Sanders vows to force vote on $15 minimum wage

[George II]

Source: The Hill

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) says Democrats should “ignore” the recent ruling of the Senate parliamentarian and is vowing to force the Senate to vote this week on an amendment to set the federal minimum wage at $15 an hour.

Sanders on Monday declared he would not back down on his signature wage initiative after Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled last week that a provision setting the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour would not be eligible under special budget rules Democrats are using to avoid a filibuster while passing their coronavirus relief bill.

“My personal view is that the idea that we have a Senate staffer, a high-ranking staffer, deciding whether 30 million Americans get a pay raise or not is non-sensical. We have got to make that decision, not a staffer who’s unelected, so my own view is that we should ignore the rulings, the decision of the parliamentarian,” Sanders told reporters.

Sanders added, “given the enormous crises facing this country and the desperation of working families, we have got to as soon as possible end the filibuster.”

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/541114-sanders-to-force-vote-on-15-minimum-wage-urges-democrats-to-ignore

[SoFlaBro]

1. I want to see Bernie win on this one. There is no other way.

n/t

[Maxheader]

2. Kick ass Bernie...

Stick it up the gops butt....

[JoeOtterbein]

3. Bernie still...

...fights for us!

[comradebillyboy]

4. Where will he find the 50 votes to do it?

[Budi]

6. He never had them.But..blame the process, the Parlimentarian, & the VP when, He Never Had The Votes

Has he ever just introduced legislation for the $15 mw, over all the years he's been talking about how badly we need it?

Just asking...

[George II]

8. He can always rely on the relationships he's developed with other Senators over the years, right?

[NurseJackie]

11. ...

[JoeOtterbein]

19. Joe can do the same even better...

...right?

[George II]

20. President Biden hasn't been a Senator since January 2017. A number of Senators today....

....weren't even in the Senate back then.

[JoeOtterbein]

21. Please don't tell us that you think Joe...

...cannot influence today's Senate.

Please?!

[msongs]

5. will bernie introduce a 15/hr bill any day now nt

[JoeOtterbein]

22. Done nt

[MichMan]

7. Would have thought he could at least convinced Vermont to raise theirs to $15

Currently raised to $11.75 just this year

[Elessar Zappa]

9. The Senators don't control policy of their home state.

I live in NM with two Dem Senators who support $15/hr. NM’s wage is $9/hr. They can’t do anything about that.

[MichMan]

18. No they don't, but if they can't convince their own state, how will they convince the entire Senate?

[ForgoTheConsequence]

32. That's not how it works.

That's not how any of this works.

[JI7]

33. He gets involved in many state issues in other states

why not his own ?

[betsuni]

35. +1

[mpcamb]

10. Bargain it up to $11, $12 or more. He's right. Make the 'NO' votes go on record.

[lapucelle]

12. Do the hard work getting a stand alone bill passed.

The parliamentarian didn't decide "whether or not Americans will get a pay raise"; she ruled that the increase to $15 per hour did not meet a strict set of guidelines needed to move forward in the Senate's reconciliation process.

Characterizing her ruling otherwise is disingenuous at best.

[NurseJackie]

13. This will backfire and the Democratic party will get the blame.

I do not believe that this is a good idea. This will torpedo the entire bill.

[rpannier]

24. If they don't pass a 15 dollar an hour raise who do you think will get the blame?

If you don't fight for these things (especially popular things) why should someone vote for you?
Because the other side is worse?

[NurseJackie]

34. There's much more happening in the bill than a rise in minimum wage...

... I do not believe it's worth scuttling the entire bill.

If you don't fight for these things (especially popular things) why should someone vote for you?
Because the other side is worse?

Lord. The fighting has been done. We simply don't have the numbers. We lost this battle. We should try again another day.

[LudwigPastorius]

14. If Bernie wants to do this, he needs to address the precedent it sets.

...and why, ignoring the rules that the Senate itself sets up, won't come back to bite us in the ass if, and when, Democrats no longer control that chamber.

[rpannier]

23. I guess he could work toward firing the Parliamentarian and get a different one

Like what Majority Leader Trent Lott did
The senate somehow survived that
What he's doing now will make little change in the long run

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/05/08/key-senate-official-loses-job-in-dispute-with-gop/e2310021-0f14-4667-a261-54e6c033207c/

[TomCADem]

15. Classic Bernie Giving Republicans a Free Pass

Democratic senators overwhelmingly support a $15/hour wage. Republicans oppose it, yet Bernie blames generally Democrats. Amazing.

This is classic Bernie trying to elevate himself by targeting his allies.

[GentleAlien]

36. Warren is onboard with pushing it through

https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-elizabeth-warren-call-harris-override-parliamentarian-15-minimum-wage-1573031


Warren was less of a radical than Bernie all along. Sorry, but the centrists need to give into populism a bit on this one..

[Mr.Bill]

16. This might sound like a radical idea,

but how about we let the fucking President of The United States make a decision and go along with it. Maybe just this once to see how it goes rather than turn this into a divisive shit show on the world stage.

[George II]

17. Great idea. Remember, all 48 DEMOCRATIC Senators and 1 Independent Senator agree with....

....the President.

[SunSeeker]

25. We don't have the votes. Manchin and Sinema are a firm no on the $15 minimum wage.

All this will do is slow down the covid relief bill.

Harry Reid's former advisor said on Lawrence O'Donnell that the best (and probably only) way to get it done is include it in a must pass bill like a defense authorization bill that Republicans want to pass (that's how the last minimum wage increase was done).

[pnwmom]

26. But how much would it slow it down? A day maybe? n/t

[SunSeeker]

27. Even a day's delay could be disasterous, depending on the date.

Unless Senate acts swiftly, 11.4 million workers will lose their unemployment benefits starting March 14, with disastrous results for desperate families and the American economy. 

[pnwmom]

28. Why will it take more than a week for a strict party line vote on a bill

that will be passed as is, except for that omission?

[SunSeeker]

29. Well, it took 5 weeks to get the bill out of the House on a party line vote.

[Trueblue1968]

30. I agree with him Our elected officials should make these decisions.

[cstanleytech]

31. Dear Bernie, Stop it.

The proposal of 15 an hour is shit and will remain shit as it will always fall behind because to many in the House and Senate are corrupted as they are being bought and paid for by the corporations to block it when it needed to be adjusted.
What we need is real change to the entire system of setting it and the way imo opinion to do that is to set it at 200% above what the federal poverty level is as I outlined here https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=15175217