





“Today” show host Savannah Guthrie grilled House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on his assurances that the GOP tax bill will spur enough economic growth to make up for an explosion in the federal budget deficit.

Guthrie told Ryan that many CEOs have said they will use the money they save in tax cuts to “do stock buybacks” and “line the pockets of shareholders” rather than reinvest in their businesses, create jobs, and raise workers’ wages, contrary to what the GOP has touted as effects of the bill.

Guthrie quoted former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I), who said in an op-ed earlier this month that such an argument is “pure fantasy.”

“CEOs aren’t waiting on a tax cut to ‘jump-start the economy’—a favorite phrase of politicians who have never run a company—or to hand out raises,” Bloomberg said. “It’s pure fantasy to think that the tax bill will lead to significantly higher wages and growth.”







“I’ll ask you plainly: Are you living in a fantasy world?” Guthrie asked Ryan.

Ryan pushed back by citing a survey from the National Association of Business Manufacturers.

“Surveys would show the vast majority of businesses are going to do just what we say, reinvest in their workers, reinvest in their factories, pay people more money, higher wages,” he said.







