Friends -
I am writing to explain why I strongly oppose the recently announced COVID-19 proposal put forward by Joe Manchin and Mitt Romney, and to ask you to add your name to mine before this woefully inadequate bill gets to the floor of the Senate.
The Senate's indifference to the pain of the American people is disgraceful, and it cannot be allowed to continue. Now is the time to get our priorities right, and that starts with getting the American people the help they desperately need right now — starting with at least $1,200 in direct payments for working class adults and $500 for their children.
It also means opposing the Manchin-Romney provision which grants 100% legal immunity to corporations whose irresponsibility has led to the deaths of hundreds of workers, and which will provide an incentive to corporations to avoid implementing the common sense safety standards needed to protect employees and consumers, making a bad situation worse.
During the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, when over half of our workers are living paycheck to paycheck, when one out of four workers are either unemployed or make less than $20,000 a year, when 92 million Americans are uninsured or under-insured, when tens of millions of people face eviction and hunger in America is exploding, it is unacceptable that this proposal does not even do what the CARES Act did and provide — at the very least — a $1,200 direct payment to working class American and $500 for their kids.
Now, I understand that President-elect Biden has come out in support of direct payments of at least $1,200 and that it "may be still in play." That’s good. And it makes it even more critical that we make our voices heard before any vote happens:
The American people need help, and they need it now. If we can afford to give a $1 trillion tax break to the top 1% and large corporations, and $740 billion to the Pentagon, please don’t tell me we can’t give a $1,200 direct payment to the working people of this country.
I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House and the Senate to significantly improve this bill, but I cannot do that alone. It will only happen if you make your voice heard as well.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders
Tell the U.S. Senate to oppose the Manchin-Romney COVID-19 proposal unless it includes significant improvements, starting with $1,200 direct payments to working class families in this country and making sure we do not provide a liability shield to corporations that break the law.
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