Republican Incumbents Are Grasping A Broken Reed

In an interview with USA Today yesterday, Jeb Bush warned that Trump is going to tank Republican chances in the midterms if he-- and the Democrats-- make the elections about him. "Every business that announces a job increase," said Bush, who agrees with many of Trump's backward economic policies, "you can make a pretty compelling case that it's tax reform and regulatory reform that was a catalyst to make that happen... "If the election is nationalized and it's not about the economy, then we'll lose. If it's about the economy and it's driven by state or district interest, incumbents can do well." Bush is absolutely giddy over the tax cuts for businesses and billionaires and he could kiss Trump for dismantling regulations that protect ordinary American families from economic predators. His favorite Trump cabinet member, he admits, is Betsy DeVos, the one most hated by the most American voters.

We'll have more about that little Jeb interview later today but Rebecca Greenfield a Bloomberg Businessweek reporter looked a little more closely into the tax windfall that Trump, Bush, Ryan and so many Republican office-holders are counting on to save them from oblivion. Is that a good bet? The tax scam was a scam, so probably not. Greenfield wrote that it "has inspired what seems like a flurry of action from companies looking to gain billions of dollars in potential savings. Every day, a new organization announces bonuses and wage increases. (FedEx Corp. on Friday added its name to that list.) Others, however, are using their funds to lay off thousands of workers. Despite the headlines, it turns out most companies aren’t doing much at all with their tax savings, according to a new survey from Willis Towers Watson. At least not yet." 


The HR consulting firm asked 333 employers with at least 1,000 employees what they have done or plan to do as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Only 4 percent of companies said they had “increased wages for all employees”; an additional 3 percent said they planned to do so in the next year. While an further 13 percent said they’re “considering taking action this year or next,” a full 80 percent of companies aren’t considering giving raises at all.

...At this rate, it’s too early to tell what the trickle-down impact of the bill will be, if any. The bonus and wage increases provided to employees have, so far, been a fraction of the savings companies are seeing from the tax bill. It will take years to determine the full impacts of the bill, economists say.

Still, employees are seeing some changes. Almost 20 percent of companies surveyed said they had already added Roth 401(k) retirement plans for employees, making it the most popular benefit change as a result of the tax bill. Unlike a traditional 401(k), a Roth taxes money up front when it goes into the account, rather than down the line when it comes out. “Many employers are saying ‘Tax rates are lower, I’d rather pay taxes on the lower amount than pay gains in the future,’ because maybe they will go up in the future,’” Bremen said.

Not all workplace upgrades come in the form of money. Around 40 percent of companies said they have already taken at least one “action” as a result of the tax bill, from increasing hiring to spending money on automation.

This cycle, Iowa's best candidate in many years is running for Congress, Austin Frerick. He just told us that "The American Dream and our ability to provide for our families is in crisis in this 2nd Gilded Age because of these greedy robber barons. Robber barons who think nothing of poisoning our waterways to make a quick buck, who think they can be Secretary of Education, who would push doctors to prescribe opioids and then ignore devastated communities without another thought. Don’t let a robber baron or a robber baron’s crony like Jeb Bush tell you everything will be fine if we send away all the immigrants or build a wall. Don’t let a robber baron or Jeb Bush tell you that doubling the estate tax limit will help the economy. That’s a tax cut in a billionaire’s bottom line, not a new business on Main Street."