125,000 Disney employees to receive $1,000 cash bonus due to tax reform In the wake of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's signing, Disney will pay "over 125,000 employees a one-time cash bonus of $1,000, as well as make a new $50 million investment into education program for employees," CNBC reports. "Disney says both initiatives are due to recent tax reform," Michael Sheetz writes. "Some of the biggest companies in the United States have been giving out bonuses to employees, often citing the recently-passed tax bill as the motive." Click here to read more. ------------ "Starbucks is dishing out pay increases and stock bonuses to employees, becoming the latest major employer to boost compensation" as a result of tax cuts, USA Today reports. "Altogether, Starbucks said it would spend more than $250 million on the increased wages and benefits," Nathan Bomey writes. "The company credited 'recent changes in the U.S. tax law,' saying they 'accelerated' the decision." ------------ Joseph Lawler reports in Washington Examiner on a new survey from the Job Creators Network that shows "64 percent of small business owners see Trump's policy changes as helping their businesses." In addition to the President's general economic management, "the historic tax cuts legislation is already having positive impacts on small businesses and our economy," says Alfredo Ortiz, president of the Job Creators Network. ------------ Craig Stevens writes in The Hill that "domestic energy production is surging to historic levels, fueling economic growth and job creation." Given that American oil output could soon top 10 million barrels a day, "this growth has resulted in a number of economic benefits for the U.S.: reducing our reliance on international energy resources, creating steady jobs in rural communities, and reducing consumer prices for products like gasoline," Stevens writes. ------------ In The Wall Street Journal, Mick Mulvaney, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, says "the days of aggressively 'pushing the envelope' are over." What does that mean? "The CFPB has a new mission: We will exercise, with humility and prudence, the almost unparalleled power Congress has bestowed on us to enforce the law faithfully in furtherance of our mandate. But we go no further."