September, 23 2021, 01:54pm EDT

Sanders Calls for $3.5 Trillion Reconciliation Bill
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Thursday delivered remarks on the floor of the U.S. Senate on the need to address the long-neglected crises facing the working class and pass the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill.
His remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below:
"As Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, I want to say a few words about some of the important budgetary issues that Congress is now facing.
WASHINGTON
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Thursday delivered remarks on the floor of the U.S. Senate on the need to address the long-neglected crises facing the working class and pass the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill.
His remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below:
"As Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, I want to say a few words about some of the important budgetary issues that Congress is now facing.
"I want to focus on the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill but before that I want to comment on the looming debt ceiling crisis. Republican leader Mitch McConnell this morning once again reiterated that the Republican Party will not vote to lift the debt ceiling and in extraordinarily irresponsible manner, will not pay the debts incurred under the Trump Administration.
"In his statement, as he has done time and time again, Senator McConnell implies that this debt ceiling has something to do with future spending. It does not. Like anybody who owns a credit card the payments that are made are for past spending, in this case spending incurred under President Trump. And let's be clear: if the United States, the largest economy in the world, defaults on its debt it will plunge not only our country but the entire global economy into a severe economic depression. That means massive unemployment, higher interest rates, severe reduction in government services and possible cuts in Social Security and Medicare.
"The irresponsibility of the Republican leadership is not just something that I worry about. According to press reports, former Republican secretaries of Treasury Hank Paulsen who worked under George W. Bush and Steven Mnuchin, who worked under Donald Trump, both visited with Senator McConnell to make the case about the need to extend the debt ceiling.
"They understand how important it is that the United States of America does not default on its debt and it is about time that my Republican colleagues listened to them.
"Now let's go to reconciliation. There has been a lot of talk about the need to compromise. Well, let me be clear. To a very significant degree that has already taken place. Of the 11 Democratic Members of the Senate Budget Committee, 9 understood the need for a $6 trillion bill which would finally address the unmet needs of the working families of our country as well as begin the process of tackling the existential threat of climate change. My guess is that at least 40 out of the 50 members of the Democratic caucus supported the $6 trillion proposal.
"We compromised - big time. We cut that proposal almost in half and agreed to a $3.5 trillion bill. That to my mind is a major compromise.
"And, as we go forward in this debate, let's talk about why we need every penny in that bill. And, let us, at this point, also make clear that this bill should not add a nickel to the deficit, and that it should be paid for by finally demanding that the wealthiest people in this country and the largest corporations in this country start paying their fair share of taxes. SO anyone who tells you that a $3.5 trillion bill is going to add to the deficit is not telling the truth. It should and will be fully paid for.
"So what's in this legislation? The corporate media has done a pretty bad job about talking about it so let me talk about some of the most consequential pieces in it.
"First, as a result of the extraordinarily successful American Rescue Plan, we cut childhood poverty in this country by over half. And for black and brown families that number is even higher. We must extend the $300 a month per child direct payment that working class families are now receiving. To not pass this reconciliation bill, and not continue those payments, would plunge those children back into poverty which is morally unacceptable.
"Furthermore, in the United States of America, every person in Congress should be outraged by the dysfunctionality of our childcare system. It is not a radical idea to say that every family in America should be entitled to high quality and affordable childcare. And under this legislation no working family in this country will be paying more than 7 percent of their income for childcare.
"On top of that, we are going to make pre-K education for 3-and 4-year-olds free. Yes, that is right--free. We are going to do what other industrialized countries do and understand that the most important investment we can make is in the little children.
"By the way, when we do that, we are going to allow well over a million women to go back to work because they no longer have to stay home because of lack of affordable childcare.
"In the midst of massive labor shortages in many part of the country creating a strong childcare system is a no brainer.
"Further, at a time when the pharmaceutical industry charges us the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs we are going to demand that Medicare start negotiating prescription drug costs with the pharmaceutical industry. We're also going to significantly lower prescription drug costs for all Americans. And with those savings which should amount to at least $500 billion we are going to do what the overwhelming majority of the American people want us to do and expand Medicare to include the dental, vision and hearing benefits that senior citizens desperately need.
"This is America. Elderly people should not walk around with no teeth in their mouth and not be able to afford to go to a dentist. Grandparents should not be unable to communicate with their grandchildren because they cannot afford hearing aids. And seniors should not be unable to read their daily newspaper because they can't afford a pair of glasses. The need to expand Medicare to cover dental care, hearing aids and eyeglasses is absolutely critical. Nobody denies that oral health, hearing and vision are essential parts of healthcare. We cannot continue to deny seniors these basic healthcare benefits.
