Gavel in Hand, Bernie Sanders Lays Out an Unabashedly Liberal Economic Agenda

February 21, 2021 Labor, News

Reprinted from The Washington Post by Mike DeBonis on February 20, 2021.

After three decades in Congress wielding influence as a left-wing outsider with a grass-roots following, Senator Bernie Sanders has finally grasped institutional power on Capitol Hill — and he is moving quickly to use it.

As the new chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Sanders has already played a key role in advancing President Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package, and he is now scheduling high-profile hearings on some of the nation’s most pressing challenges.

For the first, set for Thursday, Sanders has summoned the chief executives of some of America’s best-known companies to testify about the wages they pay their employees — speaking alongside some of their own front-line workers.

The hearing’s title — “Why Should Taxpayers Subsidize Poverty Wages at Large Profitable Corporations?” — reflects how Sanders intends to use his new gavel to promote an unabashedly liberal economic agenda, one that breaks with the Budget Committee’s traditional focus on the nation’s long-term fiscal outlook. …

The Washington Post 2/20

About Jeffrey Burman 861 Articles
Jeff Burman served on the Guild’s Board of Directors from 1992 to 2019. He is now retired. He can be reached at jeffrey.s.burman.57@gmail.com.

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