House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) on Thursday called the bonuses and wage increases that companies are giving workers due to Republican tax reform "crumbs," a term she also used earlier this month to downplay the effects of the law.
Pelosi made the comments, flagged by America Rising, at a "Trump Tax" town hall meeting at Florida Atlantic University.
"There's a cartoon that I just love," Pelosi said, adding on to comments from another panel member. "There's a little mouse trap who's got a little piece of cheese on there, and there's a mouse about to take it and that's called the middle class ... And around it are fat cats," or big businesses.
Pelosi said the cats looked more like elephants to her, suggesting that Republicans are the ones mainly benefiting from the tax overhaul, which President Donald Trump signed into law last month.
"And that’s the thing," Pelosi continued. "You get this little thing and we get this big bonanza. You get the crumb, we get the banquet."
Pelosi's comments echoed similar ones she made earlier this month.
"In terms of the bonus that corporate America received versus the crumbs that they are giving workers to kind of put the schmooze on is so pathetic. It's so pathetic," Pelosi said at a press conference on Jan. 11. "I would hope that with their big advantage of bringing money home at a very low rate that they would invest in infrastructure and things, but our experience has been that they will do dividends, do stock buybacks, and things like that. I think it's insignificant."
Since Trump signed the tax overhaul into law, however, more than 80 companies have announced that they will invest more in their workers—in the form of bonuses, higher wages, or other benefits.
Home Depot became the latest big company to do so on Thursday, announcing plans to award $200 to hourly workers and $1000 to workers who have been with the company for at least 20 years due to the tax reform law.