President Trump unveiled his tax plan on Wednesday and chief executive officers at major corporations around the country quickly salivated over the massive savings they are set to receive.
“If you listen to the framework of tax reform, I find that incredibly encouraging for companies like ours,” Rick Gonzalez, CEO of drugmaker AbbVie Inc., said on an earnings call Thursday, according to Bloomberg.
“Achieving competitive corporate tax rates -- this is probably the biggest catalyst available for our public policymakers if they want to increase capital investment and job creation,” Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT&T Inc., said Tuesday in a call with investors, according to Bloomberg.
Under the president's new plan, the corporate tax rate will be slashed from 35 percent to 15 percent — although it's well documented that corporations' effective rate is usually far less than 35 percent.
“Lower taxes means better cash flow, more opportunity to invest.” Stephen Holmes, chief executive officer of hotel operator Wyndham Worldwide Corp., said Wednesday on a call with investors, adding that his company "can be a cheerleader from the sidelines" for Trump's initiative.
Only corporations don't just cheer from the sidelines, their voices are heard loud and clear throughout the halls of Washington, as the have the unique ability to spend millions in lobbying for special tax treatment. Critics have already argued that corporations will only use their tax savings to help their investors "boosting special dividends, and buybacks," according to Bloomberg.
For his part, Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a longtime critic of Corporate America, blasted the Trump administration after the tax plan was released. Sanders said Trump's tax plan saying that it not only perpetuates a rigged system, but that it exacerbates it even further.
"He [Trump] would slash taxes for himself and his billionaire friends and significantly increase the deficit, while doing little to help rebuild the collapsing middle class. Rather than making large profitable corporations — many of which pay nothing in federal income tax — finally contribute their fair share, Trump wants to give them a huge break."
In recent periods of economic expansion, a period of time that is supposed to benefit all Americans, only the top one percent of the population have actually benefitted.
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