The Young Turks - Come on, Kamala!

Episode Date: March 2, 2021

House Democrats demand Vice President Harris advance the $15 minimum. Make sure to keep the pressure on by signing our petition below. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to The Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome. Thank you. All right, welcome to the Young Turks, Jane Cougar, Anna Kasparian with you guys. I need you to understand what kind of a momentous show this is going to be. I need you to understand it. I need you to understand it. I need you to understand how powerful you are, and you're about to understand it.

So in this show, do we have Bernie? Yes. Do we have him enough? Well, that's the question at hand, isn't it? Do we have Biden? Yes. Do we have Trump? Unfortunately, yes.

Cuomo, yes. So, MBS, we're taking them apart. Okay, anyways, no. Well, we should have done something to him. We should have done something to him, and we did nothing instead. So anyways, we will talk about all of that. It's a ridiculous show. I don't even want to tell you what the kids call it.

All right, so Anna, as you know, I'm gonna get started. We'll talk about Bernie first, okay? So here we go. So COVID relief bill was supposed to have $15 minimum wage in it. And in fact, it does. The House already passed that version of it. So that is a Democratic version of the bill. Now, good news, almost every Democrat says yes, this is a policy goal of this.

there is to get $15 minimum wage. Of course, Bernie Sanders says that. So does Joe Biden. So is Kamala Harris. They really, really want it. So they're going to kill it. And for note to all journalists, when someone says they wanted and they kill it, that means they don't actually want it. You shouldn't write that they wanted if that's what they're going to do. Now, is it over? No. Is Bernie considering moving forward with it? Yes. Has he decided that already? Well, that's the shocking part. The answer is no. And as things stood on Friday when we came to you, it was not slated to be in the bill at all because of the so-called parliamentarian. Because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris said, we love the parliamentarian more than we love 32 million people

who would get a raise. We are not going to put it in the bill. The parliamentarian has absolutely no power, none, zero. And I also give advice. How insane would it be if Kamala Harris was like, you know what, I think if she followed our advice, it would be far more saying. But if she just said, I'm going to follow a rando advice and kill one of the most important policy proposals of our administration. Get off of it. No way. They don't want it. Anyway, but I know Bernie wants it. He's fought for 40 years. But he's obviously receiving pressure from Washington to not put it in the bill. So we decided we love your Bernie, but we're going to put pressure right back because that's our job. So we started campaign on Friday that is our

fire. It's hashtag, don't kill it, Bernie. And so we're asking something so simple of Bernie Sanders. Put it in the bill. Put it in the bill. If they want to take it out, by the way, they might need 60 votes. Just put it in the bill, okay? And yes, unfortunately, we got to convince him at this point. Is he close? I hope he's close. So guys, over 8,000 of you signed this petition. Did they notice? I'm here to tell you they definitely notice. Make it 10,000, make it 20 if you got to, but we got to go. We got to go right now because we need time to pressure Kamala Harris, Chuck Schumer, and the rest of him after Bernie says yes. As you'll see in later in the show today, Justice Democrats coming for the rescue from the House. Rokana leads a cavalry

charge that is awesome. Elizabeth Warren now saying, put it in the bill. Bernie, everybody's saying it, put it in the bill. So it's, I know some of you are stunned, like, what do you mean? How could it not be in the bill? The House passed that version. Well, that's what we're saying. The Senate should obviously have it in the bill. Bernie is the budget chair. If you're asking why Bernie, he is the chair of the budget committee. Normally when a bill comes over from the other house, it is the job of the chair to maintain that bill and to write that bill. If Chuck Schumer wants to overrule Bernie Sanders, let him try to do that, okay? But there's a reason why you are the chair. Hashtag don't kill it, Bernie. Use the hashtag. It was already trending on Friday. And then so many of you did videos, I want to show you the videos, and this totally worked. I love you guys for participating. We need more of this because when they see your face, it's hard to say no. So let me show you a small compilation of all the dozens of videos that TYT viewers did.

