*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 on Thursday broke convention when his holiday call to troops took an unusually political turn. On his call with a general stationed in Afghanistan ー and during the questions with reporters that followed ーTrump made controversial comments on the courts, trade, and the caravan of migrants heading toward the border between the U.S. and Mexico. "This is a highly politicized environment, especially with President Trump ー that's his style," Nick Givas, a reporter at the Daily Caller, told Cheddar on Friday.
As Americans hit the road in record numbers this holiday, low gas prices are poised to act as a boon for consumer spending. Drivers are already saving $100 million a day at the pump over just last month, according to GasBuddy.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018.
As Canada battles a nationwide marijuana shortage, Massachusetts dispensaries opened to recreational users on Tuesday. Regulatory bottlenecks and unforeseen demand have caused disruptions in Canada's marijuana supply ー but don't expect the trouble to cease next year. Khurram Malik, CEO of cannabis supplier Biome Grow, said he anticipates disorder in Canadian cannabis well into 2019.
With news that the White House Correspondents' Dinner will break a long-standing tradition by replacing a comedian host with a historian, Jon Levine, media editor at The Wrap, discusses whether the event should even exist anymore.
What role exactly does Facebook play in society? Does it do more good than harm ー or more harm than good? Is it too big to control? Existential questions like these are beginning to circulate as the world's largest social network finds itself embroiled in yet another state of crisis.
Apple talks a big game on customer privacy -- but that hasn't stopped it from making billions through its partnership with ad-based search engine Google. In an interview with Axios on Sunday, Apple ($AAPL) CEO Tim Cook defended his company's relationship with the world's leading search engine, and discussed the potential for regulation in tech, which he considers inevitable.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018.
Tubi Daily News Powered By Cheddar for the Afternoon of 11/19/18
The clamor to impeach President Trump has increased in volume since Democrats won back the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month ー and one member of the chorus is former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman, who said the president's term recalls another dark period in American political history.
