|
John,
Instead of investing in workers’ wages, billion-dollar corporations are using their obscene profits to enrich wealthy shareholders and CEOs.
Last year, Lowe’s spent more than $14 billion on stock buybacks—enough to give every one of its 301,000 U.S. employees a $46,923 bonus. But, instead they’re using a shady maneuver to inflate their stock price.
In response to this corporate waste of money on the already rich, we fought for and won a 1% tax on stock buybacks last year to try and encourage corporations to invest in workers’ wages, not investors’ profits. And, while that new tax has already raised more than $3.5 billion in tax revenue that can be used to invest in everything from healthcare to housing to nutrition programs for working families, it has not been successful in dissuading corporations from putting shareholders’ profits over workers’ wages.
Now, Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) have introduced the Stock Buyback Accountability Act, which would increase the tax on stock buybacks from 1% to 4%.
Just this week, more than 7,500 people took action, demanding the Senate pass this critical bill to encourage corporations to invest in workers, not wealthy shareholders. Donate today to keep up the pressure and hold greedy corporations accountable.
Stock buybacks mostly enrich top corporate executives and other wealthy shareholders. That’s because about 90% of all corporate stock is owned by the richest 10% of Americans; over half is owned by the top 1%.[1]
New research from the Institute for Policy Studies shows that the top 100 low-wage companies—such as Lowe's, Home Depot, Walmart, and Target—have a CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 603 to 1.[2] Stock buybacks contribute to that ratio.
Corporations have a choice. They can stop their stock buyback frenzy and invest in their workers instead of their CEOs and wealthy shareholders; or they can pay the price in higher taxes. So far that price hasn’t been high enough—we need to raise it.
Donate today to demand Congress raise the stock buybacks tax from 1% to 4% to hold greedy corporations accountable.
If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your secure donation will go through immediately:
Together, we’re fighting for an economy and a tax system that puts working people first.
Thank you,
David Kass
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
[1] “Distribution of Household Wealth in the U.S. since 1989,” The Federal Reserve
[2] “Executive Excess 2023,” Institute of Policy Studies, August, 2023
|