"Not surprisingly, that out of all of the provisions in President Biden's Build Back Better plan, expanding Medicare to provide dental, vision and hearing aids is, by far and away, the most popular. According to a June 30th Morning Consult poll, adding dental, vision and hearing benefits to Medicare is supported by 84% of the American people including 89% of Democrats and 79% of Republicans. This is what the American people want and this is what we must deliver to them.
"Given that, it is hard for me to imagine that any member of the House or the Senate would oppose this very popular provision.
"Mr. President, it is a bit embarrassing that our great country is the only major country on Earth not to guarantee paid family and medical leave.
"Imagine that. Every other country in the world, virtually, does that. In America, I have met with women, low-income women, who give birth, and then they have to go back to work in a week or two because they don't have the money to stay home. We are going to end that. We are going to have, as a nation, guaranteed paid family and medical leave.
"We are going to address the reality that many of our younger people are unable to obtain the good-paying jobs that are out there because they lack the higher education.
"Now, I myself will go further than this bill is going to go. I think time is long overdue to make public colleges and universities tuition-free and cancel all student debt. That is not what is in this bill. But what is in this bill says that, at the very least, every American will have the right to get 2 years of community college, and they can use that to get the training they need, to get the good jobs. Maybe it is nursing. Maybe it is something else. But they will also get the credits they need so they can transfer into a 4-year school, making a big step forward in getting young people the ability to get the training they need and the education they need to obtain the good-paying jobs that are out there.
"Mr. President, I know that you are aware that right here in this country, right here on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, you have people sleeping out on the street, and they are sleeping out on the street in every State in this country. In fact, we have almost 600,000 people sleeping out on the streets of the wealthiest country in the history of the world. Well, this legislation will create millions of jobs in housing and in other areas because we are going to build the low income and affordable housing that we need.
"It is not only homelessness. You have 18 million households spending 50 percent of their limited incomes on housing. We need to build low-income and affordable housing, and when we do that, we will create a heck of a lot of good-paying jobs.
"Mr. President, we are an aging society, and whether people have severe disabilities or whether they are just getting old, people would rather stay at home in many cases rather than be forced into nursing homes. What our legislation will do is significantly improve home healthcare in this country and make sure that those people who provide that important service, difficult service, are adequately compensated.
"I know that many of my Republican colleagues don't believe that climate change is real, don't believe that we should do anything about it, but they are dead wrong. And we cannot go home and look our children and grandchildren in the eye knowing what we know, knowing that in many ways, the climate crisis turns out to be worse than what scientists predicted it would be.
"We turn on the TV and we see the unbelievable fires in Oregon and California, and learn that the Siberian fire (the largest in the world) is sending smoke thousands of miles. We learn that July was the hottest month ever, and the climate change is exacerbating extreme weather disturbances like hurricane Ida which brought havoc on Louisiana.
"This legislation takes an important step forward. It doesn't go as far as it should, but it is a major step forward in transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energy.
"I know we have heard from my Republican colleagues who are very upset that this will be a partisan bill, which it will be, but let me remind them that they use the so-called reconciliation process recently in two areas--two areas.
"No. 1, they thought it important to go forward in a partisan way, without Democratic support, for the enormously important goal of giving massive tax breaks to billionaires and large corporations which drove up the national debt by $2 trillion. That is how they used the reconciliation process.
"Well, we have a little different idea. We are going to use the reconciliation process and the 50 votes we have with the Vice President to protect the working families of this country, not the billionaire class.
"The other effort that they made in terms of reconciliation was to try--and they came within one vote of doing it; the late John McCain--they would have thrown up to 30 million Americans off of healthcare by ending the Affordable Care Act.
"So they have used reconciliation, and we will use it, except we are going to use it to protect ordinary Americans--the children, the elderly, the sick, and the poor--rather than just the very wealthy or the pharmaceutical industry.
"Mr. President, let me conclude by reiterating what has been said time and time again by the President, by the Majority Leader of the Senate and by the Speaker of the House: There are two extremely important pieces of legislation that we are dealing with and both must be passed together. We need to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill which will help rebuild our roads and bridges and wastewater plants and other physical assets. But even more importantly, we need to address the crises facing working families all over this country.
