>>SINCE THE TRUMP TAX CUTS PASSED WE HAVE BEEN COVERING HOW
SOME OF THE BIGGEST BENEFICIARIES, THESE HUGE
CORPORATIONS, ARE USING THE MONEY.
BOTH IN TERMS OF WHAT
THEY SAY, THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS THEY MAKE ABOUT BONUSES AND THE
P.R.
THEY ARE GETTING FROM ALL THESE PUBLIC RELATIONS
CAMPAIGNS, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY BEHIND-THE-SCENES WHAT ARE THEY
DOING THAT IS NOT GETTING AS MUCH COVERAGE, THAT THEY ARE
TOUTING FOR THE MEDIA TO COVER?
TODAY WE HAVE AN EXAMPLE OF THE
STARK DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE TWO THINGS, HAVING TO DO WITH
COMCAST.
COMCAST ANNOUNCED THEY WOULD BE GIVING $1000 BONUSES TO
100,000 WORKERS, THEY GOT A LOT OF GOOD PRESS FOR THAT, AND IF
YOU GET THAT MONEY THAT'S CERTAINLY NICE, BUT DOES IT
REALLY HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE TAX CUTS?
PERHAPS NOT, WE
WILL TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE OTHER THINGS THEY HAVE GOTTEN UP
TO WITH THAT MONEY AND A LOT OF THIS IS COMING FROM A LOT OF
INFOGRAPHICS PRODUCED BY THINK THINKPROGRESS --
>>NOW, IF WE COMPARE THE ANNOUNCED BONUSES WITH TODAY'S
ANNOUNCED STOCK BUYBACK IN DIVIDENDS --
>>THAT MIGHT BE HARD TO VISUALIZE, SO LET'S TAKE A LOOK
AT THIS GRAPHIC, YOU WILL SEE IT'S BIGGER.
IT'S A LOT BIGGER.
>>WHOA.
>>ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT BEHIND-THE-SCENES, AND THIS IS
SOMETHING WE HAVE TOLD YOU BEFORE, THE COMPANY LAID OFF
MORE THAN 500 SALES EMPLOYEES AT THE SAME TIME THEY WERE
ANNOUNCING THOSE BONUSES, AND THEY AREN'T THE ONLY COMPANY.
AT&T ALSO TOUTED BONUSES AND FIRED THOUSANDS AT THE SAME
TIME.
NOW, WE WILL FOCUS ON COMCAST IN THIS STORY BUT IF YOU
TAKE A LOOK AT THIS LAST CHART IT WILL COMPARE ALL OF THE
ANNOUNCED BONUSES WE HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT, AND SOME WE
HAVEN'T, COMPARED TO THE COST OF THE ENTIRE TAX CUT PLAN.
IT'S
DIFFICULT TO SEE IN A GRAPHIC, BUT IT'S .13% OF THE BENEFIT TO
CORPORATIONS SPECIFICALLY COMING FROM THIS TAX PLAN, AND IS IT
GETTING .13% OF THE PRESS?
I WOULD ARGUE IT'S GETTING SLIGHTLY MORE.
>>LET'S BREAK ALL THAT DOWN.
OVER 99.8% OF THE CUTS ARE GOING
TO GO STRAIGHT INTO THE CORPORATE POCKETS, AND WHEN THEY
DO THE BUYBACKS AND DIVIDENDS YES IT GOES TO SOME SHAREHOLDERS
BUT IT ALSO GOES TO EXECUTIVES WHOSE STOCK PRICES GO UP, THEY
HAVE A LOT OF STOCK OPTIONS, SO THEY WILL MAKE MILLIONS UPON
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
A TINY, TINY SLIVER OF THAT, AS JOHN
POINTED OUT, 0.13%, WILL GO TO WORKERS.
AND THEY ARE BRAGGING,
WE ARE GIVING IT TO THE WORKERS.
IT SOUNDS LIKE THEY ARE JUST
GIVING IT STRAIGHT TO THE WORKERS.
NO, THEY ARE GIVING
99.87% TO THEMSELVES.