And it made, I think it's going to make all the difference. But let's watch first, Anna. I'm a calling upon you to please put the federal minimum wage of $15 an hour onto the bill to be voted on. I've been a fan of you for years. Please be the fighter that we need. We love you, Bernie. Please fight for us. Don't kill it.

If you kill it, we'll lose to fascists in 2022 and 2024. That's how to put it simply. We need you to make sure the $15 minimum wage is in the bill. You taught me to fight for someone you don't know. Because you believe everyone in this country should have a living wage and not a starving wage. I'm the manager of a small business in Florida. And unfortunately, we have a high turnover rate, mostly because the same. staff are living under poverty wages of $10 an hour, and the business owner will not raise their

wages. Don't kill it, Bernie. Make them vote. Make them decide. Bernie, we need you. I don't know how many of these I passed out during the primaries. Please don't kill it. There's no other way. You and the other progressives, you've got to stand up. Now is not the time to stop that fight. Now is the time to plant your feet, fight even harder, and make sure you keep this $15 minimum wage in the COVID relief bill. I hope you have the courage and the strength to do what you need to for the people. Look, I can't tell you enough how much I love you guys and how much of a difference you make. I know for a fact in this case, you made a difference. So Anna, the two women in that video, particularly, when I watched their full videos, and they're all, they're supposed to be around 30 seconds.

Everybody was about 30 seconds through a minute, so easy. The two women there nearly made me cry. When the first one said, you taught me that I'm supposed to fight for someone I don't know. Another one said, look, I spent a lot of time passing these out because I thought we meant it. And they all do it with love because they respect Bernie so much. But this is not a hard ask, we've got to do this. Right.

Yeah, I mean, I wholeheartedly agree. And if ever there was a time for Bernie to use his position of power, that time is now. So it should be included in the coronavirus relief bill because it would not pass as a standalone bill. If they're going to go along with what some unelected Senate parliamentarian has to say about this particular provision, understand that there's no way in hell that a standalone minimum wage bill would pass if they tried to do it again under reconciliation, they're not going to be able to get enough Republican lawmakers to pass with 60 votes. And so this is really our only shot. So if Bernie keeps that provision in the bill, then all the pressure needs to be focused on Kamala

Harris, who presides over the Senate, and would be able to overrule the parliamentarians, you know, in my opinion, incredibly irrelevant opinion on whether or not this should be included in the bill. The fact that tax cuts for the rich passed under reconciliation in the Republican controlled Senate tells you everything you need to know about how ridiculous this process is. And there's really no excuse at this point for anyone, including Bernie Sanders, to not include it in the final version of the Senate coronavirus relief bill. There's nothing that there's nothing that Bernie can argue in favor of taking that out. If he uses the excuse of the Senate parliamentarian, I'm sorry, that's an incredibly pathetic thing to point to when he is in this

position of power. They can't isolate him. He is the chair of the Senate Budget Committee, an incredibly powerful committee. You know, he has nothing to lose in fighting for this $15 an hour minimum wage. So it should absolutely be in the final version of the bill. And then as soon as we have confirmation of that, all the pressure needs to be on Kamala Harris to do the right thing because she campaigned, she campaigned, and Joe Biden campaigned on increasing the federal minimum wage, which, by the way, has not been increased since 2009 still stands at $7.25. It's pathetic. If Democrats can't get it passed now when they have the slim majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate and a Democrat sitting in the White House, then I'm not ever going to believe

that they're actually genuine in wanting to pass it. I'm just keeping it real. Yeah, so last couple things here on this. So first of all, look, the only thing I can imagine as to why Bernie wouldn't put it in the bill is so that he doesn't embarrass his fellow Democrats because they don't actually want it. So they want to make sure that it's not in the bill and they're not blamed for it. The last thing they want to do is vote on it because they've been saying they want it when my theory is they never wanted it. It was always going to be political theater. So if Bernie helps them cover up, for it, no, no, you're not being polite to your colleagues. That is horribly, horribly impolite

