Bernie Sanders Heralds New $3.5T Deal ‘Most Consequential Legislation Since the Great Depression’
Spending package would extend child credit, expand Medicare, and more
Sen Bernie Sanders is taking a bit of a victory lap, for the sweeping $3.5 trillion spending package he's put together as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.
That legislation will be above and beyond the bipartisan infrastructure deal already put together between the White House and Senate Republicans.
Republicans are expected to oppose the $3.5 trillion package, which is why Democrats are setting it up for approval under a process known as “reconciliation,” which is immune from a filibuster.
“At a time of massive wealth and income inequality and when half our people are living paycheck to paycheck, what this reconciliation bill will finally do is address the needs of our working families by asking the wealthy and large corporations to pay their fair share of taxes,” said Sanders, the Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats. “In many ways, it is the most consequential piece of legislation for working families since the Great Depression.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that between bipartisan infrastructure deal and this new $3.5 trillion spending plan, President Biden will get most of his agenda items funded.
“If you add that to the $600 billion bipartisan plan, you get to $4.1 [trillion], which is very, very close to what President Biden asked us for,” Schumer said. “Every major program that President Biden has asked us for is funded in a robust way. And we are making some additions to that. Most important, something that Senator Sanders has led, and convinced America is so important, which is a robust expansion of Medicare, including money for dental, vision and hearing.”
Sanders also ran down several other major points of the new plan.
“This legislation will aggressively reduce childhood poverty by extending the Child Tax Credit to deliver direct monthly payments of up to $300 per child to working families,” he said. “It will guarantee that no family pays over 7 percent of their income for child care. It will, finally, provide paid family and medical leave for working people.
“It will make higher education affordable by allowing everyone to attend community college tuition-free,” Sanders added. “It will take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and the reality that our people pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs by having Medicare negotiate prescription drug prices with drug companies.”
The scope of the agreement behind the $3.5 trillion package was evident by even a more-moderate senator, Mark Warner of Virginia, coming out for it enthusiastically at this week's press conference.
“There are times to do really big things. This is one of those times. A time to think about, in the 21st century is America going to lead the way, or are other nations like China going to outcompete us, out-invent us, out-invest us?” Warner said. “The plan we put together, which is fully paid for, will make the investments in American families. Will take on … the existential threat of climate change, in a way that will meet the needs, leading the world on this critical issue.
“I make no illusions how challenging this is going to be and I want to thank all of the members in both parties who are working on the bipartisan infrastructure plan, we have ways to go on that, but huge progress has been made,” Warner added. “I have been in this job for now, about 12 years. I can't think of a more meaningful effort than what we're taking on, than what we're doing right now, probably more meaningful than anything I have done in my public service record.”
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