GOP tax reform already breathing life into US economy?
GOP tax reform already breathing life into US economy?
Tax cuts motivating companies to offer bonuses, make new investments.
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GOP Tax Cuts Motivating Companies to Offer Bonuses, Make New Investments
Charles Payne: The economy is already rocking and rolling and we saw already there's a whole slate of names- Tuesday, FedEx in their report the CEO said we are going to hire people we're going to spend money on infrastructure, and we're going to fund our pensions- we are going to do all of that and have a buck extra for the bottom line so I don't see how anyone could be against this and certainly it's going to be an uphill battle for Nancy Pelosi to tell this to folks when they start seeing a fatter paycheck earlier next year.
Ben Stein: I am concerned about Mrs. Pelosi's comment about the deficit. Of course the democrats always worry about the deficit when the republicans are in power, but I think that it's a bill which is very complicated and hard to understand but once we got it straightened out in terms of our accountants, I think it's going to be a bonanza for American business. I think it's a bonanza for the economy generally but it is going to be some rough getting used to it at first.
Deirdre Bolton: I see these companies are doing as good as a PR spin just to avoid future criticism as possible. AT&T and CVS actually specifically said we're going to hire more workers, a lot of different companies Comcast included AT&T as well talked about investing billions of dollars in infrastructure so all of these companies just want to avoid that fat cat label nobody really wants to see this return of the 99 versus the 1 percent so the companies are saying you gave us this tax break on good faith we're going to invest like we're supposed to we're also going to give money to middle class workers, even apple has made vague noises about hiring more people in the U.S., So if I were running corporate communications for any big company this is exactly what I would be saying.
Charlie Gasparino: Bottom line is corporations and boards have a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders not the workers. Of course this is cosmetic because the first thing they do is probably big stock buybacks and M&A. They're not going to be hiring people off the charts. Now will they eventually hire people? I'm supply side, I think yes. Where this tax plan goes enormously wrong is on the individual side not on the corporate side. They are actually looking to raise taxes on some people and that's horrendous. They should have done something better on the individual side and I think that's where this thing could be a land mine for Republicans. If people in April say, you know, I'm getting $20 of my paycheck a week which isn't that much but some people are really getting hammered but the corporations are just doing nothing but stock buybacks -- that's something that could help.
Adam Lashinsky: I think these companies Comcast, Wells Fargo and AT&T -- I think this is more government relations than public relations. They want to very publicly say thank you to President Trump and by the way we've got a few regulatory issues and anti-trust issues in front of you that we could sure use your help with. I think lowering the corporate tax rate was a sensible move that most reasonable people agreed with that was a good idea but politically as Charlie said the Republicans are going to have problems on the individual side. The individual otherwise known as voters.
Trump Threatens to Cut Funding to Countries That Voted Against U.S. Declaring Jerusalem the Israeli Capital
Charlie Gasparino: That was amazing. I love this woman. She did finally what needs to be done. Just the fact that you lay down a marker with these tin pot dictators that control the United Nations and think they control that. Europeans and I wouldn't put the UK in there but I'd say that Germany and particularly Italy is a very dysfunctional country and we should not be taking our orders from the most dysfunctional countries in the world.
Adam Lashinsky: We can beat our chests and say doesn't this feel good. That's fine. We don't give aid to these countries so that they will be nice to us. We give aid to these countries, so they can pursue our foreign policy interest.
Ben Stein: I think the total U.S. Contribution in terms of foreign aid to other countries in the world are very trivial compared to world financial and business product but I also think that it is a shame and a disgrace that the overwhelming majority of negative votes in the United Nations have been against Israel and I often wonder what kind of mental illness is there sweeping through the United Nations and the whole world that hates Jews so much. Israel is so generous that even when terrorists fighting in Syria are wounded their fellow terrorists bring them to Israeli aid stations to get medically treated and this is the way Israel is treated.
Deirdre Bolton: I think as far as practicality and brass tacks it is very hard I'm happy Nikki Haley said what she said, I think it's very hard to put into action and I think the reason is that yeah, we are pursuing our own foreign policy. We don't give money just so people are nice we give money to pursue what we want to pursue and for example, Egypt I think is one of the biggest recipients we've given like $78 billion worth of aid since 1948 and it's so that we can put soldiers there.
Charles Payne: I find it interesting and I think Nikki Haley has done an amazing job. I agree with everything Charlie said. Bottom line though is it's our money and our policies and I think we are tired of the United Nations dissing America. It's really pitiful.
Amazon Expands Same-Day Delivery Service for Last-Minute Holiday Shoppers
Charles Payne: I'm old school. I don't know what it is but I'm hitting the stores and I'm last minute shopping. My wife has done enough for Amazon that we have a fulfillment center as part of the house.
Adam Lashinsky: What they've done is simply amazing. They've just transformed retail, so the only opportunity is to try to do something that isn't, that Amazon can't do, so to be one of those special stores that Charles is going to be going to.
Deirdre Bolton: They have 50 Prime Now hubs across the world nine different countries you can get something within an hour or two if you're near a city center. They deliver right up through Christmas Eve and one thing we can point out about the business model is they can just offer whatever you want, they can give it to you cheaper than almost any other place because they're making money on their web services, so they can afford to sell paper and pens and paper towels and wrapping paper at a pretty steep discount because all of the money is coming from there.
Ben Stein: It's a very sad way of the world because it means that the social centers that were the meeting places where people hung out where people greet their friends, they're disappearing. Malls are becoming ghost towns and it's a sad thing. Where are people going to make friends now?
Charles Payne's Top Picks of 2017 and Picks for 2018
Top 2017 Picks
Insulet Corporation: Up 58.8 percent
Caterpillar: Up 60.7 percent
D.R. Horton: Up 47.9 percent
2018 Picks
Avery Dennison (AVY)
Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD)