Sanders warns Dems not to waste time catering to obstructionist GOP
April 11, 2021 in Blogs
Sen. Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said Saturday that amid the immediate emergencies of climate change, Covid-19, mass unemployment, and homelessness, congressional Democrats cannot afford to dampen their infrastructure ambitions in the hopes of winning support from obstructionist Republicans.
“The time is now to go forward,” Sanders (I-Vt.) told the Washington Post. “This country faces enormous crises that have got to be addressed right now. When you have half a million people who are homeless, I’m not going to slow down.”
“When the scientists tell us we have five or six years before there will be irreparable damage done because of climate change,” the Vermont senator added, “I’m not going to slow down.”
Sanders’ remarks came as the Democratic leadership is weighing how to proceed with the roughly $2.3 trillion infrastructure package President Joe Biden unveiled last month, a proposal that will serve as a starting point for congressional negotiations. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has said she hopes to pass infrastructure legislation by July.
But unified Republican opposition to the package and growing complaints from conservative deficit scolds within the Democratic caucus are threatening to impede work on the package that progressives hope to transform into a sprawling bill that deals with a wide range of priorities, from climate to affordable housing to prescription drug prices.
On Monday, the Senate parliamentarian gave Democrats a green light to use the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation process for additional spending legislation this year, granting the party the option to move ahead with an infrastructure measure without Republican support.
Sanders told the Post that he is preparing to use the reconciliation tool, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has not publicly committed to that strategy as the Biden administration continues to hold out hope for a bipartisan compromise. With the legislative filibuster in place, Senate Democrats would need the support of at least 10 Republicans to pass an infrastructure bill through regular order.
“The president believes that there’s a path forward to get… this American Jobs Plan passed with bipartisan support,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a Thursday briefing. “That’s why he’s going to invite Democrats and Republicans here. That’s why he’s …read more
Source: ALTERNET
Recent Comments