Topic: Have you heard about...? (Politics edition)

[gah]

I'm not totally sure on the validity of Vox's reporting but even if this is partially true, what a crock.

3 Trump properties posted 144 openings for seasonal jobs. Only one went to a US worker.
“America First” doesn’t seem to apply to the president’s own businesses.

https://www.vox.com/2018/2/13/16466542/trump-h-2b-guest-workers

of course its true.  who do you think works at hotels and golf courses?
the amount of undocumented workers at his properties is probably huge.

Translation:  "Of course it's true because I want it to be true because it confirms my preexisting beliefs. Probably."

For the record, that's basically Vox's reporting ethos:  come to conclusion and work backwards from there.

youre right

http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/28/news/donald-trump-foreign-workers/index.html

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/362435-trump-winery-seeks-permission-to-hire-foreign-guest-workers

http://www.newsweek.com/america-first-trump-businesses-keep-hiring-foreign-workers-571612

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-history-foreign-workers-properties/story?id=46862305

http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2016/jul/27/michael-bloomberg/michael-bloomberg-donald-trump-visa-sys/

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/20/the-foreign-workers-of-mar-a-lago

just making shit up.  probably.

oh snap.

[PIE-GUY]

 

[runawayjimbo]

I'm not totally sure on the validity of Vox's reporting but even if this is partially true, what a crock.

3 Trump properties posted 144 openings for seasonal jobs. Only one went to a US worker.
“America First” doesn’t seem to apply to the president’s own businesses.

https://www.vox.com/2018/2/13/16466542/trump-h-2b-guest-workers

of course its true.  who do you think works at hotels and golf courses?
the amount of undocumented workers at his properties is probably huge.

Translation:  "Of course it's true because I want it to be true because it confirms my preexisting beliefs. Probably."

For the record, that's basically Vox's reporting ethos:  come to conclusion and work backwards from there.

youre right

http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/28/news/donald-trump-foreign-workers/index.html

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/362435-trump-winery-seeks-permission-to-hire-foreign-guest-workers

http://www.newsweek.com/america-first-trump-businesses-keep-hiring-foreign-workers-571612

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-history-foreign-workers-properties/story?id=46862305

http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2016/jul/27/michael-bloomberg/michael-bloomberg-donald-trump-visa-sys/

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/20/the-foreign-workers-of-mar-a-lago

just making shit up.  probably.

Not my point. I'm saying you (and Vox) are basing your conclusions on the merits of the program based nothing more than #Resist. And in doing that, you are being as hypocritical as he is, IMO. Irony is weird.

Also, you said "undocumented" which, by definition, H2-B workers are not.

Vox:

“It’s a bullshit law written to ensure that employers don’t have to hire Americans,” said Krikorian, who normally applauds the president’s immigration agenda.

You actually want to agree with this guy?

CNN:

Several foreign workers told CNN the opportunity to work for Trump allowed them to "live the American dream."

"It was all a good deal," one former Mar-a-Lago waiter from Romania told CNN on the condition his name would not be used.

The former waiter, who worked at the club on an H-2B visa, said Trump treated the staff with respect. On more than one occasion, he said Trump went back into the club's kitchen and tipped all of the staffers with $100 bills.

"It was a beautiful environment and a great club. I had a very good time," the former waiter from Romania said.

Fuck these Romanian stooges.

What size MAGA hat do you want?

[VDB]

I can't particularly fault Trump or Mar-a-Lago for playing by the same rules as everyone else (assuming they are playing by the rules; if they haven't been, I've not seen those reports).

What I'm not quite totally clear on is how it can be that no American would be willing to wait tables or sling drinks at a hotel. Last I checked, those were pretty popular occupations in general.

[tet]

[slslbs]

We were discussing how great those tax cuts would be.

http://time.com/money/5267940/companies-spending-trump-tax-cuts-stock-buybacks/?utm_source=time.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=2018052210am&xid=newsletter-brief&eminfo=%7b%22EMAIL%22%3a%22qUAzO%2f99ZkeeOnaS7jbrreGDsB9HwhooBlQBDbnRRLM%3d%22%2c%22BRAND%22%3a%22TD%22%2c%22CONTENT%22%3a%22Newsletter%22%2c%22UID%22%3a%22TD_TBR_EB3F0F66-5846-441C-97F3-5E0D4F385E72%22%2c%22SUBID%22%3a%2224215319%22%2c%22JOBID%22%3a%22750347%22%2c%22NEWSLETTER%22%3a%22THE_BRIEF%22%2c%22ZIP%22%3a%22018102115%22%2c%22COUNTRY%22%3a%22%22%7d

. Here's How America's Biggest Companies Are Spending Their Trump Tax Cuts (It's Not on New  Jobs)
We’re starting to learn what America’s biggest companies are doing with the huge windfalls from President Donald Trump’s tax cuts. And the answer is great for investors – but not so great for workers.

That’s because many companies are returning huge portions of their billions in tax savings to shareholders in the form of share buybacks and dividend increases — not necessarily new hiring and investment.

Companies are on track to plow a record $1 trillion into boosting dividends and buying back their own stock this year, says Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Buybacks are a strategy to boost stock prices – by reducing the number of shares outstanding, which artificially increases a company’s earning per share. But they do little to improve the economy.