THIS HAS LAYERS TO IT.
IS A COMPANY
ALLOWED TO DO DIVIDENDS AND STOCK BUYBACKS?
OF COURSE,
THAT'S THEIR CALL.
NOW, DO SOME EXECUTIVES WANT TO DO THAT
BECAUSE IT ARTIFICIALLY DRIVES UP THE STOCK PRICE?
BECAUSE WHEN
YOU ARE BUYING BACK SHARES, BECAUSE OF LAWS OF SUPPLY AND
DEMAND, YOUR PRICES GO UP -- BUT IT'S NOT BECAUSE YOUR COMPANY
GOT ANY BETTER, IT'S NOT THAT YOU HAD MORE CUSTOMERS OR YOUR
BOTTOM LINE WAS BETTER, IT'S JUST THAT YOUR STOCK PRICE IS
HIGHER BECAUSE YOU ARE BUYING BACK STOCK.
IF YOUR STOCK PRICE
IS HIGHER AND YOU HAVE AN EXECUTIVE WITH TONS OF OPTIONS,
HE JUST MADE TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS BY THINK HE INITIATED
BECAUSE OF THE TAX CUTS.
AND THEN THEY DO A CUTE LITTLE
TRICK.
I BET YOU COULD FIND ONE EXECUTIVE THAT HAS MADE THAT
HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS BY HIMSELF, THAT THEY DISTRIBUTED
TO THE EMPLOYEES.
THAN THEY DO THE CUTE PROPAGANDA OF, OH, WE
GAVE IT TO THE WORKERS.
THIS WAS ALL TO CREATE JOBS.
THEN THEY
CUT JOBS.
THAT WE CAN'T ABIDE, BUT WHEN YOU COST AMERICAN
TAXPAYERS $1 TRILLION AND YOU ARE GOING TO SHIFT THAT BURDEN
ONTO THE AVERAGE AMERICAN WHO IS WORKING HIS ASS OFF, THEN YOU
PRETEND IT'S TO CREATE JOBS, THAT IS THE THING WE CAN'T
STAND.
>>THERE IS THE STOCK PURCHASING, THERE IS ALSO THE
DIVIDENDS.
HYPOTHETICALLY I COULD BUY THE STOCK, YOU COULD,
AND YOU MIGHT MAKE A LITTLE MONEY OFF OF IT, YOU WON'T MAKE
ANYTHING LIKE WHAT THOSE WHO OWN MILLIONS OR HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS
OF DOLLARS IN THIS DOCUMENT, BUT YOU CAN MAKE A LITTLE BIT OF
MONEY HYPOTHETICALLY.
BUT WHEN THEY ARE DOING THIS AS THEIR
STRATEGY, THE HUGE PERCENTAGE OF THE MONEY THEY ARE MAKING WILL
GO INTO THAT, IT LETS YOU KNOW WHAT THEY THINK IS LIKELY TO
HAPPEN TO THE COMPANY IN THE FUTURE.
IF THEY THOUGHT GROWTH
WAS COMING THEY WOULD INVEST IT INTO THE COMPANY, HIRE MORE
PEOPLE, ALL OF THAT, BUT THEY AREN'T.
THEY ARE ACTING AS IF WE
PROBABLY ARE GOING TO DO AS WELL AS WE HAVE ALWAYS DONE BUT
ARTIFICIALLY, AS CENK POINTED OUT, INCREASE THE PRICE OF OUR
STOCK.
THEY ARE PUTTING THIS MONEY INTO HIGHER WAGES, THE
BONUSES SOUND GOOD BUT THERE'S A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A $1000
BONUS AND A $1000 RAISE.
THE RATES YOU GET EVERY YEAR, SO
WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT YEAR WHEN THE MEDIA IS LESS FOCUSED ON
THIS?
PROBABLY NOTHING.
AND THIS IS JUST ONE CASE STUDY IN
COMCAST, WE HAVE TALKED PREVIOUSLY ABOUT AT&T AND A
NUMBER OF BANKS AS WELL, AND IF YOU GO OUTSIDE OF
TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND BANKING AND ALL THAT YOU WILL PROBABLY
SEE THINGS LIKE THIS IN OTHER INDUSTRIES.
