{"id":22996,"date":"2022-07-15T19:00:10","date_gmt":"2022-07-16T02:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=22996"},"modified":"2022-07-15T19:00:12","modified_gmt":"2022-07-16T02:00:12","slug":"sanders-warns-congress-is-working-behind-closed-doors-on-50-billion-in-corporate-welfare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2022\/07\/15\/sanders-warns-congress-is-working-behind-closed-doors-on-50-billion-in-corporate-welfare\/","title":{"rendered":"Sanders Warns Congress Is Working &#8216;Behind Closed Doors&#8217; on $50 Billion in Corporate Welfare"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/banner_image_1x_xl\/public\/2022-07\/GettyImages-1240209957-sanders.jpg?h=5489be97&amp;itok=480Q8dCd\" alt=\"Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at a rally with Amazon workers and union leaders\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at a rally with Amazon workers and union leaders on April 24, 2022. (Photo: David Dee Delgado\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8220;If you can believe it,&#8221; said the Vermont senator, &#8220;this legislation may also provide a $10 billion bailout to Jeff Bezos, the second-wealthiest person in America.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/article_author\/public\/2021-06\/jake-johnson-200x200.jpg?h=55541bb6&amp;itok=dRxLRucM\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/jake-johnson\">JAKE JOHNSON<\/a> July 14, 2022 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sen. Bernie Sanders took<\/strong>&nbsp;to the Senate floor Wednesday to criticize fellow members of Congress for working to approve billions of dollars in handouts to major corporations as the country is embroiled in a worsening cost-of-living crisis, a deadly pandemic, and an intensifying climate emergency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This may be a radical idea in the halls of Congress, but no, I do not believe that this legislation should approve a $10 billion bailout for Jeff Bezos.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;What is Congress doing right now, at a time when we face so many massive problems?&#8221; asked Sanders, the chair of the Senate Budget Committee. &#8220;The answer is that for two months, a 107-member conference committee has been meeting behind closed doors to provide over $50 billion in corporate welfare with no strings attached to the highly profitable microchip industry.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;No, we&#8217;re not talking about healthcare for all,&#8221; the Vermont senator lamented. &#8220;No, we&#8217;re not talking about making higher education affordable. No, we&#8217;re not talking about making sure that young people can earn decent salaries when they become teachers. No, we&#8217;re not talking about leading the world in combating climate change. We&#8217;re talking about giving $50 billion in corporate welfare with no strings attached\u2014a blank check\u2014to the highly profitable microchip industry.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Microchip Companies Don&#039;t Need Taxpayer Billions\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1ecnEY-zmPQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The legislation drawing Sanders&#8217; ire is the long-stalled&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/117th-congress\/senate-bill\/1260\">United States Innovation and Competition Act<\/a>&nbsp;(USICA), a bill purportedly designed to bolster domestic semiconductor manufacturing\u2014an industry that has been&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodjobsfirst.org\/corporate-subsidy-watch\/semiconductors\">lavished<\/a>&nbsp;with taxpayer subsidies in recent years\u2014and ramp up investment in research and development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As&nbsp;<em>Politico<\/em>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/playbook\/2022\/07\/08\/schumer-ups-pressure-on-mcconnell-in-usica-reconciliation-dance-00044652\">describes it<\/a>, the USICA &#8220;would shower the semiconductor industry with $52 billion of incentives to ramp up chip-making in America.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;China hawks like the bill because it makes the U.S. less reliant on Chinese imports,&#8221; the outlet adds. &#8220;The Biden administration hails it as a policy that will strengthen the supply chain, boost domestic manufacturing, and &#8216;help us outcompete China.'&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A bipartisan conference committee made up of lawmakers from both the House and the Senate is currently working to reconcile the differences between versions of the legislation passed by each chamber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), meanwhile, is&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LeaderMcConnell\/status\/1542600738823618564\">threatening<\/a>&nbsp;to tank the bill entirely if Democrats move ahead with a party-line reconciliation package that aims to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/2022\/07\/06\/manchins-backing-senate-dems-unveil-plan-let-medicare-negotiate-drug-prices\">lower prescription drug prices<\/a>&nbsp;and boost renewable energy funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Punchbowl<\/em>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/punchbowl.news\/newsletter\/\">reported<\/a>&nbsp;Thursday that top Senate Democrats are mulling whether to just &#8220;pass $52 billion in funding for semiconductor manufacturers instead of a broad USICA package.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sanders, who&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.senate.gov\/legislative\/LIS\/roll_call_votes\/vote1171\/vote_117_1_00226.htm\">voted against<\/a>&nbsp;the Senate bill&#8217;s passage in March, has argued that the USICA should contain safeguards to ensure that taxpayer funding doesn&#8217;t go to companies that engage in union-busting, offshore U.S. jobs, or buy back their own stock. In May, Republican and Democratic senators&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/2022\/05\/05\/sanders-blasts-senates-strange-priorities-it-advances-corporate-welfare\">voted down<\/a>&nbsp;motions from Sanders that encouraged such conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The progressive senator has also spotlighted a provision of the USICA that would approve $10 billion in NASA funding for moon landers, money that Sanders has warned could benefit billionaire Jeff Bezos. Sanders has urged lawmakers to strip the provision from the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;If you can believe it,&#8221; Sanders said Wednesday, &#8220;this legislation may&#8230; provide a $10 billion bailout to Jeff Bezos, the second-wealthiest person in America, so that his company, Blue Origin, can launch a rocket ship to the moon.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I know this may be a radical idea in the halls of Congress, but no, I do not believe that this legislation should approve a $10 billion bailout for Jeff Bezos to fly to the moon,&#8221; Sanders added. &#8220;Maybe, just maybe, a middle class which is struggling, which is falling behind, should not see their taxpayer dollars go to the second-wealthiest person in America.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at a rally with Amazon workers and union leaders on April 24, 2022. (Photo: David Dee Delgado\/Getty Images) &#8220;If you can believe it,&#8221; said the Vermont senator, &#8220;this legislation may also provide a $10 billion bailout to Jeff Bezos, the second-wealthiest person in America.&#8221; JAKE JOHNSON&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2022\/07\/15\/sanders-warns-congress-is-working-behind-closed-doors-on-50-billion-in-corporate-welfare\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22996"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22996"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22998,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22996\/revisions\/22998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}