'The Time Is Long Overdue That We Address Many of the Long-neglected Problems Facing the Working Class, Middle Class'
Budget Chairman Sanders says he will bring Democrats together
While most of the Senate continues to struggle over some form of infrastructure initiative, Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders has already moved on.
He's at work on the next big piece of legislation, one — like the American Rescue Plan passed into law earlier this year, on “reconciliation,” which is immune to a Republican filibuster — which would be “the most consequential legislation for working people enacted since the 1930s,” a Sanders aide told a reporter.
The legislation Sanders (I-Vt) is contemplating could have a price tag of $6 trillion.
But even that's going to take a tremendous amount of work, lining Democrats up behind.
“Well, Dana, the process has just begun. That’s what the process is about. As chairman of the committee, I intend to be meeting and discussing these issues with every member of the Democratic caucus,” Sanders said in an on-air interview with CNN host Dana Bash. “And, you know, I think that there is general agreement that the time is long overdue that we address many of the long-neglected problems facing the working class and middle class of this country. Are there differences about this proposal, that proposal, yeah, there are. That’s something we’ll have to work together and hammer out. I intend to do that.”
But how, Bash asked, will Sanders “thread the needle” to bring disparate Democrats together when it's time to approve the legislation.
“Well, that’s what Majority Leader [Chuck] Schumer and I are working on right now. It’s not easy. Got 50 different Democratic senators in the caucus. Each have their own priorities. But we’ve got to bring people together,” Sanders said. “The bottom line here is that the bipartisan [infrastructure] proposal provides spending in some very important areas, roads, bridges, water systems, and that’s good. The amount of money they are proposal is about one quarter of what the president talked about in terms of new money.
“That’s not adequate. We should be watching carefully how it is paid for. What the president has said, quite correctly, is that he doesn’t want to raise taxes on people making less than $400,000 a year. I agree. In this proposal, thereby partisan proposal, they’re talking about raising the gas tax or fee on electric cars, on privatization of infrastructure. Those, to my mind, are bad ideas.”