PostEverything
Bernie Sanders: Carrier just showed corporations how to beat Donald Trump
We need a president who can stand up to big corporations, not fold to their
demands.
We need a president who can stand up to big corporations, not fold to their
demands.
By Bernie Sanders December 1 at 6:00 AM
Bernie Sanders is a U.S. senator from Vermont.
Donald Trump is going to have to toughen up if he wants to serve American
workers. (Steven Senne/AP)
Today, about 1,000 Carrier workers and their families should be rejoicing.
But the rest of our nations workers should be very nervous.
President-elect Donald Trump will reportedly announce a deal with United
Technologies, the corporation that owns Carrier, that keeps less than 1,000
of the 2100 jobs in America that were previously scheduled to be transferred
to Mexico. Lets be clear: It is not good enough to save some of these jobs.
Trump made a promise that he would save all of these jobs, and we cannot
rest until an ironclad contract is signed to ensure that all of these
workers are able to continue working in Indiana without having their pay or
benefits slashed.
In exchange for allowing United Technologies to continue to offshore more
than 1,000 jobs, Trump will reportedly give the company tax and regulatory
favors that the corporation has sought. Just a short few months ago, Trump
was pledging to force United Technologies to pay a damn tax. He was
insisting on very steep tariffs for companies like Carrier that left the
United States and wanted to sell their foreign-made products back in the
United States. Instead of a damn tax, the company will be rewarded with a
damn tax cut. Wow! Hows that for standing up to corporate greed? Hows that
for punishing corporations that shut down in the United States and move
abroad?
In essence, United Technologies took Trump hostage and won. And that should
send a shock wave of fear through all workers across the country.
Trump has endangered the jobs of workers who were previously safe in the
United States. Why? Because he has signaled to every corporation in America
that they can threaten to offshore jobs in exchange for business-friendly
tax benefits and incentives. Even corporations that werent thinking of
offshoring jobs will most probably be re-evaluating their stance this
morning. And who would pay for the high cost for tax cuts that go to the
richest businessmen in America? The working class of America.
Lets be clear. United Technologies is not going broke. Last year, it made a
profit of $7.6 billion and received more than $6 billion in defense
contracts. It has also received more than $50 million from the Export-Import
Bank and very generous tax breaks. In 2014, United Technologies gave its
former chief executive Louis Chenevert a golden parachute worth more than
$172 million. Last year, the companys five highest-paid executives made
more than $50 million. The firm also spent $12 billion to inflate its stock
price instead of using that money to invest in new plants and workers.
Does that sound like a company that deserves more corporate welfare from our
government? Trumps Band-Aid solution is only making the problem of wealth
inequality in America even worse.
I said I would work with Trump if he was serious about the promises he made
to members of the working class. But after running a campaign pledging to be
tough on corporate America, Trump has hypocritically decided to do the exact
opposite. He wants to treat corporate irresponsibility with kid gloves. The
problem with our rigged economy is not that our policies have been too tough
on corporations; its that we havent been tough enough.
We need to re-instill an ethic of corporate patriotism. We need to send a
very loud and clear message to corporate America: The era of outsourcing is
over. Instead of offshoring jobs, the time has come for you to start
bringing good-paying jobs back to America.
If United Technologies or any other company wants to keep outsourcing
decent-paying American jobs, those companies must pay an outsourcing tax
equal to the amount of money it expects to save by moving factories to
Mexico or other low-wage countries. They should not receive federal
contracts or other forms of corporate welfare. They must pay back all of
the tax breaks and other corporate welfare they have received from the
federal government. And they must not be allowed to reward their executives
with stock options, bonuses or golden parachutes for outsourcing jobs to
low-wage countries. I will soon be introducing the Outsourcing Prevention
Act, which will address exactly that.
If Donald Trump wont stand up for Americas working class, we must.
<img src="https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&c2=3005617&cv=2.0&cj=1"/>
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PostEverything
Bernie Sanders: Carrier just showed corporations how to beat Donald Trump
We need a president who can stand up to big corporations, not fold to their
demands.
By Bernie Sanders December 1 at 6:00 AM
Bernie Sanders is a U.S. senator from Vermont.
Donald Trump is going to have to toughen up if he wants to serve American
workers. (Steven Senne/AP)
Today, about 1,000 Carrier workers and their families should be rejoicing.
But the rest of our nations workers should be very nervous.
President-elect Donald Trump will reportedly announce a deal with United
Technologies, the corporation that owns Carrier, that keeps less than 1,000
of the 2100 jobs in America that were previously scheduled to be transferred
to Mexico. Lets be clear: It is not good enough to save some of these jobs.
Trump made a promise that he would save all of these jobs, and we cannot
rest until an ironclad contract is signed to ensure that all of these
workers are able to continue working in Indiana without having their pay or
benefits slashed.
In exchange for allowing United Technologies to continue to offshore more
than 1,000 jobs, Trump will reportedly give the company tax and regulatory
favors that the corporation has sought. Just a short few months ago, Trump
was pledging to force United Technologies to pay a damn tax. He was
insisting on very steep tariffs for companies like Carrier that left the
United States and wanted to sell their foreign-made products back in the
United States. Instead of a damn tax, the company will be rewarded with a
damn tax cut. Wow! Hows that for standing up to corporate greed? Hows that
for punishing corporations that shut down in the United States and move
abroad?
In essence, United Technologies took Trump hostage and won. And that should
send a shock wave of fear through all workers across the country.
Trump has endangered the jobs of workers who were previously safe in the
United States. Why? Because he has signaled to every corporation in America
that they can threaten to offshore jobs in exchange for business-friendly
tax benefits and incentives. Even corporations that werent thinking of
offshoring jobs will most probably be re-evaluating their stance this
morning. And who would pay for the high cost for tax cuts that go to the
richest businessmen in America? The working class of America.
Lets be clear. United Technologies is not going broke. Last year, it made a
profit of $7.6 billion and received more than $6 billion in defense
contracts. It has also received more than $50 million from the Export-Import
Bank and very generous tax breaks. In 2014, United Technologies gave its
former chief executive Louis Chenevert a golden parachute worth more than
$172 million. Last year, the companys five highest-paid executives made
more than $50 million. The firm also spent $12 billion to inflate its stock
price instead of using that money to invest in new plants and workers.
Does that sound like a company that deserves more corporate welfare from our
government? Trumps Band-Aid solution is only making the problem of wealth
inequality in America even worse.
I said I would work with Trump if he was serious about the promises he made
to members of the working class. But after running a campaign pledging to be
tough on corporate America, Trump has hypocritically decided to do the exact
opposite. He wants to treat corporate irresponsibility with kid gloves. The
problem with our rigged economy is not that our policies have been too tough
on corporations; its that we havent been tough enough.
We need to re-instill an ethic of corporate patriotism. We need to send a
very loud and clear message to corporate America: The era of outsourcing is
over. Instead of offshoring jobs, the time has come for you to start
bringing good-paying jobs back to America.
If United Technologies or any other company wants to keep outsourcing
decent-paying American jobs, those companies must pay an outsourcing tax
equal to the amount of money it expects to save by moving factories to
Mexico or other low-wage countries. They should not receive federal
contracts or other forms of corporate welfare. They must pay back all of the
tax breaks and other corporate welfare they have received from the federal
government. And they must not be allowed to reward their executives with
stock options, bonuses or golden parachutes for outsourcing jobs to low-wage
countries. I will soon be introducing the Outsourcing Prevention Act, which
will address exactly that.
If Donald Trump wont stand up for Americas working class, we must.
