Trump and Republicans promised the Trump tax law would increase workers’ wages. In reality, real wages for workers have declined. Instead of using their massive corporate tax cuts to benefit workers, CEOs have used the money to enrich themselves and their wealthy shareholders in record numbers. Who could have possibly seen this coming…

CEOs have used massive corporate tax cuts in the Trump tax law to enrich themselves – not their workers – with record stock buybacks.

Politico: “Some of the biggest winners from President Donald Trump’s new tax law are corporate executives who have reaped gains as their companies buy back a record amount of stock, a practice that rewards shareholders by boosting the value of existing shares.”

Stock buybacks have come at the expense of workers. With the money they spent on buybacks over the last few years, McDonald's could have given its 2 million employees a $4,000 raise. CVS could have given its employees $18,000 each.

The Atlantic: “How much might workers have benefited, if companies had devoted their financial resources to them rather than shareholders? Lowe’s, CVS, and Home Depot could have provided each of their workers raises of $18,000 a year, the report found. Starbucks could have given each of its employees $7,000 a year, and McDonald’s $4,000 to its nearly 2 million employees.”

Instead of benefiting workers, real wages for workers have decreased since the passage of the Trump tax law.

Vox: “While wages have risen by 12.9 percent overall since 2006, wages adjusted for inflation (so-called ‘real wages’) have actually fallen by 9.3 percent. And between the first and second quarters of 2018 — after the tax cuts were enacted — real wages fell by 1.8 percent.”