Rep. Ro Khanna to Amazon: Pay Your Workers a Living Wage
*By Christian Smith*
Congressman Ro Khanna wants to inspire companies to do better by their workers.
"It's absurd that you have multi-billion dollar companies, trillion-dollar companies that aren't able to pay their workers $15," Rep. Khanna said Friday in an interview on Cheddar.
That's why the prominent House progressive, who represents California's Silicon Valley, is teaming up with ex-presidential candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to introduce legislation that would place a tax on large corporations ー money that is equivalent to the amount of federal benefits their low-income employees receive to make a livable wage.
Rep. Khanna's House bill is called the "Corporate Responsibility and Taxpayer Protection Act" and targets large companies across industries, including tech, retail, and fast food, he said.
Sanders was a little more pointed with his version, dubbed the "Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act." That's Stop BEZOS, if you didn't notice.
Rep. Khanna said that Amazon has responded to the Sanders bill, saying the company creates safe working spaces for employees and offers competitive benefits. But the Congressman said the point of benefits is a separate matter.
"They're still not addressing the fundamental point," Khanna said.
"Why can't they just come out and say they're going to pay every employee in our company at least a $15 wage so they can have a livable wage?"
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/congressman-ro-khanna-wants-major-corporations-to-improve-worker-pay-or-pay-more-in-taxes).
Christine McDaniel, Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to break down the long list of sanctions that the U.S. has levied against Russia since its invasion of Ukraine, and the impact - or lack thereof - they are having on Russia.
President Joe Biden is taking fresh aim at “ghost guns" and also announced the nomination of Steve Dettlebach, who served as a U.S. attorney in Ohio from 2009 to 2016, to run the ATF.
Stefanie O'Connell Rodriguez joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss her newest mini-series on REAL SIMPLE's Money Confidential podcast, called 'Taxes in 10.'
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, social media giant Meta said that it's using its technology to help the beleaguered nation Erin Egan, chief privacy officer, and Andrew Schroeder, vice president of research and analysis for direct relief, joined Cheddar News to discuss using data towards humanitarian relief. "Our goal with the program is to help organizations on the ground by sharing privacy-protected data sets to enable them to respond to crisis," Egan explained.
Catching you up on what you need to know on April 11, 2022, with updates on the Russia-Ukraine War, France’s presidential election, the record deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest, retail giant Amazon's objection to the Staten Island union vote, the worsening baby formula shortage, a lawsuit against Rutgers Law School, and a stomach illness possibly linked to Lucky Charms cereal.
Between Bells executive producer Conor White recaps some of the biggest stories of the week, and teaches Baker Machado and Hena Doba a thing or two at the same time. It's This Week In Trivia!
Tearfully embracing a history-making moment, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said Friday her confirmation as the first Black woman to the Supreme Court showed the progress of America.
