Vermont’s Democratic Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders has complained that Republicans are “laughing all the way to Election Day,” without having to vote on the Democratic Party’s $1.2 trillion social spending package.
The spending package is currently stalled in the senate thanks to opposition from Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.
Sanders complained about the situation during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“What has bothered me very much is the Republicans are laughing all the way to Election Day. They have not had to cast one bloody vote… which shows us where they’re at. And we have got to change that,” Sanders said.
Sanders is now calling for specific policies to be pulled from the package so that a new one can be put together with items that they can get enough support for.
“I think when you bring bills on the floor — we have allowed the Republicans to get away with murder. They haven’t had to vote on anything. Now if they want to vote against lowering the cost of prescription drugs, expanding Medicaid, dealing with child care, dealing with housing, let them vote, and let Manchin and Sinema decide which side they are on,” Sanders said.
Bernie Sanders on CNN says “we need a new approach in the Senate. I think after 6 months of negotiating, so called ‘negotiating’…we need to start voting. We need to bring important pieces of legislation that impact the lives of working families right on the floor of the Senate” pic.twitter.com/ZDGxQNvEp8
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 23, 2022
“And when all of that shakes out we’ll see where we are. I have the feeling that we will be able to get 50 votes or more on some of these issues. We could put that piece together and then pass something that’s very significant,” he added.
