*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).
President Donald Trump, in a fiery letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is objecting to impeachment articles and accuses Democrats of “subverting” democracy. Trump's letter to the speaker came as Democrats were pushing ahead toward a Wednesday vote expected to result in his impeachment.
The middle-of-the-night moves on Capitol Hill blindsided the solar sector. The industry had launched an ambitious lobbying effort this summer to extend the industry's tax credit and until last night had believed that an extension would be included in the tax packages.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, December 17, 2019.
Cheddar's Justin Chermol spent time with Mayor Pete boosters in the early primary state of New Hampshire.
U.S. stocks rallied in early trading Monday, rising with European and several Asian markets after China, the world's second-largest economy, reported surprisingly strong signs of life.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, December 16, 2019.
Led by Advisor to the President, Ivanka Trump, the White House Summit on Child Care and Paid Leave is the first major meeting on the issue by the Trump Administration.
Impeachment charges against President Donald Trump went to the full House on Friday, following approval by the House Judiciary Committee.
Boris Johnson's gamble on early elections paid off as voters gave the UK prime minister a commanding majority to take the country out of the European Union by the end of January, a decisive result after more than three years of stalemate over Brexit.
A self-described activist, Zozibini Tunzi said she hopes to continue her work against gender-based violence and in favor of gender equality.
