The first thought I had when I heard that Apple is going to spend only $350 billion over five years was that this is the Armageddon that Pelosi warned us about.  Apple is talking about hiring only 20,000 more people.  How could tidbits like this possibly help the economy?  Chuck Schumer was right: letting people and businesses keep more of the money they earn is going to be a big loser for Republicans.

How will Republicans be able to explain this bad news?  This is, after all, just a P.R. stunt by Apple.  We know that businesses will never share the money from lower taxes with their workers or hire more people.  There is no way it will trickle through the economy.

Then I learned that Apple is giving $2,500 bonuses, and there it was: more bad news.  Pelosi and others can complain about how these bonuses are just meaningless crumbs.  Millions of bonuses and raises will be hard to explain away. 

It is really too bad that Republicans don't have economists Paul Krugman and Alan Blinder on their side.  Alan Blinder is explaining how it is government, high taxes, and regulations that make the economy grow, not capitalism and the private sector.  It is big government, after all, that gave us such tremendous growth the last eight years. 

We are only seventeen days into the tax reform and tax cut deal, and we have all seen how all these bonuses, raises, and investments in the U.S. are going to hurt Republicans in the 2018 election.  I know that all the newcomer Republicans who are taking over for retiring Republicans will have trouble running on this disaster when they go up against Democrats explaining that it would have been better if the reform hadn't passed because in eight years some of the tax cuts might expire, especially if Democrats get their way.  Democrats will be able to brag that the government knows how to spend the money better than the people who earn it.