to your voters. And so, and by the way, guaranteed they pulled a football on you and later say, oh, Bernie was the bag man. What do you mean? Bernie's the one who killed it. So they're 100%. 100%. 100%. Bernie has always stood out as the one lawmaker who always puts the best interests of the people ahead of his own best interests, ahead of, you know, maintaining a polite relationship with other members of Congress. Now is not the time for him to move away from what he represents, what he has represented. And I absolutely do agree with the woman that we showed in the video who said, hey, you taught us to fight. And so we've been fighting alongside Bernie Sanders. And at this very moment, we really need him to show us that he's willing to fight on behalf of the

people once he had, I mean, he has this position of power now. What's the point of having that position of power? What's the point of building your political career successfully all these years and not actually coming through when you have the ability to do that? Yeah. And so look, for those of you online who don't get it and who are like, oh, Jane, you must misunderstand the process that what you're saying can't be true. Bernie is great. He wouldn't take it out of the bill. Well, I'm right because there's no statement at all right now from Bernie Sanders saying he's going to put it in the bill. So you could look that up, you could ask any reporter worth their salt on it.

It is currently not in their plans. I think he's going to turn around. I think you guys affected him a lot, and I love you for doing that. But right now he hasn't yet. So that's just the reality. I'm trying to get past step one. I can't believe we're at step one because we've got to get to step two, which is pressure in Kamala Harris.

you mean it or didn't you mean it? And that's it. And guys, if Kamala Harris rules the right way, she has complete power and discretion to rule the right way, then the Republicans likely need 60 votes to block it. You know what that means? That means it's relatively easy to win. We can actually win on this. So let's go do that right now. So sign the petition, use the hashtag, include at Bernie Sanders. Make sure you get them the message. We love you, but you've got to do this. This is nowhere near optional. All right, now let's get on other good news on this same topic. All right.

So we do have a little bit of good news. So let's get to that. So senior Democrats in the Senate are luckily backing off of their disastrous plan B to pressure employers to pay their workers $15 an hour in minimum wage. Now, this was the plan B following word that the Senate parliamentarian, an unelected individual, had decided that the $15 an hour minimum wage hike could not be included in the coronavirus relief package because it doesn't pass something known as the bird rule. Now, that's something that is incredibly irrelevant. People in this country don't care. They want a federal minimum wage hike. And it's something that can easily be overruled by the person who presides over the Senate,

which is Kamala Harris. So it's a non-binding opinion. by an unelected person in the Senate referred to as the Senate parliamentarian. She can be overruled. But before we even had a chance to discuss that, Bernie Sanders and Ron Wyden in the Senate had their own Plan B ready. Now they're backing off of that Plan B because it is disastrous. Let me tell you what the details are. So after the Senate parliamentarian said that $15 an hour for the minimum wage hike was inadmissible

under the rules, Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden and Senate Budget Chair, Bernie Sanders said that they would instead seek to add tax penalties on large corporations that fail to pay a $15 an hour minimum wage, or a $15 an hour wage, I should say. Now they're backing off of it because experts have weighed in and they said, well, there's actually some pretty significant loopholes here. For instance, large employers can very easily reclassify their employees as contractors, which would indicate that they could skirt the tax penalties for not paying these workers $15 an hour. And I'm glad they're backing off of that because the fact that they immediately went to this pretty sad and pathetic