Companies in the S&P 500 have also increased dividend payments to shareholders 182 times so far this year, giving investors greater incentive to buy and hold their shares, according to Silverblatt.

The Trump tax cuts, which slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, boosted corporate profits overnight for many big firms. Combined with the new provision that caused U.S. companies to repatriate billions in overseas earnings, many companies are awash in cash.

But, says Michael Patcher, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, “The tax law didn’t do anything to provide an incentive to employers to create jobs. There’s nothing in there that would suggest that employers have a particular incentive to hire more people or pay the ones that they have more money.”

Apple, as usual, is leading the pack with a record-breaking $100 billion stock buyback. That’s a huge chunk of the $252 billion in foreign profits that it brought back to the U.S. because of Trump’s tax bill.

Here are some of the biggest stock buyback announcements so far in 2018, according to Kiplinger.

Apple – $100 billion
Cisco – $25 billion
Wells Fargo – $22.6 billion
Pepsi – $15 billion
AbbVie – $10 billion
Amgen – $10 billion
Google parent Alphabet – $8.6 billion
Visa – $7.5 billion
eBay – $6 billion
Investors can expect even bigger buybacks after the first half of the year ends, says Silverblatt.

“Buybacks are a short-term win-win situation with immediate net gratification,” he said. “Buybacks move quicker and have more flexibility. So we’re seeing those increase quicker in response to shareholder demands.”

The record-breaking buybacks are especially great news for executives at the companies whose compensation is tied to the stock price because it makes the stock more valuable. Apple stock jumped following the buyback announcement on May 1 and is up more than 11% so far this month.

To be sure, Apple – like many other companies – has announced huge, multi-year proposals to invest in U.S. jobs. In January, CEO Tim Cook revealed a five-year, $350 billion plan that includes building a second headquarters as a result of the $38 billion a year the company is saving on taxes.

Other companies like AT&T, Walmart and Bank of America announced one-time bonuses of $1,000 for eligible employees as a result of tax cuts. But, a survey by Morgan Stanley predicted that workers would get 13% of the tax windfall – compared to 43% that was expected to go to investors in the form of stock buybacks and dividend increases.

Last week, political activist Ralph Nader wrote an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook imploring him to spend the tech giant’s influx of cash on workers instead of short term benefits for executives and investors.

“For less than 2 percent of your $100 billion buyback, or $2 billion, you could award a full year’s pay bonus to the 350,000 Foxconn workers who build your iPhones,” Nader wrote. “Think of the economic relief and happiness that gesture would produce. These workers sweat for your immense wealth in difficult workplace conditions, unable to afford the Apple phones they manufacture for your company’s massive profits.”

None of this behavior is a surprise for analysts, said Patcher, the Wedbush analyst. Companies like Apple have already been enjoying the fruits of the rising economic tide and have already made most of the investments that make sense to them, he said. This means they don’t need to put any of their newly earned cash toward new jobs and major projects, especially now that they’re even more profitable than before.

“When public companies make more profit it is incumbent on those companies to do the best thing for their shareholders,” he said. “The only reason any of them would invest more in the U.S. is if we changed the tax structure so that it’s advantageous to invest in the U.S.”

 

[Buffalo Budd]

Shocking!

[Buffalo Budd]

I guess I haven't really kept up with the race in Toronto, but seriously?

https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2018/06/07/doug-ford-on-track-to-be-ontarios-next-premier.html

[mattstick]

20% of people are mouth-breathers who eat up everything Sun Media puts out and hated Kathleen Wynne.
10% of Ontarians are rich and don't want to pay taxes to support those who have less.
10% of Ontarians will never vote NDP and the choice is either Liberal/Conservative.
60% of Ontarians voted for Progressive candidates with platforms for good government.

Our first past the post system is broken, and the PCs knew how to leverage that.

It's really disappointing.

[mattstick]

I guess I haven't really kept up with the race in Toronto, but seriously?

Northern Ontario and downtown Toronto and the Capital Region went NDP, the 905 and everything along the 401 to Ottawa went PC

But this proves that no platform/low tax promises/no substance candidates can win in Canada, it's a dangerous time for politics everywhere.

[Buffalo Budd]

My dad is in his glory.
Hopefully in another 20 years, there won't be enough of these 'wish it was like the old days' types around to allow this to happen.
 

[mattstick]

If people under 30 would actually vote things would be a lot different.

At least the Senate voted to Legalize It last night.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pot-bill-passes-senate-1.4697124

[Buffalo Budd]

If people under 30 would actually vote things would be a lot different.

At least the Senate voted to Legalize It last night.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pot-bill-passes-senate-1.4697124

Agreed and saw that, one step closer.
They've already started construction on the dispensaries in my province.
The whole legalization thing has been a thorn in my side for awhile now as I've been dealing with our Veteran medicinal program and the roll out of our company cannabis plan. The recreation side is so intertwined with the country's medicinal cannabis production and delivery that it gives fodder for the critics. It delegitimizes the medicinal argument in some ways.

[mattstick]

Not sure if people in the USA care about Canada, but this is well written and straight shooting:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2018/06/20/canada-is-not-your-utopia/

[mbw]

Not sure if people in the USA care about Canada...

Good one.