage hike promised by the president’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA)..............................

“Reducing the statutory federal corporate tax rate from 35 to 20 percent would, the analysis below suggests, increase average household income in the United States by, very conservatively, $4,000 annually.”................................

Read more: http://thehill.com/opinion/finance/383045-wage-growth-well-short-of-what-was-promised-from-tax-reform

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Two con men. Shameful!

Link to tweet

[sakabatou]

1. This just in, water is wet

[guillaumeb]

2. They lied?

I am devastated.

[groundloop]

3. TRICKLE DOWN VOODOO ECONOMICS DOES NOT WORK !!!!

Ronnie RayGuns tried it, it didn't work then. W tried it, it didn't work then. 45* is trying it, sure the hell won't work now. It WILL enrich the top 1% while the rest of us lose even more ground and likely cause an economic disaster....no different than the previous times.

[yourmovemonkey]

4. Every worker in America is going to get the exact same amount added to their paycheck

The least their boss thinks they can get away with.

Nothing ever changes.

[Beartracks]

5. To Republicans, this shortchanging of taxpayers isn't a problem. It's a feature.

And American voters weren't the intended consumers of this Tax Cut product, anyway. The American oligarchs were.

===========

[PatrickforO]

6. Two simple words: Fiduciary responsibility.

You are the CEO of a giant publicly held corporation, say GE or Monsanto. Or even the companies Koch Industries is taking major positions in - Qualcom, Georgia-Pacific and others.

So...you eagerly watch while the GOP controlled Congress builds you a massive tax cut. By the time it lands on Trump's desk you are licking your chops.

Ah, you rub your hands together and smile evilly. You have just added a pretty massive sum to your net profits.

The first thing you do is pass on at least part of this bounty to your workers, right? I mean, without them, there could be no profit. Right?

WRONG!!!!!

Nope. Because your fiduciary responsibility as CEO is ONLY to increase value for shareholders. Raising wages doesn't accomplish that at all. In fact, you know how Wall Street feels about your employees anyway - everytime you lay off any, the stock price rises.

So whatcha gonna do???

Why, you're gonna buy back shares so that each share outstanding is worth more.

But you're not going to raise wages. C'mon. And you're going to continue decreasing the size of packaging yet boosting the price. You will continue to cut corners on quality, and on workplace safety. And you will surely continue to pollute the earth because you CAN.

But you're not going to raise wages.

[quartz007]

7. My kid received barely over $1000 annual increase

due to tax cut. No salary raise yet.

[TomSlick]

8. Shocking news.

Voodoo economics continues to not work? Who's a thunk it?

[Skittles]

9. working as designed

now they can whack Social Security and Medicare

[Wellstone ruled]

10. If you are buying twent gallons of fuel

each week for work . Well golly-gee-willikers,you spent more than your pay raise since January,just with the price increase.

[paleotn]

13. bingo.

[watoos]

14. Yes, you nailed it

Trump needs to get the price of oil up for his best friends the Kochs and Putin.
Gasoline increases are going to eat up working folks pay increases.

[Wellstone ruled]

16. Looks like the Arab

Ambassador Jared worked out a deal,give me 500 million and we will not yell about you taking Oil to $80 per barrel.

Funny thing,Bloomberg reported that the Saudi Kingdom has said,they will be happy with $80 dollar Oil,it would fix many things in their Economy.

Oh BTW,Jared promised the UAE Countries he would take care of Qatar's LNG business from interfering with theirs. And Jared got 84 million.

Funny how that works,is it not.

Oh BTW,the surcharge on Freight is back on again. There goes the Grocery Prices .

[BigmanPigman]

11. RESIST! Tax March tomorrow!

The tax scam was a lie and even the moron's base is aware of it. Dems have been discussing what it means to the country. Join the tax march and demand reform and to see HIS taxes!

This Tax Day, one year after the first Tax March, communities across the country are taking action and speaking out against the TrumpTax. Leading up to April 17, grassroots activists, elected officials, and community leaders will join together at more than 100 events happening from coast to coast to hold Republicans accountable for forcing the new tax law through Congress and demanding that lawmakers repeal the TrumpTax. RSVP now to an event near you.

https://taxmarch.org/events/

[paleotn]

12. My "well, duh" file is getting a little thick....

I think I'll file this in the "no shit, Sherlock" folder.

[RDANGELO]

15. Much of it is due to states and localities raising the minimum wage.

However some Republican states have passed law prohibiting them from doing it.

https://www.marketwatch.com › Personal Finance

[C Moon]

17. But I have seen an awful lot of brand new Mercedes and BMW's around here. Seriously.

Must be nice to get a windfall tax break.

[Turbineguy]

18. Gee, who could have known?

It's not like they had the seat number or anything.

[Stonepounder]

19. I am completely confused.

"...weekly employee earnings have grown $75 since tax reform passed"

$75 x 52 = $3,200

So where does the $6.21 in weekly earnings come from? Or where does the $75 come from?

Sorry, but the numbers in the article just don't make any sense.

[sinkingfeeling]

23. 12 weeks into the year people see a total of $75 or $6.21 a week.

$6.21 X 52 = $323 a year.

[duforsure]

20. Don't forget

They made more changes to the ACA which now they are saying the premiums will rise by 90% within two to three years, and look at oil futures and prices of a barrel of oil have gone up 50% since he took office making all costs for everything increase, then trade wars, and economic agreements broken, then add another war(s), and their stupid tax scam taking trillions out of the economy for the wealthy, its a recipe for recession , or a depression. Anything they'll claim is false, like W Bush did. Remember him saying the economy is good, when it was spiraling downward from their policies. Now they want to destroy Social Security along with Medicaid, Medicare, and the ACA. Their scam is backfiring badly on them all.

[BumRushDaShow]

21. "it seems that Americans are going to have to settle for much less"

"Americans" will not have to "settle for" any such thing. Vote them completely out of office and upend this atrocity. Increase the minimum wage to $15/hour (can be done in stages), raise the highest effective tax rate to 70% and then go from there.

[sinkingfeeling]

22. Duh.

[muriel_volestrangler]

24. Locking - the hosts feel this is analysis and opinion, rather than a breaking news story

The employment figures came out a week ago. Please repost in GD or Editorials. Thanks.