Plan B shows that there was at least in the short term this idea of abandoning $15 an hour as a provision in the coronavirus relief package. That does not need to happen. Let's be absolutely clear. That does not need to happen. Kamala Harris can overrule the Senate parliamentarian. There is going to be a bit of a fight on that, though, because Biden's top economic advisor, Brian Dees, has said over the weekend on several interviews, what you're about to hear. We think that through a tax provision, which says that if you're not, Progressives want the vice president to get involved, she is, has, has, the ability to overrule the Senate parliamentarian, I know that Ron Clayne already weighed in on this

and said that that was unlikely. Is that your understanding? No, the vice president's not going away. The president and the vice president both respect the parliamentarian's decision and the process. We don't agree with it. We're disappointed by it, but we'll respect that process. And our focus is now going to be to get with congressional leadership determined the best path forward for the minimum wage, and at the same time, move quickly to get the American Rescue Plan passed. There is no other real way of getting $15 an hour minimum wage passed. This is our only real shot. And we'll talk a little more about Kamala Harris later in the show. But Jank,

I wanted to give you an opportunity to jump in on that plan B that luckily now Senator Sanders is backing off of. Yeah, real quick on that guy from the White House saying, we're going to And I'm like, okay, let's see how this sentence ends. Is it our voters? Is it respect the promises we made? Is it respect workers, 32 million workers in this country, hard workers working all year long for the minimum wage? No, the sentence ended with we respect the parliamentarian. We respect the process. So you respect some antiquated process, which by the way is not at all in the Constitution and has not. no force of law, over 32 million people who would, a lot of whom would double their salaries, would get in total $92 billion raise every single year. Now, you guys, it's a joke. It's a joke. They never meant it. They're lying. Let's just reporters, please do your job. Please do your job. You can't say I'm killing the minimum wage, but I wanted it to pass. That's not a thing. By killing it, you're saying, I did not want it to pass. So that's on Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. We're going to get to that step next.

Step one is the one that you're alluding to, which is, what is Bernie Sanders going to do? Well, Bernie Sanders doesn't have it in the bill now. We're doing this campaign, hashtag don't kill it Bernie, and we've got it in t-y-t.com slash petitions slash don't kill a Bernie. And that is, I believe it's working. And that example of that and evidence of that is this. This plan was weak sauce, this plan B. Okay, we're not going to do a $15 million wage, but we'll start to do this super complicated

formula about taxing some corporations on some of their employees. Well, here's why it didn't make any sense. So number one, we didn't ask for that. We asked for $15 minimum wage and the pressure that literally the TYT audience put on in a good and loving way, I think was a giant part of them going, yeah, this is weak sauce. Number two, there's no guarantee that would pass. That would have the same exact problem with $15 minimum wage. And then we look, we do a lot of work behind the scenes to double check, quadruple check things, especially things this important and about process. So there was no plan to get that plan B passed either.

All it was going to do, it was going to take away all of the energy about the fight for 15. And it's literally called the fight for 15, okay, not to ask the parliamentarian for 15. And so it was going to take that energy away and make you try to pass a thing that no one understands. And then at the end, people are like, you didn't even write this yet. So Wyden and Sanders hadn't written it. It was obviously a face saving gesture to protect Biden and Harris. No deal, no deal. And so they realized that and that's good news. So they pulled it. So now there is no plan B. So it's got to be plan A. And he's got to put it in the bill. If he puts it in the bill, then it is harder to take out. If you're voting on it by itself,

then it becomes easier to defeat. So there are certain rules in the Senate we can't get around. The parliamentarian is not one of them. Okay. So put it in the bill. And then we got an actual fighters chance of winning. And I love that plan B is trashed. And the whole country should thank TYT viewers for helping to get rid of that nonsense. So we can go back to the real deal, $15 minimum wage. Damn right. TYT Army is way too strong. But we're not done yet with this story. We have one other small victory to share with you all. But we won't be able to do that until we come back from our break. So stick around. We'll be right back. called Un-F-The-Republic, or UNFTR.

