- Sen. Bernie Sanders threatened to hold up the coronavirus stimulus bill in the Senate.
- He says he’ll follow through if GOP senators don’t drop their objections to the size of unemployment benefits.
- But they’re negotiating the details of the stimulus, while Sanders says he’ll loop in unrelated policy reforms.
Sen. Bernie Sanders threatened Wednesday afternoon to hold up the coronavirus stimulus package dragging through Congress.
He says if Republican senators keep holding up the bill, he will too. Further, he says he’ll introduce several doomed amendments to the stimulus bill:
One of the conditions Sanders would hold up the stimulus bill to add is no layoffs. But that is exactly what some senators are concerned the bill would cause in its present form.
If Washington pays workers more than they earn from their jobs, it might incentivize companies to lay them off . When the four months of boosted benefits runs out, they’ll be without a job.
Bernie Sanders Is Playing Politics with Stimulus
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The Republican senators holding up the bill are also
But Bernie Sanders says he’ll hold up the bill to tack on unrelated policy reforms he favors. That’s keeping the workers he claims to speak for from getting the aid they need sooner. Sanders said in the press release:
I am prepared to put a hold on this bill until stronger conditions are imposed on the $ billion billion corporate welfare fund to make sure that any corporation receiving financial assistance under this legislation does not lay off workers, cut wages or benefits, ship jobs overseas, or pay workers poverty wages.
These are doomed amendments. There’s no way Republicans will agree to all that. Republicans also happen to control the Senate. This bill is not the appropriate measure for renegotiating federal minimum wage. Or micro-managing corporate HR departments.
Even if signed tomorrow, it
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.
This article was edited by Sam Bourgi
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