Sen. Sanders finds himself in a position of power after decades as an outsider

[DonViejo]

February 19, 2021

By Mike DeBonis,

After three decades in Congress wielding influence as a left-wing outsider with a grass-roots following, Sen. 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.

more/paywall
https://hagerstownairport.org/2021/02/19/sen-sanders-finds-himself-in-a-position-of-power-afterdecades-as-an-outsider/

[lagomorph777]

2. "breaks with the Budget Committee's traditional focus on the nation's long-term fiscal outlook"

Ummm...no.

The title of the hearing makes the point: Today's minimum wage is hurting the nation's long-term fiscal outlook, because we have to make up the gap between pay and survival.

[Indykatie]

3. With a 50-50 Senate Every Senator Wields Enormous Power

That's a fact and should motivate Dems to add to the Senate majority in 2022. Biden needs that bigger margin to do anything significant.