As a Young Turks fan, you already know that the government, the media, and corporations are constantly peddling lies that serve the interests of the rich and powerful. But now there's a podcast dedicated to unraveling those lies, debunking the conventional wisdom. In each episode of Un-F-The-Republic, or UNFTR, the host delves into a different historical episode or topic that's generally misunderstood or purposely obfuscated, by the so-called powers that be. Featuring in-depth research,

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So search for UNFDR in your podcast app today and get ready to get informed, angered, and entertained all at the same time. I'm going to be able to be. All right, back during the break, there's so many wonderful comments. I don't think I'm going to be able to get to all of them, but let's start in Twitch. Darts Throers, who's been with us for four months using Prime, says, I'll be honest, I'm just here for Anna's Rance. Okay. Well, you'll get them.

You'll get them. Hunter, Hunter, okay? Uh-oh, that's a new thing. new thing, Hunter. The real Pac-Man writes in, and he's been with us for nine months using Amazon Prime. If I got Amazon Prime, it's free for you. Why would you do it? Are you a bad guy or something? I'm kidding. Everybody can do whatever they want, right? But if you have Amazon Prime, we get the money and it's free to you guys so you can do that. You can sign up any way you like. Anyways, he says, nine-month Turkaversary, been down for years and there's nowhere else I'm

I'm getting my news. Thank you, Jencanana, for keeping it 100. Hashtag SM Oklahoma, which I assume means shake my Oklahoma. But I don't know. Barbudo 222 writes in, what has Bernie saved political capital for, if not this one historic moment? Exactly. Did we just say that at the same time? Jinks. Yeah. I learned that for my kids. Okay. I said it a little faster than you did, But it's okay. We have the same thought. That's a good thing. You know what?

Because according to my kids rules, that means you're not allowed to talk anymore. Okay. So that would kind of hurt the point of the show. But anyways, I won't hold you to it, Anna. All right, we're going forward. Willow MakerDrag has been with us for four months, also through Prime. It says four months with my hashtag Bezos bucks, I still have my YouTube subscription, but love my Twitch fan. Double subscribe?

Double love. All right, listen, if you're on YouTube, you hit the join button below. I mean, if you think they got it easy on Twitch, just hit a button. I mean, yeah, but the lowest level is $2 a $1.99. By the way, $1.99 means $2.00. Keep it real. It's just the way YouTube prices it. All right, anyways, Claudia Westbrook just did that. Kind of an American hero.

Heidi De Jong, Gensi Baker. I don't even know if they're from America, but they're heroes nonetheless. Thank you, guys. We do this show together. We win together. what's happening today. Sean Uppelby writes it on YouTube super chat. Jank and Anna, I appreciate all that you do. Mr. May's show so much. I hope this gets read because I also appreciate all the supporters. We make this show. Keep the progressive pressure on love. Yes, that's exactly

right. We do this show together. Without you guys, we got nothing. Imagine me go to legislators and going, I happen to think this. They'd be like, so what? Who cares? Right? But if you happen to think it all together, then they care a lot. Okay? So that's awesome. And thank you for in a sense making us you're a representative. It's really an honor. I'm not kidding. And then Roy Lehman asked an important question in the member section. Jenks, suppose it's included and is voted down. Can that be stripped out and then vote on it again? So there are different layers that you could vote on it, but each layer gets more difficult. So as a standalone bill, which I favor, because it has a lot of political upsides, unfortunately, it doesn't work because then you get

hit with the filibuster super hard. All right, we'll talk more. I'm going to be. I'm going to be. I'm going to be. You know, I'm going to be able to be. I'm going to be. All right. making Anna with you guys on an important day here as we fight for the minimum wage. We are

neck deep in this fight right now and it's a fight we can actually win. We've got to show courage here in leadership and it turns out that our progressive legislators in the House actually have. Well, look at that. Amazing. Okay, Anna's going to give you this story. I'm going to give you the hype because I'm super excited. All right. Well, 23 progressives in the the House of Representatives have signed a letter urging Vice President Kamala Harris to overrule the unelected Senate parliamentarian who recommended stripping the coronavirus relief bill of the proposal to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Now Representative Rokana argued that Harris, as the presiding senator, has the power to do this. Listen. Oh, my bad. I actually

to have graphics. Progressive. So Rokana said this, sorry about that guys, that was my mistake. I am not on my A game today, but I will fix it. So this is what Rokana said. He says, quote, we believe that the bill, the president signs must include the House passed minimum wage legislation. This is the moment to get this done, and it is within our control.