OR WORSE.
>>LAST COUPLE OF THINGS, JOHN MAKES A GREAT POINT -- IF THEY
TOOK THE MONEY AND INVESTED IT IN THE ECONOMY AS THEY CLAIMED
THEY WERE GOING TO DO, THAT MIGHT BE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT.
I
STILL DON'T THINK THE TAX CUTS WOULD BE WORTH IT BECAUSE OF ALL
THE OTHER DAMAGE IT DOES, BUT AT LEAST THEY WOULD BE PUTTING --
CREATING NEW PLANS, MAYBE EVEN CREATING NEW JOBS.
BUT IF YOU
TAKE THE MONEY AND ALL YOU DO WITH IT IS INFLATOR STOCK PRICE,
AND BY THE WAY THAT'S WHAT TRUMP IS BRAGGING ABOUT, THE STOCK
MARKET IS DOING GREAT -- THIS IS PART OF WHY IT'S DOING GREAT,
THEY ARE BUYING THE STOCK BACK AND DRIVING UP OTHER PRICES.
AND
WHEN YOU DO THAT, YOU DON'T HELP THE ECONOMY AT ALL AND IT'S
POINTLESS.
THAT I GO TO A SECOND NUMBER, THE ONE JOHN MENTIONED.
56 TIMES MORE IN BUYBACKS AND DIVIDENDS THAN GIVING OUT
BONUSES.
THE BONUSES, PEOPLE WILL ACTUALLY SPEND BECAUSE THEY
DON'T MAKE THAT MUCH MONEY, THE AVERAGE WORKER WILL PROBABLY
SPEND THAT $1000 AND RECIRCULATE IT IN THE ECONOMY WHICH IS GOOD
FOR ALL OF US.
BUT THE TENS OF MILLIONS EXECUTIVES AND
SHAREHOLDERS ARE MAKING THEY LIKELY WILL SAVE, WHICH DOESN'T
HELP THE ECONOMY.
AND IN TERMS OF THE MEDIA COVERAGE, ALL THE
STORIES YOU HEAR, OH MY GOD, THEY ARE GIVING BONUSES --
IMAGINE IF THEY HAD AND 56 TIMES THAT MUCH COVERAGE ON THE
BUYBACKS AND DIVIDENDS.
THAT'S ALL YOU WOULD SEE ON TV.
>> BY THE TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS THAT EXECUTIVES ARE
MAKING, THEY LIKELY WILL SAVE WHICH DOESN'T HELP THE ECONOMY.
THINK ABOUT IT IN TERMS OF THE MEDIA COVERAGE.
IMAGINE IF THEY HAD DONE 56 TIMES THAT COVERAGE ON THE
BUYBACKS AND THE DIVIDENDS?
THAT'S ALL YOU WOULD SEE ON TELEVISION.
THAT GIVES YOU A SENSE OF HOW DISPROPORTIONATE IT IS AND
WHEN YOU HAVE A DISPROPORTIONATE COVERAGE IT GIVES A MISLEADING
SENSE OF WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE COUNTRY AND HELPS THE PEOPLE
ATTEMPTING TO DECEIVE YOU.
LUCKILY THERE IS A THING CALLED THE INTERNET WHICH LEADS ME TO
MY LAST NUMBER, AT THE END OF
ALL THIS PROPAGANDA A COUPLE OF DAYS BEFORE THEY PASSED IT IT
WAS A TERRIBLY UNPOPULAR PLAN ONLY 24%
OF AMERICANS THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA.
THAT IS DISASTROUS.
NO MATTER HOW MUCH TELEVISION SET THE JOBS ON THE BONUSES ñ
ALL THE MONEY IS GOING TO THE RICH AND THE POWERFUL EXCEPT FOR
THE 25% WHO ARE BASICALLY TRUMP SHEEP, THE REST OF THE COUNTRY
UNDERSTANDS MONEY WAS NEVER MEANT FOR US.