Top News: Why 'We Should All Be Angry' About Stock Buybacks

Wednesday, June 12, 2024 ■ Today's Top News  Corporate Landlords' Profits Soar as Tenants Drown in Rent Hikes and Fees "Through-the-roof rent hikes based on greed—not need—have kept many Americans from getting ahead," said one advocate at Accountable.US. By Julia Conley 'Financing the Arsonists': Scientists Arrested During Citigroup Climate Protest "I invite you to join us, at any level of risk tolerance," said one participant in the New York demonstration. "It feels deeply meaningful—even joyful—to be a part of this movement and to stand on the right side of history." By Edward Carver News of Chomsky's Ill Health Prompts Outpouring of Gratitude for 'Lion of the Left' "So many thousands of people have stories about how he has changed their lives," said one admirer. "He certainly changed mine." By Brett Wilkins 'We Should All Be Angry' That Corporations Spent Trump Tax Windfall on Buybacks: Expert "Corporations took their tax windfalls and spent a trillion dollars of it in 2018 on stock buybacks instead of on worker wages or innovation," said Sarah Anderson of the Institute for Policy Studies. By Jake Johnson AOC, Raskin Announce Bill to Rein in 'Captured and Corrupted' Supreme Court "A group of anti-democratic billionaires with their own ideological and economic agenda has been working one of the three co-equal branches of government," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. By Julia Conley UN Probe Finds Israel Guilty of 'Extermination,' Torture, and Other War Crimes in Gaza "Israel must immediately stop its military operations and attacks in Gaza, including the assault on Rafah," said the chair of the United Nations commission behind the investigation. By Jake Johnson JOIN THE MOVEMENT As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. JOIN WITH US TODAY ■ More News To Defend Social Security and Medicare From Trump, Seniors Endorse Biden Wyden Probes 'Deeply Concerning' Kushner Firm Payments From Gulf Monarchies 'Imperative': Oxfam Pushes G7 to Use Fraction of Military Spending to Fix Hunger, Debt Crises 'Shameful and Deadly Decision': FERC Gives Go-Ahead to Mountain Valley Pipeline VIEW ALL NEWS ■ Opinion They’re Arresting the Wrong People Inside of Congress While they are arresting peace activists for exercising First Amendment rights, they are making plans to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—a war criminal with an actual arrest warrant request. By Olivia Dinucci Joe Biden: The Most Pro-Seniors President in Over Half a Century While the current administration’s record on senior issues is impeccable, Donald Trump’s return to the presidency is an existential threat to our earned benefits, including Social Security and Medicare. By Nancy J. Altman If Joe Biden Doesn't Intervene to Stop Mass Layoffs at John Deere, Who Will? The president should let Deere know that they can’t continue to receive taxpayer money if they ship taxpayer-funded jobs to Mexico. By Les Leopold VIEW ALL OPINION Call 207.775.0488 to donate by phone or mail a check to: Common Dreams · PO Box 443 · Portland, ME 04112-0443 · USA Common Dreams is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your contribution is tax-deductible. EIN: 20-3368194

 

'We Should All Be Angry' That Corporations Spent Trump Tax Windfall on Buybacks: Expert

"Corporations took their tax windfalls and spent a trillion dollars of it in 2018 on stock buybacks instead of on worker wages or innovation," said Sarah Anderson of the Institute for Policy Studies.

An economic policy expert told the Senate Budget Committee on Wednesday that Americans should be outraged that large corporations funneled their massive gains from the 2017 Trump-GOP tax law into stock buybacks, further enriching executives and wealthy shareholders while skimping on worker pay.

"Whether you were for or against the 2017 tax cuts, I think we should all be angry that corporations took their tax windfalls and spent a trillion dollars of it in 2018 on stock buybacks instead of on worker wages or innovation," Sarah Anderson, director of the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, said during a Senate Budget Committee hearing titled, "Making Wall Street Pay Its Fair Share: Raising Revenue, Strengthening Our Economy."

Watch Anderson's testimony:

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) noted in an analysis earlier this year that during the first four years after former President Donald Trump's tax cuts took effect, the country's largest corporations collectively spent $2.72 trillion repurchasing their own shares—more than they spent "on investments in plants, equipment, or software that might have created new jobs and grown the economy."

In written testimony submitted to the Senate Budget Committee for Wednesday's hearing, Anderson pointed to data from the Congressional Research Service showing that U.S. corporations spent $1 trillion total on stock buybacks during the first year of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which took effect in 2018. That year, U.S. billionaires paid a lower effective tax rate than working-class Americans for the first time in the country's history.

