The numbers don’t lie. Greedy corporations took advantage of inflation and supply chain disruptions to raise their prices well beyond their costs. Corporate profits are now responsible for 53% of inflation costs—nearly five times the rate for the last 40 years. Check the stats—and the facts—for yourself.
53%
CEOs got hefty pay raises in 2023 while inflation burdened American workers’ budgets
PBS News, 6/3/2024
ONLY 11% OF INFLATION from 1979 – 2019 was caused by corporate profits
20% increase in
$231M while corporate profits are up
Sources: Groundwork Collaborative, 1/18/2024; Economic Policy Institute, 4/21/2022; The Guardian, 1/19/2024; Bloomberg News, 8/25/2022; PBS News, 6/3/2024; Investigate Midwest, 10/12/2023; CNBC, 2/7/2022; Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Consumer Price Index & Corporate Profits, accessed 6/24/2024; Los Angeles Times, 2/10/2023; Macrotrends, accessed 7/1/2024
What is Senator Sherrod Brown doing and protect working families?
Most politicians talk a big game, but at the end of the day, they do what their wealthy corporate donors tell them. Senator Sherrod Brown has been walking the walk for Ohio’s working families his whole career—standing up to billionaires and lobbyists, Democrats and Republicans, and anyone else who gets in the way. Let’s examine Senator Brown’s record on recent legislation to level the playing field for workers and our families.
COMBATING GREEDFLATION
Senator Sherrod Brown is fighting against greedflation, exposing how companies have exploited inflation to raise prices and boost profits. He is pushing for solutions that will bring real relief to working families and hold greedy corporations accountable, including by:
Passing legislation that provides quarterly rebates of excess corporate profits to working families.
Allowing the Federal Trade Commission to punish corporate price gouging and protect consumers against mega-corporations that are limiting competition.
Sources: U.S. Senate, S. 408, 2/14/2023; S. 3819, 5/22/2024; H.R. 2617, 12/22/2022; National Labor Relations Board, 5/30/2023
ENDING TAX CUTS FOR BILLIONAIRES AND WEALTHY CORPORATIONS
Senator Sherrod Brown has consistently opposed tax policies that benefit the wealthy and large corporations. Senator Brown voted against the $1.5 trillion 2017 tax bill, which overwhelmingly benefited corporations and billionaires—allowing many to pay no federal taxes—while working Ohioans saw little relief.
Senator Brown is fighting for a fairer, more just tax system by:
Ending the massive tax cuts for billionaires and wealthy corporations.
Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit and reinstating the Child Tax Credit monthly payments.
Sources: U.S. Senate, H.R. 1, Roll Call #303, 12/2/2017; NBC News, 4/11/2019; The Guardian, 4/30/2019; POLITICO, 2/28/2018; Center for American Progress, 9/26/2019; CNBC, 12/16/2019
CRACKING DOWN ON SHRINKFLATION
Senator Sherrod Brown is leading the fight against corporations’ deceptive practice of shrinkflation. These companies rip o customers by reducing the amount of product in a package while charging the same price—or sometimes even raising the price.
doing to fight corporate greed
“Corporate greed threatens our financial system, our small businesses, and Ohio workers. I’ll always fight against powerful corporations and special interests to level the playing field for Ohioans.”
—Senator Sherrod Brown, 11/20/2023
MAKING CORPORATIONS PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is helping to reduce costs and hold corporations accountable by:
Rolling back the enormous corporate tax breaks to put money back into our pockets.
Establishing a 15% minimum tax on corporations earning over $1 billion.
Generating over $300 billion in tax revenue from corporations, helping to lower costs for working families and seniors by covering prescription drug negotiations and home energy subsidies.
Senator Brown is also pushing to increase the taxes paid by publicly owned corporations that buy back their own stock. His bill would raise the corporate tax from 1% to 4%, adding an estimated $265 billion back into our economy over a 10-year budget period and reducing tax avoidance.
Sources: NPR, 8/12/2022; Washington Examiner, 4/16/2024; U.S. Congress, H.R. 5376, Roll Call #325, 8/7/2022; S. 413, 2/14/2023; Penn Wharton Budget Model, 3/9/2023
28% DECREASE IN NUMBER OF SHEETS
Senator Brown has co-sponsored the Shrinkflation Prevention Act to stop greedy corporations from padding their profits on the backs of working Ohioans. His legislation will authorize the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on manufacturers and allow state Attorneys General to file civil lawsuits against corporations who engage in shrinkflation.
Sources: NPR, 3/10/2024; U.S. Senate, S. 3819, 5/22/2024
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