title:  Here’s What Companies Admit They Will REALLY Do With Money They Save From Trump’s Tax Break
text: Trump, like George W. Bush before him, thinks a  tax holiday  on repatriated money will spur major corporations who are currently hoarding money overseas to bring that money back and invest it in America. They fail to take into account that, like other tax breaks, companies are not going to build new factories, plants, offices or stores and hire more people if consumer demand doesn t warrant it. Instead, they ll pocket the money they save in one of any number of ways, and regular Americans won t benefit one iota from it.That s what they ll do with Trump s tax holiday. This isn t speculation or conjecture, this is something to which they literally admit. Bank of America Merrill Lynch conducted a survey of more than 300 companies over the summer, asking them what they d do with all that money they bring back from overseas. Their top two responses were the following: Pay down debt, and buy back their own stocks.The idea that they d use the money for stock buybacks is especially upsetting since this is a known method for artificially driving stock prices up. Rich executives and shareholders then get even richer. Workers see no benefit from it, and the unemployed and underemployed don t see new job opportunities popping up.Literally, the whole point of this practice is to make the rich richer.When George W. did this in 2004, companies voluntarily brought over $300 million back in from overseas. $240 million went to stock buybacks. Let that sink in for a moment   80 percent of the money brought back in from overseas went to stock buybacks. Companies took advantage of that tax holiday to inflate their stock prices and get richer. There was no economic growth from that.The companies that brought back the most money actually turned right around and laid people off.Let that sink in as well.There will be no economic growth from Trump s tax break. Companies are not so broke that they can t afford to expand without some of the money they re hoarding elsewhere and protection from repatriation taxes. They don t need this money to build anything or hire new workers. This is nothing more than the government enabling companies to enrich themselves, possibly at the expense of the Americans Trump claims to love so much. The only way to spur economic growth is to help the consumer class afford to spend their money again. But we can t expect that from Trump   he parrots Republican talking points on this because he knows he can use them to make himself and his most loyal rich buddies richer.Featured image via Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images