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Senate Budget Committee Holds Hearing On Poverty Wages At Corporations
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 25: Senator Bernie Sanders (I-V.T.), Chairman of the Budget Committee, arrives to a U.S. Senate Budget Committee hearing regarding wages at large corporations on Capitol Hill, February 25, 2021 in Washington, DC. The committee is looking at why many low-wage workers in America qualify for public benefits even though thousands of them are employees of large corporations.
Senate Democrats failed big time to pass the $15 Minimum Wage. They failed to reach an accommodation, and the issue is dead on arrival. Despite their best efforts, they failed to pass it. Now it's the progressives and liberals who are headbutting over the issue.
$15 Minimum Wage for Democrats is crucial
According to Politico and the Punch Bowl politics newsletter, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called a meeting on Tuesday reported the Business Insider. Democrats met to regroup after they failed to pass it.
There are eight moderate Democratic senators who opposed Sen. Bernie Sanders' push to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. The current hourly rate is $7.25.
As per the report, Sanders was also present, with the other Democratic Party's Senate caucus. He had support from the progressive wing. Moderates and progressives (left learning) do not see eye to eye on the wage hike.
They were rejected last March in their attempt to pass the wage hike. They lost it after a senate official said it could not be added in the $1.9 trillion stimulus. It was an unexpected setback that they wanted correct.
Following that, 8 moderate Democrats voted against bringing back the minimum wage hike. The moderate DEMs did not approve of that the bill on some points. It imposes extra costs on companies still trying to recover from the pandemic's impact.
The $15 Minimum Wage, according to the Senate Parliamentarian, a neutral official was outside the range of the Democrat stimulus plan. It was under discussion as special budget reconciliation. It is the process that allows bills to pass with fewer votes.
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This gathering is supposed to act as a bridge between Democrats on the issue. Punch Bowl News, a Washington, DC newsletter, reported that no progress was made on Tuesday.
Sen. Joe Manchin, an influential moderate from West Virginia, allegedly disagreed over the amount of a proposed increase. Sanders pushed for a $15 increase, and Manchin opted for $11. The wage had become an issue for moderates and progressives in the party.
According to Politico, one topic of discussion is the reasonable minimum wage. This includes employees who receive tips, such as bartenders and restaurant servers.
The future of the wage increase is now in danger owing to the deadlock. According to the sources, the party has a long way to go before reaching an internal consensus. Let alone try to muster the 60 votes needed to resolve a possible Republican filibuster.
One of the problems to resolve is to overcome the Republicans who can use the filibuster. The 60-vote needed is not easy to do. In the Senate, there are 50 Republicans and 48 DEMS, with two independents seating now.
More republican seats by two made it hard to pass the wage hike. This is why the DEMs want to take away the Filibuster. Republicans justify having it to stop a one-party-rule that ends Democracy in the government.
There is a difference in opinion between Democrat moderates who don't want the $15 Minimum Wage, which the progressives led by Sanders clashed with Manchin.
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