Sanders to announce proposal promising Federal jobs to all Americans
Sanders to announce proposal promising jobs to all
Americans
By JOHN BOWDEN - 04/24/18 08:49 AM EDT
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is set to announce a federal
jobs proposal that would guarantee a job with at least a $15-per-hour wage and
health benefits to every adult American “who wants or needs one,” The
Washington Post reports.
The senator is still in the early stages of crafting the
plan, according to the Post, which would provide a job or required training for
any American.
Sanders's office has yet to release the details of the
plan's funding, but previous large-scale projects proposed by the Vermont
progressive have involved ending tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans and
large corporations.
The Vermont senator joins two other possible 2020
contenders, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who
have also expressed support for similar proposals in recent weeks.
“The goal is to eliminate working poverty and involuntary
unemployment altogether,” Darrick Hamilton, an economist at The New School,
told the Post.
“This is an opportunity for something transformative,
beyond the tinkering we've been doing for the last 40 years, where all the
productivity gains have gone to the elite of society.”
Critics of federal jobs proposals say that government
intervention to raise wages could lead to private businesses cutting costs in
other areas, including hiring fewer employees. Sanders is a longtime advocate
of "Fight for 15," the national movement aimed at raising the minimum
wage to $15 per hour.
The proposal would have trouble gaining enough Democratic
support to get real traction and conservatives have long said a jobs promise is
unsustainable and unaffordable, citing costs, the effects on the private sector
and the possibility of inflation.
“It completely undercuts a lot of industries and
companies,” Brian Riedl of the conservative-leaning Manhattan Institute told
the Post. “There will be pressure to introduce a higher wage or certain
benefits that the private sector doesn't offer.”
Sanders has not announced a 2020 presidential run but has
left his options open. He was notably the country's most popular active
politician in a Harvard-Harris poll last year.
The Vermont senator will be 79 years old on Election Day
in 2020, four years after losing to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic
primary.
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