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As America's largest banks post record profits, massive companies continue their unprecedented stock buyback spree, and already-obscene CEO pay packages are set to rapidly expand in the aftermath of the Trump-GOP tax cuts, top corporate executives are now openly admitting that they have no plans whatsoever to invest their enormous windfall into wage increases for workers.
"The tax cuts are working exactly as intended."
--Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)
During what Axios described as a "rare, candid, and bracing talk from executives atop corporate America" at the Dallas Fed late last week, Troy Taylor, CEO of Florida's Coca-Cola franchise, said of the possibility of broad wage hikes for workers: "It's just not going to happen. Absolutely not in my business."
"Of course the GOP tax scam didn't help working people," noted Wisconsin congressional candidate Randy Bryce, aka "The Iron Stache," in response to the Axios report. "CEOs would rather pay themselves than pay us."
And CEOs are not merely conceding that "the days of most people getting a pay raise are over" despite the lofty promises Republicans made after they rammed through their $1.5 trillion in tax cuts. As Axios reports, well-heeled corporate executives are also actively moving to "reduce their workforces further" to cut costs and boost their bottom lines.
"The message is that Americans should stop waiting for across-the-board pay hikes coinciding with higher corporate profit; to cash in, workers will need to shift to higher-skilled jobs that command more income," Axios summarized.
While the executives' comments were met with outrage and disgust on social media, few expressed genuine surprise that corporations are deciding to hoard their profits and line the pockets of top executives rather than redistribute the gains downward, as this is precisely what they've been doing for decades.
And this is also precisely what analysts predicted would happen as the GOP tax plan--which dramatically slashed the corporate rate and the top marginal tax rate for individuals--made its way through Congress last year.
"The tax cuts are working exactly as intended," Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) concluded.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |

As America's largest banks post record profits, massive companies continue their unprecedented stock buyback spree, and already-obscene CEO pay packages are set to rapidly expand in the aftermath of the Trump-GOP tax cuts, top corporate executives are now openly admitting that they have no plans whatsoever to invest their enormous windfall into wage increases for workers.
"The tax cuts are working exactly as intended."
--Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)
During what Axios described as a "rare, candid, and bracing talk from executives atop corporate America" at the Dallas Fed late last week, Troy Taylor, CEO of Florida's Coca-Cola franchise, said of the possibility of broad wage hikes for workers: "It's just not going to happen. Absolutely not in my business."
"Of course the GOP tax scam didn't help working people," noted Wisconsin congressional candidate Randy Bryce, aka "The Iron Stache," in response to the Axios report. "CEOs would rather pay themselves than pay us."
And CEOs are not merely conceding that "the days of most people getting a pay raise are over" despite the lofty promises Republicans made after they rammed through their $1.5 trillion in tax cuts. As Axios reports, well-heeled corporate executives are also actively moving to "reduce their workforces further" to cut costs and boost their bottom lines.
"The message is that Americans should stop waiting for across-the-board pay hikes coinciding with higher corporate profit; to cash in, workers will need to shift to higher-skilled jobs that command more income," Axios summarized.
While the executives' comments were met with outrage and disgust on social media, few expressed genuine surprise that corporations are deciding to hoard their profits and line the pockets of top executives rather than redistribute the gains downward, as this is precisely what they've been doing for decades.
And this is also precisely what analysts predicted would happen as the GOP tax plan--which dramatically slashed the corporate rate and the top marginal tax rate for individuals--made its way through Congress last year.
"The tax cuts are working exactly as intended," Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) concluded.

As America's largest banks post record profits, massive companies continue their unprecedented stock buyback spree, and already-obscene CEO pay packages are set to rapidly expand in the aftermath of the Trump-GOP tax cuts, top corporate executives are now openly admitting that they have no plans whatsoever to invest their enormous windfall into wage increases for workers.
"The tax cuts are working exactly as intended."
--Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)
During what Axios described as a "rare, candid, and bracing talk from executives atop corporate America" at the Dallas Fed late last week, Troy Taylor, CEO of Florida's Coca-Cola franchise, said of the possibility of broad wage hikes for workers: "It's just not going to happen. Absolutely not in my business."
"Of course the GOP tax scam didn't help working people," noted Wisconsin congressional candidate Randy Bryce, aka "The Iron Stache," in response to the Axios report. "CEOs would rather pay themselves than pay us."
And CEOs are not merely conceding that "the days of most people getting a pay raise are over" despite the lofty promises Republicans made after they rammed through their $1.5 trillion in tax cuts. As Axios reports, well-heeled corporate executives are also actively moving to "reduce their workforces further" to cut costs and boost their bottom lines.
"The message is that Americans should stop waiting for across-the-board pay hikes coinciding with higher corporate profit; to cash in, workers will need to shift to higher-skilled jobs that command more income," Axios summarized.
While the executives' comments were met with outrage and disgust on social media, few expressed genuine surprise that corporations are deciding to hoard their profits and line the pockets of top executives rather than redistribute the gains downward, as this is precisely what they've been doing for decades.
And this is also precisely what analysts predicted would happen as the GOP tax plan--which dramatically slashed the corporate rate and the top marginal tax rate for individuals--made its way through Congress last year.
"The tax cuts are working exactly as intended," Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) concluded.