The letter itself, by the way, said this, 81 million people cast their ballots to elect you, meaning Joe Biden, on a platform that called for $15 an hour minimum wage. We urge you to keep that promise. We must act now to prevent tens of millions of hardworking Americans from being underpaid any longer. And just to give you an idea of how much of an impact this would have on people's lives, jank, $15 an hour for the federal minimum wage would increase the wages of 32 million workers, a majority of whom currently obviously live below the poverty line.

the previous federal minimum wage, the one that has been implemented, is only $7.25, which is not, it's not even a minimum wage. That is a starvation wage. That's why we have so many people in this country who end up working full-time jobs, but still find themselves homeless because it's not enough money to be able to pay your rent, to be able to buy groceries. You have people living in their cars while at the same time working full-time jobs at some of the biggest companies in this country. Yeah, so first of all, I should also note that it would be a $92 billion pay increase per year for those 32 million Americans.

So that's a giant number. That's why Chamber of Commerce hates it. And they're using every politician they have to try to kill it while you don't notice, right? Because they don't want to pay you more. They want to give that to their executives and their shareholders. So that's, otherwise, this would be a no-brainer. Well over two-thirds of the country want this. 83% of the country, including every demographic, says that we need to increase the minimum wage.

I mean, how much more popular does it have to be? The only reason why we're even having this debate is because big corporate donors have told not just Republicans, but Democrats, you are not allowed to do this. That's why I love the fight back from the House progressives. 23 of them in all, every one of them that signed as an American hero, honestly led by the Justice Democrats. They're all in there. Roe-Connor is leading the charge. I want to give you another quote from Roe because it's so important. He said, we've been asked politely but firmly to compromise on nearly all of our principles and goals. Not this time. If we don't overrule the Senate parliamentarian, we are condoning poverty wages for millions of Americans. That's why I'm leading

my colleagues in urging the Biden administration to lean on the clear precedent and overruled this misguided decision, give America a raise. There you go, Rokana, first ever justice Democrat, and he did it when he was an incumbent and he didn't have to do it. He organized this letter and great quotes from Cory Bush, Ilhan Omar, Rashida, to lead Jamal Bowman, you name it. And Jamal Bowman and Cory Bush make a great point. This affects African Americans and Latinos more than anyone else. So now the the Biden administration and Kamala Harris are going to turn around and go, no, we care about the parliamentarian more than we care about you guys. And look, the reason why we never win

is because there's never any pushback in Washington from progressives. And now they're pushing back and going, no, we're just not going to let you get away with it. Bernie's got to put it in the bill. And then Kamala Harris, as the presiding officer, as these other legislators are pointing out has complete authority to put it in the bill. If she doesn't, it's not the parliamentarian's fault. It's not the Republicans' fault or Mitch McConnell's fault. It's Kamala Harris's fault. On the other hand, by the way, and they point this out, she could be the hero. Bernie puts it in the bill. He's the hero for bringing it all the way here and putting it in the bill, which hasn't happened yet. Then Kamala Harris comes in and saves the days the presiding officer, she becomes a hero. So where's

the downside? I mean, Kamala Harris is planning on running for president. Yes. What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? You really, you think you're going to run for president and this won't come back to bite you? Of course it will. She ran her presidential campaign during the last Democratic primaries on this idea that she's very progressive, that she wants to fight for a $15 an hour minimum wage. And that's really the other part of this story that's so infuriating. They all think we're suckers. They all think that they can just lie to us, that they can campaign on proposals that they know is incredibly popular with people. I mean, Florida, a red state just passed a minimum wage hike through a ballot initiative. 61% of Floridians

