On Stock Buybacks, Congress Has No Business Telling Companies How to Manage Their Balance Sheets
Although the United States government has run up a national debt that exceeds the Gross Domestic Product, two spendthrift United States senators have the temerity to lecture American corporations about how the latter should manage their balance sheets.
Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) recently proposed forthcoming legislation that aims to prevent corporations from buying back their own stock unless those corporations meet a series of certain conditions. Those conditions include a set minimum wage of $15 for all workers, a guaranteed seven days’ worth of paid sick leave, and offering “decent pensions and more reliable health benefits”—essentially a progressive wish list for corporate behavior.