If the money is repatriated at a lower tax rate, yes, I really think it should have to be spent on US jobs for US citizens and to raise lower and middle class wages. This money was acquired to a great degree by moving manufacturing overseas to avoid paying wages to US workers. No tariff was charged to bring those cheap-labor goods into the US. Why should companies that did that be rewarded? Keep in mind that with banking crisis money, a lot of those funds were used to line the pockets of upper tier employees and to buy out smaller more local banks that were competing with them. Do you really think we should take the risk of that money being used in such a way, after getting a tax break?
Of course we should be concerned. The Sounds of Silence about EVerify say all we need to know about the intentions to use this money to bolster a return of the middle-class economy.
Those companies did nothing illegal or immoral. In a global economy, and yes, it is a global economy, whether you like it or not, competition is fierce.
It would be nice if they did not need to do that, but the US has the highest tax on business of any industrialized nation on earth. If you owned a company and reported to shareholders, you too, probably would have done the same thing.
cheap goods have raised our standard of living dramatically. And yes, that is a good thing for everyone. Tariffs used selectively can be helpful, but as a regular policy concept, I don't think it works too well. Ask anyone who grew up in the 30s.
Here is how it is going to work. The repatriated money will be brought back and companies will use some of the money to build things, such as new headquarters, new factories and new equipment. The people hired to build those things will be the beneficiaries of the repatriated money and those hired to work in the new factories will benefit, too. Those are good things. A good chunk will go to the government so they can waste even more money, but to force companies to use that money a certain way distorts the economy and is corrupt - a very corrupt way of using the money, in fact. Who decides who gets the money and how much. How will the federal government enforce that provision of the law? What a nightmare. I doubt it could pass legal hurdles. It would be a complete and horrible mess.