"When we go forward and do that, when we protect our children and the elderly and the environment, we are going to create millions of good-paying jobs, put people to work rebuilding this country in a way that is long, long overdue."
LATEST NEWS
'Spineless Capitulation to Extortion': Paramount Caves to Trump With $16 Million Settlement
Critics characterized the payment as a bribe in exchange for federal approval of Paramount's pending merger with Skydance.
Jul 02, 2025
The parent company of CBS News, Paramount Global, announced Tuesday that it has agreed to pay U.S. President Donald Trump $16 million to settle what legal experts called an entirely meritless lawsuit over the media organization's handling of a pre-election "60 Minutes" interview with Kamala Harris.
Under the reported terms of the settlement, the money will go toward Trump's legal fees and his future presidential library. Paramount said the settlement deal does not include a formal apology, but the company agreed to release written transcripts of future "60 Minutes" interviews with presidential candidates.
Critics responded with outrage to news of the settlement, which one observer characterized as "spineless capitulation to extortion." Some posted screenshots to social media showing they canceled their Paramount+ subscriptions in response.
As Paramount engaged in talks with Trump's legal team over the lawsuit in recent weeks, press freedom advocates and members of Congress implored the organization not to settle, warning that caving to the president would reward and embolden his attacks on media outlets he views as his political enemies.
"If you settle cases, you're going to send a message to your news team to not push the envelope for fear of people being sued," media attorney Edward Klaris toldThe Washington Post, "and you're going to court more cases against your company because they might think that if they sue you they're going to collect."
Paramount's controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, supported a settlement with Trump in the hope that it would "clear the way" for federal approval of the company's merger with the entertainment company Skydance, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited sources familiar with the internal discussions. Bloombergreported that Redstone could reap $180 million in "severance and other benefits on top of hundreds of millions from the sale of her stock" if the merger goes through.
In May, the Freedom of the Press Foundation—a Paramount shareholder—cautioned that a settlement with Trump "could amount to a bribe" to the Trump administration in exchange for approval of the merger. The advocacy group said it would sue Paramount if the company caved to the president, arguing that "a settlement of Trump's meritless lawsuit may well be a thinly veiled effort to launder bribes through the court system."
Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) similarly warned Paramount that a settlement with Trump could run afoul of federal anti-bribery laws.
"Paramount appears to be attempting to appease the administration in order to secure merger approval," the senators wrote in a May 19 letter to Redstone.
Keep ReadingShow Less
'We Will Not Accept This Intimidation,' Mamdani Says of Trump Threat to Arrest Him
"That Trump included praise for Eric Adams in his authoritarian threats is unsurprising, but highlights the urgency of bringing an end to this mayor's time in City Hall," said the New York City mayoral candidate.
Jul 01, 2025
Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani made clear on Tuesday that he would not be intimidated by Republican U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to arrest him.
A journalist who falsely described Mamdani—a democratic socialist—as a "communist" asked Trump about the candidate's pledge not to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), whose agents are working to carry out the president's promised mass deportations.
"Well then, we'll have to arrest him," said Trump, a former New Yorker who has taken aim at Mamdani since his victory in last Tuesday's Democratic primary. "Look, we don't need a communist in this country."
Mamdani, who currently serves in the New York State Assembly, was born in Uganda to Indian parents and moved to NYC as a child. He was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2018. Throughout his campaign, the 33-year-old has faced numerous Islamophobic attacks, and after his primary win, Congressman Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) urged the Trump administration to target him with "denaturalization proceedings," in line with a broader effort at the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Trump said Tuesday that his administration would be watching Mamdani "very carefully." The president, a well-documented liar, added that "a lot of people are saying he's here illegally—you know, we're gonna look at everything... and ideally he's gonna turn out to be much less than a communist, but right now he's a communist, that's not a socialist."
Trump also blasted Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a supporter of Mamdani, and praised the city's current mayor, Eric Adams, who is seeking another term as an Independent. After Trump returned to office in January, the DOJ instructed prosecutors to drop federal corruption charges against Adams, triggering widespread outrage over the attempted "illegal quid pro quo," as some critics called it.
Responding to Trump's remarks in a lengthy statement, Mamdani said Tuesday that "the president of the United States just threatened to have me arrested, stripped of my citizenship, put in a detention camp, and deported. Not because I have broken any law, but because I will refuse to let ICE terrorize our city."
"His statements don't just represent an attack on our democracy but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: If you speak up, they will come for you," Mamdani continued. "We will not accept this intimidation."
