Con-man and pathological liar Donald "Rump" Trump was trump-eting the $1,000 "bonuses" that some corporations (with lucrative regulatory issues and business before the Government, no less) handed out to their employees ostensibly due to the tax giveaway to the top 1% and those same companies. It was a transparent move to ingratiate themselves with the praise-needy Rump, who will be looking at mergers and acquisitions affecting them in the coming weeks and months, and a nod to the failed theory of trickle-down economics. The vast majority of benefits from the tax giveaway will go to corporations buying back shares of their stock.
However, there's new reporting that a couple of those massive corporations are now laying off workers. Comcast laid off 500 sales employees right before Christmas, while AT&T is laying off thousands of employees. According to the report:
"Comcast and AT&T were among the businesses that claimed Republican lawmakers’ effort to restructure the tax code in favor of wealthy corporations would allow them to be more generous to their workers, and publicly announced $1,000 year-end bonuses for their employees. The CEOs of both companies specifically cited the tax bill in separate press releases touting these 'special' bonuses....But Larry Robbins, the vice president of CWA Local 4900, told the IndyStar that AT&T started privately notifying its workforce of impending layoffs at the same time as it publicly celebrated the benefits of the tax bill. 'We believe the $1,000 bonus and the promise of 7,000 new jobs are all a publicity stunt,' Robbins said."Rump used the corporate bonus stunt to cover for a reactionary policy that will overwhelmingly benefit not workers or the middle class, but corporate executives and wealthy shareholders. As with his dishonest pledge to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S., it falls apart with just minimal scrutiny and time.
(Photo: A Very Stable Genius)