voted to increase the federal minimum wage. This is something that's popular on both sides of the aisle, because again, it doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or a Republican. a liberal, conservative, progressive, we're all as workers living under this broken, unequal system where we sit back and watch people get paid starvation wages as they're working full time and living in the back of their trucks because they can't afford rent. At the same time, you have Jeff Bezos, hoarding all that wealth, you have other corporate CEOs, hoarding all their wealth, you have Silicon Valley CEOs making a ton of money during the coronavirus pandemic. There is no excuse to not include that provision in the coronavirus relief bill. There's no

excuse for Kamala Harris to not overrule the parliamentarian. And then the third part of all of this, as you guys know, is to show up to West Virginia, show up to Arizona, and start rallying for this. Because you have Kirsten Sinema and Joe Manchin pretending as if a $15 an hour minimum wage hike is not popular, you better damn believe it is popular. So this is, look, this is a bit of a fight. It's more than just one thing that we need to do. We need to ensure that it's in that final bill. We need to ensure that Kamala Harris does the right thing and overrules the parliamentarian. And then we got to make sure that Joe Manchin and Kirsten Cinema know that if they vote against a $15 an hour minimum wage, it'll come back to haunt them as well when they're ready to run for reelection.

Yeah, and guys, so I want to explain the process just a little bit better because it's so important, and you can begin to see why this is very doable. So we're doing hashtag don't kill Bernie because Bernie hasn't even put it in the bill yet. That's unfortunately step one. It should be fortunately step one. So then you move on to step two, which is what these legislators are doing, which is pressuring Kamala Harris to answer Anna's question. Why is this even a hard question for Kamala Harris who's going to run in 2024? because she's thinking she could kill it without anyone noticing, and that way she gets credit from her donors. And they go, great job, Kamala, we'll give you more money for killing it without anybody. And then she doesn't have to pay a price with the voters. But what the Justice

Democrats and other progressives in the House are saying is, no, we're not going to let you get away with it. If you're going to kill it, you're going to have to kill it in front of everyone. We're putting the spotlight on it. Now you've got a real choice to make. Yes, that's why you needed progressives in the House. Let me read you Bowman's quote. This is Jamal Bowman, Justice Democrat, just one. He said the American people gave the Biden administration a mandate in the past election, a mandate that included passing a $15 minimum wage. We didn't organize and show up at the polls for one unelected person to suppress wages. Okay, no, no, this is not about suppressing wages, we promised the exact opposite. And so did you, Vice President

Harris. So when you put that spotlight on, if she says, oh, no, I'm going to, nope, I don't care, I'm going to go against the voters. She's going to be in a lot of trouble. On the other hand, if she comes in and Biden, Biden, meaning, remember how Biden did that to Obama on gay rights? At TYT, we frequently talk about all the ways that big tech companies are taking control of our online lives, constantly monitoring us and storing our data. But that doesn't mean we have to let them. It's possible to stay anonymous online and hide your data from the prying eyes of big tech. And one of the best ways is with ExpressVPN. ExpressVPN hides your IP address, making your active ID more difficult to trace and sell the advertisers. ExpressVPN also

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parliamentarian doesn't rule just advice if she says yes it's in the bill as a presiding officer she's the hero she saves the day right and then she delivers on her promises and then this is really important then they need 60 votes to take it out they don't have 60 votes so if they somehow get to a 50 vote margin they might have to kill a portion of the filibuster to do that it's a win win so all we got to do is get they're right there row is right Jamal's right they're all You put Kamala Harris on the spot and we set up a win-win. And then at that point, if Mansion and Cinema want to kill a part of the filibuster and then vote against higher wages, yes, there's going to be a price to pay.

And guys, we thought all of this out, okay? And then the last part of it is Rebellion Pack comes in. We already have ads ready against Mansion and cinema. And we will unleash those. So please make us do that. No, look, I just wanted to pass. I don't want to have to do that. But those ads are devastating and we will run them ad nauseum in West Virginia and Arizona.

