McRocket
Gold Member
- Apr 4, 2018
- 5,031
- 707
- 275
- Banned
- #1
'Senate liberals are proposing legislation that would prevent companies from buying back their own shares unless they first pay workers $15 an hour and offer paid time off and health benefits.
Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer of New York and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont outlined their plan in a New York Times op-ed published Sunday. The proposal would slap "preconditions" on a company's ability to buy its own shares. "The goal is to curtail the overreliance on buybacks while also incentivizing the productive investment of corporate capital," they wrote.
Last year, more than $1 trillion in buybacks were announced by large companies after a corporate tax cut pushed through Washington in late 2017 left companies with a lot of extra cash to spend. But instead of significantly raising worker pay or investing in equipment, companies mostly used the cash to buy their stock. And some large companies are buying back billions of dollars of shares while announcing layoffs and closings, the Senators wrote.
For example, Walmart announced a $20 billion share buyback while at the same time laying off hundreds and closing Sams Club stores. The column cites a Roosevelt Institute analysis that the retailer could have used the money instead to raise hourly wages to $15.
Harley Davidson is buying back 15 million shares while closing a plant in Kansas City, Mo., Wells Fargo spent billions of dollars on buybacks while "openly plotting" to cut 10 percent of its workforce, the Senators said.
"At a time of huge income and wealth inequality, Americans should be outraged that these profitable corporations are laying off workers while spending billions of dollars to boost their stock's value to further enrich the wealthy few," the column said.'
Chuck Schumer and Bernie Sanders call for restricting corporate share buybacks
This is complete nonsense.
1) It is NONE of the fucking, government's business (Dem or Rep) how private companies/corporations handle their businesses (assuming they are not breaking any obvious laws).
2) Government's ALWAYS - and I mean ALWAYS - mess up ANYTHING they touch economically. These people are largely lawyers who have not a clue how to run a company and are just pandering to voters.
3) This is a day late and a dollar short. These mass buybacks have been going on for about a decade...and NOW the Dems come out about it?
4) Hello? You dumb ass politicians? You want to stop corporate buybacks? I can tell you how to overnight...get the fucking Fed to raise rates back to historic norms, end ALL QE programs AND announce they are no longer going to be propping up the equity markets.
In other words - remove the Fed's 'full employment' mandate. The ONLY reason the mass buybacks are happening is because the Fed is practically begging them to do it with these WAY low interest rates for WAY too long.
5) And don't give me this bullshit that the Dems just got control of the House back which is why they are only doing this now. They could have EASILY done this under Obama when they had the political power AND 'controlled' the Fed.
6) If you want to raise the minimum wage to $15/hr overnight (which I am against, btw - though I could live with a $9 MW immediately with yearly raises based on the inflation rate). Then just do it with legislation. Stop this Bernie Sanders, nickel-and-diming, nose-under-the-tent way of trying to sneak it in piece by piece.
Have the guts to put a bill before Congress for a $15 minimum wage and let Americans decide on it or drop it completely for now.
This is a TERRIBLE idea and just opens the door to the federal government telling private businesses exactly how to run their companies. Which is a bad idea for both the economy and for freedom of corporations/Ma and Pa businesses AND consumers.
Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer of New York and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont outlined their plan in a New York Times op-ed published Sunday. The proposal would slap "preconditions" on a company's ability to buy its own shares. "The goal is to curtail the overreliance on buybacks while also incentivizing the productive investment of corporate capital," they wrote.
Last year, more than $1 trillion in buybacks were announced by large companies after a corporate tax cut pushed through Washington in late 2017 left companies with a lot of extra cash to spend. But instead of significantly raising worker pay or investing in equipment, companies mostly used the cash to buy their stock. And some large companies are buying back billions of dollars of shares while announcing layoffs and closings, the Senators wrote.
For example, Walmart announced a $20 billion share buyback while at the same time laying off hundreds and closing Sams Club stores. The column cites a Roosevelt Institute analysis that the retailer could have used the money instead to raise hourly wages to $15.
Harley Davidson is buying back 15 million shares while closing a plant in Kansas City, Mo., Wells Fargo spent billions of dollars on buybacks while "openly plotting" to cut 10 percent of its workforce, the Senators said.
"At a time of huge income and wealth inequality, Americans should be outraged that these profitable corporations are laying off workers while spending billions of dollars to boost their stock's value to further enrich the wealthy few," the column said.'
Chuck Schumer and Bernie Sanders call for restricting corporate share buybacks
This is complete nonsense.
1) It is NONE of the fucking, government's business (Dem or Rep) how private companies/corporations handle their businesses (assuming they are not breaking any obvious laws).
2) Government's ALWAYS - and I mean ALWAYS - mess up ANYTHING they touch economically. These people are largely lawyers who have not a clue how to run a company and are just pandering to voters.
3) This is a day late and a dollar short. These mass buybacks have been going on for about a decade...and NOW the Dems come out about it?
4) Hello? You dumb ass politicians? You want to stop corporate buybacks? I can tell you how to overnight...get the fucking Fed to raise rates back to historic norms, end ALL QE programs AND announce they are no longer going to be propping up the equity markets.
In other words - remove the Fed's 'full employment' mandate. The ONLY reason the mass buybacks are happening is because the Fed is practically begging them to do it with these WAY low interest rates for WAY too long.
5) And don't give me this bullshit that the Dems just got control of the House back which is why they are only doing this now. They could have EASILY done this under Obama when they had the political power AND 'controlled' the Fed.
6) If you want to raise the minimum wage to $15/hr overnight (which I am against, btw - though I could live with a $9 MW immediately with yearly raises based on the inflation rate). Then just do it with legislation. Stop this Bernie Sanders, nickel-and-diming, nose-under-the-tent way of trying to sneak it in piece by piece.
Have the guts to put a bill before Congress for a $15 minimum wage and let Americans decide on it or drop it completely for now.
This is a TERRIBLE idea and just opens the door to the federal government telling private businesses exactly how to run their companies. Which is a bad idea for both the economy and for freedom of corporations/Ma and Pa businesses AND consumers.
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