|
John,
The railroad derailment in East Palestine, Ohio and the resulting toxic chemical spill that has displaced thousands of residents was preventable, if rail carrier Norfolk Southern had invested in workers and safety rather than hoarding excess corporate profits.
One Norfolk Southern employee told CBS News, “The workers are exhausted, times for car inspections have been drastically cut, and there are no regulations on the size of these trains.”[1]
For years, experts have warned that “draconian cost-cutting” by virtually every major railroad company would result in these types of derailments.[2] And yet, just last year, Norfolk Southern announced a $10 billion stock buyback plan to enrich its executives and shareholders rather than investing in critical operations.[3] One journalist called the catastrophe “a predictable consequence of Wall Street-backed policy decisions that have hollowed out the industry’s workforce, pushed remaining employees to chronic exhaustion and sacrificed safety for profits.”[4]
To hold greedy corporations accountable, Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) have introduced the Stock Buyback Accountability Act of 2023. It would place a 4% tax on stock buybacks to discourage corporations from inflating their stock price and to encourage corporations to invest in workers, not wealthy CEOs and shareholders.[5]
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%.[6] Moreover, the boost in share prices caused by stock buybacks are not taxed unless the investor sells the underlying shares. Often the shares are never sold and the gain is never taxed.[7]
Click here to write to your U.S. senators and urge them to become co-sponsors of the Stock Buyback Accountability Act today!
Norfolk Southern isn’t the only corporation engaging in reckless stock buybacks. In fact, in the five years since the passage of the Trump-GOP tax cuts, corporations have spent $4.2 trillion of their new-found wealth on stock buybacks―money that could have been used to raise workers’ wages, invest in workplace protections and public safety, and lower costs for consumers.[8]
Last year ExxonMobil made a record $56 billion in profits from sky-high gas prices in the midst of a global energy crisis; it then spent $15 billion of those profits, or more than one-quarter, on share repurchases.[9] Chevron had record earnings of $35.5 billion in 2022 and announced it will be spending $75 billion more on stock buybacks.[10]
Send a message to your senators today and urge them to become co-sponsors of the Stock Buyback Accountability Act to hold greedy corporations accountable.
Together, we’re standing up for workers and our communities and fighting back against corporate greed.
Thank you,
Frank Clemente
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness
[1] “Excess size caused train to break down in days before it derailed in Ohio, employees say,” CBS News, Feb. 15, 2023
[2] “‘It’s Going to End Up Like Boeing’: How Freight Rail Is Courting Catastrophe,” Motherboard Tech by Vice, Mar. 22, 2021
[3] “Norfolk Southern Announces New $10 Billion Stock Repurchase Program,” Norfolk Southern Press Release, Mar. 29, 2022
[4] “Rail Workers Blame Fiery Train Crash in Ohio on Wall Street Profit-Seeking,” Common Dreams, Feb. 7, 2023
[5] “Brown, Wyden Introduce Legislation to Increase Tax on Stock Buybacks,” Sen. Sherrod Brown, Feb. 14, 2023
[6] “Distribution of Household Wealth in the U.S. since 1989,” The Federal Reserve
[7] “Buy, Borrow, Die: How Rich Americans Live Off Their Paper Wealth,” The Wall Street Journal, Jul. 13, 2021
[8] “Stock Buybacks 2010 through 2022,” Americans for Tax Fairness
[9] “‘Outrageous’: Big oil made almost $200 billion in 2022 as world faced energy crisis. Here's the breakdown.,” USA Today, Feb. 10, 2023
[10] “Chevron is catching heat for tripling its stock buyback to $75 billion as soaring energy prices led to record profits,” Markets Insider, Jan. 26, 2023
|