"That Trump included praise for Eric Adams in his authoritarian threats is unsurprising, but highlights the urgency of bringing an end to this mayor's time in City Hall," he asserted, directing attention to the GOP budget bill advanced by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday.
Mamdani said that "at this very moment, when MAGA Republicans are attempting to destroy the social safety net, kick millions of New Yorkers off of healthcare, and enrich their billionaire donors at the expense of working families, it is a scandal that Eric Adams echoes this president's division, distraction, and hatred. Voters will resoundingly reject it in November."
In addition to Mamdani and Adams, the general election candidates are Republican Curtis Sliwa, Independent Jim Walden, and disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is now running as an Independent after losing the Democratic primary. According to results released Tuesday, Mamdani got 56% of the vote compared to Cuomo's 44%.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Senators Demand Answers About 'Reckless' Trump Admin Use of AI Social Security Chatbot
Artificial intelligence systems, the four senators argue, "represent a troubling pattern that if continued, would significantly impede Americans' ability" to access their benefits.
Jul 01, 2025
Four U.S. senators—three Democrats and Vermont Independent Bernie Sanders—demanded answers Tuesday from the Trump administration about its "reckless rollout" of artificial intelligence chatbot technology into phone systems "that have blocked people from accessing their earned Social Security benefits."
"These AI programs, which the agency deployed with little consultation with Congress, advocates, or other key stakeholders, appear to have been developed in haste and represent a troubling pattern that if continued, would significantly impede Americans' ability to access their Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits," the senators said in a letter to Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank Bisignano.
While Sanders, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (Ore.), and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) acknowledged that "AI can be a helpful tool to simplify some workloads," they contended that artificial intelligence "is not a panacea for all challenges facing SSA."
The letter continues:
SSA is entrusted with ensuring accurate and timely payment of mtore than $1 trillion in Social Security and SSI benefit payments to over 73 million seniors, individuals with disabilities, and their families each year. Considering the agency's important mission, it is critical that SSA is responsibly deploying any technology system, including AI. For example, whether incorporating newer technology like generative AI to improve customer experience and increase efficiency or leveraging predictive AI to provide disability examiners support in the disability determination process, it is critical that SSA meaningfully engage stakeholders, including its customers and employees, the advocacy community, and members of Congress, throughout the entire process to avoid harm to claimants and beneficiaries.
"The agency's hasty AI rollouts on its national 1-800 number phone system and the phone system for its 1,200 field offices, which resulted in significant impediments for Americans simply trying to access their earned benefits, demonstrate our concern," the senators wrote. "In April, SSA announced it would be deploying an anti-fraud AI algorithm to verify the identity of callers seeking to file for benefits on its national 1-800 number, arguing—without providing any evidence—that its telephone service was rife with fraud."
"However," the lawmakers noted, "the proposal was scrapped shortly after implementation after the system found it identified two claims out of over 110,000 as potentially fraudulent. Moreover, the new program slowed claim processing by 25% and led to a 'degradation of public service.'"
The senators are asking Bisignano to:
- Provide a detailed description of the new AI-based chatbot, including how it determines whether it has successfully answered a caller's questions before hanging up;
- Describe which metrics is SSA using to determine whether this AI-based chatbot is successful at improving service delivery at the national 1-800 number;
- Explain the metrics SSA used to evaluate the successes or challenges of this AI-based chatbot before rolling it out nationwide to field offices;
- Disclose which stakeholders, especially those who represent beneficiaries and employees, were consulted pre- and post-deployment of this AI-based chatbot;
- Explain whether SSA is planning to procure, develop, or implement any new AI systems this year; and
- If the answer to the above question is yes, list and provide a detailed description of these AI systems.
The AI rollout is part of Bisignano's "technology agenda" to boost productivity at SSA amid staffing and other cuts implemented by the Trump administration and its Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. In February, SSA announced its intent to fire 7,000 workers, or about 12% of its historically low staff.
Many SSA staffers also resigned, including nearly half of the agency's senior executives. This has adversely affected SSA beneficiaries. An analysis published last week by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities revealed that one SSA staff member must now serve 1,480 beneficiaries—over three times as many as in 1967.
Last week, Warren sent a letter to Bisignano—who one advocacy group described as "a Wall Street CEO with a long history of slashing the companies he runs to the bone"—accusing him of misleading the public about longer beneficiary wait times resulting from the Trump administration and DOGE taking a "chainsaw to Social Security."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular