*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).
Investors are dumping stocks again as fears spread that the growing coronavirus outbreak will weigh down the global economy.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Thursday, February 27, 2020.
President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that the U.S. is “very, very ready” for whatever the coronavirus threat brings, and he put his vice president in charge of overseeing the nation's response.
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, the highest-ranking black member of Congress and the kingmaker of South Carolina's Democratic political orbit, on Wednesday endorsed Joe Biden's presidential campaign.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday, February 26, 2020.
Bernie Sanders is facing a torrent of attacks from his Democratic rivals in a high-stakes debate that could be their final prime-time opportunity to change the direction of the 2020 nomination fight.
Self-described "far-left," 26-year-old truck driver Joshua Collins is hoping to utilize the user base to support his run for Congress.
Investors plowed money into bonds, sending the yield on the 10-year Treasury to a record low. Mastercard joined a growing list of companies warning that the outbreak would hurt its finances.
Binance, a global cryptocurrency exchange and cloud services provider, is optimistic the shift toward digital currency in China will only bolster the adoption and acceptance of encrypted currencies.
U.S. stocks fell in midday trading Tuesday, a day after the market's biggest drop in two years, as traders worry that the spreading coronavirus will threaten global economic growth.
