Washington Post: You Know All Those Bonuses And Wage Hikes Weren’t Really Caused By The Tax Bill Or Something

Jan, 2018

Despite many companies specifically stating that the bonuses and wage increases they’re offering being a direct result of the GOP tax law, the Washington Post doesn’t want to believe it, because they’re too wrapped up in their Trump Derangement Syndrome and #Resist to give credit where credit is due. Really, the only thing missing from this editorial is them giving Obama credit

Big companies are hiking up wages. The tax bill probably isn’t to thank.

ALL OVER America, it seems, giant companies are passing out benefits, crediting the newly enacted tax law for enabling their largesse. Southwest Airlines awarded $1,000 bonuses to its employees; three competitors followed. Fiat Chrysler offered 60,000 hourly workers $2,000 bonuses and announced plans to move some production from Mexico to Michigan. Several utilities have plans to pass on their tax savings in the form of lower rates for electricity. And Walmart, employer of 1 million, announced a new $11- per-hour minimum wage, up from $9, and bonuses ranging from $200 to $1,000; it’s a total of $700 million, or about a third of the tax cut the company expects in 2018.

The Trump administration and the Republican lawmakers say this disproves critics who said their bill lavished a big helping of tax relief on corporations and the rich, with only meager gains for everyone else. “I do not think that is crumbs,” House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said.

They forget to mention that the “crumbs” thing is in direct response to Queen Nancy Pelosi, who is so out of touch with the middle class that she thinks $2,000 is a crumb. Of course, she, and the Washington Post, were super thrilled with Obama’s Stimulus, which gave people $40 a week, equivalent to $2,080. But was intended to expire after two years. Anyway, here we go

How to think about this? It’s unlikely that the announcements of wage hikes, or one-shot bonuses, represent anything more than a public-relations consequence of the tax bill. To the extent companies are paying people more and offering better working conditions, such as family leave, it more reflects the overall tightness of the labor market, and the resulting enhanced bargaining power for workers, than the prod of the tax cut.

And there it is: they just can’t give credit where credit is due. Certainly, the tightness in the job market is there, and so much of what’s in that link is the result of Trump’s policies, and, yes, we can also give Obama with a GOP congress some credit. We can also blame Obama for telling everyone to go to college to get a degree that isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on rather than getting actual real world skills, as mentioned in the article.

But these bonuses and pay hikes are the direct result of the tax law. The companies said it.

There may indeed be growth in jobs and wages as a result of the new law, but despite the hype over the latest corporate moves, it’s far too early to tell how much. What’s also crucial to keep in mind is that, whatever the bill’s benefits, it has costs, too: Specifically, it adds $1.5 trillion to the federal debt over the next 10 years, most of which goes to the most well-off people in our society, and which eventually will have to be paid for in higher taxes or reduced services for everyone else. That’s not crumbs, either.

Just a bunch of sore losers. They weren’t too concerned with Obama adding $9.3 trillion to the debt in eight years.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.