Cruz tried to associate himself with "bonuses and pay raises" at "American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, AT&T" following passage of an atrocious tax bill. This rightly inflamed union members who noted the unionized status of all three of the companies cited by Cruz. Labor unions led the way in insisting that those companies share a piece of their bounty from the tax bill with working families. The debate over the form that should take - permanent raises and not one-time bonuses, and certainly not accompanying layoffs - is not ended and advocacy for working people on such points has been the province of unions, not the junior U.S. senator from Texas.

Ted Cruz's debate comment on bonuses at AT&T, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines prompted Kristie Veit, President of the Coastal Bend Central Labor Council and a member of the Texas AFL-CIO Executive Board, to write Beto O'Rourke.

Sister Veit, a member of the Communications Workers of America who is intimately familiar with the sinking prospects of the AT&T job market upon passage of the tax bill, was kind enough to share her remarks. She points up the divorce from reality of Cruz's credit-taking:

...I was very disturbed to hear Sen. Cruz mention AT&T directly in his closing statement. I was moved to tears and outrage when Sen. Cruz was touting AT&T as being a good corporate citizen because they opted to give each of their employees nationwide a $1,000 bonus due to the Trump Corporate Tax breaks.

Let me paint the painful picture...

On Dec. 15, 2017, AT&T announced layoffs of approximately 489 Texans from many different cities. Of these 489 workers, 17 of these were employees that I had the honor of representing in the South Texas area of Corpus Christi and Victoria."

On Dec. 20, 2017, AT&T then announced the bonus payment to employees.

AT&T was one of the strongest supporters of the tax plan, promising to use the massive corporate tax cuts for investments that would create thousands of middle-class jobs. So, I wonder, did Sen. Cruz realize just how vile his statement was last night considering AT&T did the opposite to Texas workers within a week's time and before our tears could even dry?

CWA did protest these job cuts to no avail. The loss of these good jobs is devastating to our state and our communities' tax base...

We are trying to be brave and hopeful while we anticipate more layoffs to come. Thank you for letting me share this painful experience.