Sep 5, 2018 - Technology

Bernie Sanders introduces "Stop BEZOS Act"

Erica Pandey, author of @Work

Sanders speaks to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol building. Photo: Alex Edelman/Getty Images

Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a bill dubbed the "Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act" or "Stop BEZOS Act" in the Senate Wednesday.

The big picture: The bill would make big companies that employ huge numbers of workers at low wages — like Amazon and Walmart — pay the government for the federal assistance their workers receive.

Timing: Sanders' bill comes one day after Amazon became the second U.S. company, behind Apple, to reach a $1 trillion stock-market valuation.

  • Sanders tweeted, "Amazon is worth $1 TRILLION ... Thousands of Amazon workers have to rely on food stamps, Medicaid and public housing to survive. That is what a rigged economy looks like."

Amazon disputed Sanders' assertion that its warehouse employees don't make a living wage and called his arguments "inaccurate and misleading" in a blog post.

Go deeper: Axios' Dan Primack and Felix Salmon discuss the implications of Sanders' move in the Pro Rata Podcast.

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Axios
Updated 4 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 10 p.m. ET: 32,471,119 — Total deaths: 987,593 — Total recoveries: 22,374,557 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 10 p.m. ET: 7,032,524 — Total deaths: 203,657 — Total recoveries: 2,727,335 — Total tests: 99,483,712 — Map.
  3. States: "We’re not closing anything going forward": Florida fully lifts COVID restaurant restrictions — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam tests positive for coronavirus.
  4. Health: Young people accounted for 20% of cases this summer.
  5. Business: Coronavirus has made airports happier places —The expiration of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance looms.
  6. Education: Where bringing students back to school is most risky.
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Mike Allen, author of AM
6 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Biden pushes unity message in new TV wave

A fresh Joe Biden ad, "New Start," signals an effort by his campaign to make unity a central theme, underscoring a new passage in his stump speech that says he won't be a president just for Democrats but for all Americans.

What he's saying: The ad — which began Friday night, and is a follow-up to "Fresh Start" — draws from a Biden speech earlier in the week in Manitowoc, Wisconsin:

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Jonathan Swan, Alayna Treene, Sam Baker
7 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Trump prepares to announce Amy Coney Barrett as Supreme Court replacement

Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Photo: Matt Cashore/Notre Dame University via Reuters

President Trump is preparing to nominate federal appeals court Judge Amy Coney Barrett of Indiana, a favorite of both the social conservative base and Republican elected officials, to succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Republican sources tell Axios.

Why it matters: Barrett would push the already conservative court further and harder to the right, for decades to come, on the most important issues in American politics — from abortion to the limits of presidential power. If confirmed, she would give conservatives a 6-3 majority on the high court.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow