It’s terrible. The Trump tax bill continues to inflict harm on American workers—and by harm, I mean $1,000+ bonuses and wage increases. For Walgreens, the North Korean-style torture from this legislation led to $100 million in wage increases. Mark that under “didn’t happen under Obama” (via Chicago Tribune):
Walgreens will boost its hourly workers’ wages by $100 million a year after similar moves by competitors, company leaders announced Wednesday.
The Deerfield-based drugstore chain will begin offering the higher pay this year, Alex Gourlay, co-chief operating officer for Walgreens Boots Alliance, said in an earnings call Wednesday. Walgreens spokesman Michael Polzin said he couldn’t provide specific figures on exactly how much the move might change employees’ pay.
A number of other retailers also have announced bigger paychecks for workers in recent months.
Walmart announced in January that it would increase starting pay to $11 an hour for hourly employees at a cost of $300 million. Target also raised its minimum starting pay to $11 an hour late last year and said it would increase that figure to $15 an hour by 2020.
The economic benefits from this bill have been endless. Over 250 companies have issued bonuses to over three million workers. It’s created a better economic environment. The fourth quarter GDP growth nearly hit three percent. Consumer and small business confidence have reached record highs. And the middle and working classes are benefitting from the legislation, something that Democrats tried to lie about. Even CNN’s Jake Tapper pressed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) about the fact that 91 percent of middle class Americans would get a cut last December; Sanders admitted that this is a good thing, though the bill doesn’t go far enough. Yeah, well, maybe if every Democrat didn't stand universally opposed to it, more could have been done—like making the cuts permanent.
And it’s not just Walgreens, McDonalds announced that $150 million would be set aside for employee college tuition assistance (via MLive):
McDonald's Corp. is earmarking $150 million for college-tuition assistance for its employees, the fast food giant announced Wednesday, March 29.
The money will fund its Archways to Opportunity education program, which assists employees with college tuition assistance at community colleges, universities or trade schools and connect them with English language courses and education advising services.
McDonald's said the funding was available through changes in the U.S. tax law implemented by the Trump administration, which lowered the corporate income tax rate.
Eligible crew members can get up to $2,500 and managers up to $3,000 a year in college tuition assistance, starting May 1 and retroactive to Jan. 1 of this year.
Wallethub also noted that low-income families would benefit the most from Trump’s tax bill. So, as you can see, it’s just bringing about the next apocalypse, right?