"S&P 500 firms alone spent $806 billion [on buybacks], a massive jump from the $519 billion they spent repurchasing stock in 2017," Anderson wrote. "Spending tax-cut windfalls and other profits on stock buybacks siphons resources from worker wages, R&D, and other productive investments that stimulate long-term growth. Analysts have documented the association between buybacks and worker layoffs, as well as reduced capital investment and innovation and wage stagnation."

In a Wednesday op-ed forCommon Dreams, Labor Institute executive director Les Leopold pointed out that John Deere, for example, has spent $12.2 billion on stock buybacks over the last two years alone while simultaneously slashing hundreds of jobs and offshoring production.

Leopold blasted the practice as "a blatant form of stock manipulation that was illegal until deregulated by the Reagan administration."

"For too long, Wall Street lobbyists have wielded excessive power to shape our tax code."

Wednesday's hearing was held following fresh reports that congressional Republicans are gearing up to slash taxes for the rich and large corporations even further if they seize control of the Senate in November and Trump—the presumptive GOP presidential nominee—wins another four years in the White House.

Anderson urged senators to use the looming expiration of some provisions of the 2017 tax law as an opportunity for reforms that target corporations that pay their CEOs excessively, tax Wall Street speculation, and discourage stock buybacks. In her written testimony, Anderson noted that increasing the 1% excise tax on corporate stock buybacks to 4% would generate $238 billion in new federal revenue over the next decade.

"For too long, Wall Street lobbyists have wielded excessive power to shape our tax code in ways that allow this lucrative sector to pay far less than their fair share of all the public services and infrastructure necessary for a healthy economy," Anderson wrote. "Continuing the status quo—or returning to the pre-2017 tax code—will not be acceptable if we are to meet the public investment needs of our time and reverse our country's staggering economic and racial disparities."

Sarah Anderson, director of the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, testifies before the Senate Budget Committee on June 12, 2024.

 (Photo: Senate Budget Committee)

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MAGA MIKE JOHNSON....what a shameful embarrassment...
Remember that MAGA MIKE is from LOUISIANA one of the poorest states in the nation, one of the poorest educated. that denied Black residents CLEAN DRINKING WATER 

THANK YOU JAMIE RASKIN! 

OHIO WRESTLING COACH JIM JORDAN RANTS..... 

OHIO A wealthy, well known REPUBICAN RULLI may have won a solidly REPUBLICAN district, but the margin is dwindling. This is a district that includes EAST PALESTINE. Maybe OHIO is waking up and looking around. His DEMOCRATIC opponent was a WAITER who invested $25,000 in his campaign.  

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/06/11/us/elections/results-ohio-us-house-6-special.html 

ALL of OHIO is GERRYMANDERED....but after the OHIO REPUBLICAN RICO TRIAL....remember the MASSIVE $$$ to buy CRUMBLING NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS & a Dirty Coal plant in another state? 2 recent suicides - one guy who set rates?

3News has confirmed Sam Randazzo, the former chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio who found himself embroiled in the largest public corruption scandal in state history, has died by apparent suicide at the age of 74.

The Franklin County Coroner's Office says Randazzo was found dead inside a building on East Mound Street in Columbus. According to officials, his body was hanging from a rope in the rafters. Records from the Franklin County Auditor's Office list the building's owner as Sustainability Funding Alliance of Ohio, an LLC owned by Randazzo.

Randazzo's death comes just months following his indictments for bribery in connection with the Ohio House Bill 6 scandal. He faced both state and federal charges for allegedly taking an illegal $4.3 million payment from FirstEnergy prior to his nomination as PUCO chairman.

Details of the scandal first came to light in 2020, when then Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and several others were arrested for their roles in the massive scheme. FirstEnergy later admitted to funneling millions of dollars to state politicians, regulators, and operatives to rally support for HB 6, which bailed out two nuclear power plants (including one in Lake County) that at the time were owned by a company subsidiary.

Months after Householder was charged, the FBI raided Randazzo's Columbus home, and he resigned as PUCO chairman that week. As part of a deferred prosecution agreement, FirstEnergy detailed a $4.3 million bribe it purportedly paid to Randazzo in exchange for his help supporting its agenda, including the tainted bill.

Despite these details, Randazzo did not face criminal charges until December of 2023, when he surrendered to authorities in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati. His assets were subsequently frozen, and this past February, the state of Ohio further indicted him on the following felony charges:

• One count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity (F1)
• One count of grand theft (F1)
• Two counts aggravated theft (F2)
• One count of bribery (F3)
• SAM RANDAZZO
  

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