Michael Bloomberg slams Republican tax cut bill

WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Xinhua) -- Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City Mayor and businessman, criticized the Republican tax cut bill in a column on Friday, calling it "an economically indefensible blunder that will harm our future."

The business tycoon who owns Bloomberg, a global financial service mass media, and software company, said in an op-ed, "it's pure fantasy to think that the tax bill will lead to significantly higher wages and growth, as Republicans have promised."

Bloomberg, the 8th richest person in the U.S. and 10th richest person in the world, according to Forbes Magazine, said CEOs "don't need the money."

"Corporations are sitting on a record amount of cash reserves: nearly 2.3 trillion. That figure has been climbing steadily since the recession ended in 2009, and it's now double what it was in 2001," Bloomberg said.

According to the tax cut agreement forged by House and Senate Republicans Thursday, corporate tax would be lowered to 21 percent form 35 percent, and the top rate for individual income would also be lowered to 37 percent from 39.6 percent.

"The largest economic challenges we face include a skills crisis that our public schools are not addressing, crumbling infrastructure that imperils our global competitiveness, wage stagnation coupled with growing wealth inequality, and rising deficits that will worsen as more baby boomers retire," he said.

"The tax bill does nothing to address these challenges. In fact, it makes each of them worse," Bloomberg added.

The Republicans are set to vote for the bill as early as next Monday. President Donald Trump wants to sign the tax bill by Christmas, making it the biggest legislative achievement of his first year in office. Enditem