Marco Rubio: Corporations aren't investing tax cuts
WASHINGTON - Sen. Marco Rubio says big businesses aren't investing much of their windfall from President Donald Trump's tax cuts into their workers.
The Florida Republican told The Economist last week that "there's no evidence whatsoever that the money's been massively poured back into the American worker."
Instead, Rubio says corporations bought back shares -- generally done to lift stock prices for investors -- and that "a few gave out bonuses."
In a statement on Monday, Rubio spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas said the new tax law would make the U.S. economy a more attractive place to do business.
"Rubio pushed for a better balance in the tax law between tax cuts for big businesses and families, as he's done for years," Perez-Cubas in an email. "As he said when the tax law passed, cutting the corporate tax rate will make America a more competitive place to do business, but he tried to balance that with an even larger child tax credit for working Americans."
President Trump and other administration officials have touted the tax cuts' impact on workers. In February, a White House event featured executives from companies that boosted wages or have brought overseas funds back to the U.S.
Mr. Trump will go to Cleveland on Saturday to highlight what he sees as the tax law's benefits for small businesses, according to The Associated Press, citing an unnamed White House official.
The Republican Party is putting its midterm election hopes on convincing Americans that the law benefits them. Ohio is the setting for contentious races for Senate, governor and several House districts.
A White House tally shows at least 275 companies have increased wages, announced bonuses or promised new hires since the law's passage last year. Companies that offered one-time bonuses after Mr. Trump signed the tax bill into law in December include Apple, AT&T, Boeing, Comcast, Sinclair Broadcast, Walmart and Wells Fargo.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Tax Day earlier this month that the economic impact from the cuts is "even exceeding our expectations."
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office forecast earlier this month that the decline in federal tax revenue, coupled with increased government spending, will push up the nation's annual deficit to more than $1 trillion by 2020.
In the interview, Mr. Rubio also sought to underline the importance of training workers amid the ongoing shift toward automation across manufacturing.
"I have no problem with bringing back American car-manufacturing facilities, but, whether they're American robots or Mexican robots, they're going to be highly automated," he told The Economist.