Because this is now the battle is joined before the establishment would just steamroll everything and the corporate media would run cover for them. And they'd play a shell game. Oh, Pelosi doesn't have the votes. Schumer doesn't have the votes. Oh, we both have the votes. Oh, now the parliamentarian. It's a shell game and Justice Democrats are calling BS on it. Bernie joined the fight. And lastly, Elizabeth Warren came in today. And said, said, yes, we got to ignore the parliamentarian's so-called advice, and we need to pass this thing. Put it in the bill and pass it. Warren's here. Justice Democrats are here. Bernie, show up and let's do this together. Yeah, I agree. I wanted to give some more detail into what Warren said.

So it was reported that she supports the calls from these House progressives to evade the parliamentarian to raise the federal minimum wage. And this is a direct quote. She says, this is a short-term solution. solution is to get rid of the filibuster, she says. And I absolutely agree with that. And David Sarota, of course, quote, tweeted that and said, good for Senator Warren, the first senator to speak up in support, solid. We now have a situation where the Democratic president wants Democrats to side with Mitch McConnell on rules to block a House pass Democratic minimum wage bill truly insane. And I couldn't agree more with that. So good for Senator Warren. And honestly, some of the known progressives in the Senate who have not chimed in yet.

People like Senator Markey, for instance, it's a little bit of an issue. If I were you, I would definitely speak out immediately because people are paying close attention, including us. We don't have loyalties to people simply because they label themselves as progressives. We're going to hold lawmakers accountable if they find themselves in a position to actually do the right thing and decide to do the wrong thing. Yeah, so look, guys, understand how this went. And I swear to God, this is exactly how it went down. Friday night, after the parliamentarian

ruled on Thursday, Friday night, this thing was almost $15 minimum wage was almost completely dead. And then TYT viewers came in, you guys signed a petition, you started doing videos, you started putting it online, and all of a sudden the plan B that Sanders and Wyden were going to go to gone. They withdrew it in the weekend. And then Roe Con and the Justice Democrats come in with the cavalry. That petition is so important, okay? So, Tijuana. T.y.com slash petition slash don't kill it, Bernie. Then Rokane and the Justice Democrats come in and they create pressure from the House. Now what's Bernie's going to do? Now he's got other progressives saying you got to put it in the bill. Then when Warren comes in, she's out, you know,

for the moment being outflanking Bernie on the left. And now why wouldn't Bernie put it in if another senator is saying put it in, right? It would be weirdly corporate not to put it in. That makes no sense. So you guys started. There were other people involved, but Not that many, honestly, okay? You guys started the ball rolling. By the way, Sarota, a daily poster has been great in our in, check out his articles, his research, his facts are all 100% right. And he's been leading through his reporting.

And so he's been great on this. And now we're at a point where Bernie, it feels like he's got to do it. It would be crazy not to do it. If he puts it in, we got, we got a real shot at this. And if we win all those people, I just. listed should receive all the credit in the world. And that's all of us fighting together for someone we don't know. All right, let's take a break. And when we come back, Joe Biden did pay some lip service to labor, but is he going to actually put some action behind it?

We'll give you the details on that story and more when we come back. I'm going to be able to be. We're going to be able to go. Are you, we're going to be. All right, during the break, I'm going to read some things to you guys. That was a good graphic we put up, but it's actually over 8,500 signatures now. That's an old version of it at t-y-t.com slash petition slash don't kill it, Bernie. Can I see 10,000 signatures?

All right, look at all these American heroes. Just joined on YouTube. Jacob Anderson, Darwin Ellis, Gypsy Lady, Shannon Price, Neppocrates, Kaelin Crowley, Alexa Thatcher, Robert Crocker. Is that what a hero would do? Join a movement that's actually changing the country? I guess. I guess that's what they would do. Join buttons right below the video. It's not confusing. Get the census level. You get the post game. We've got a fun post game today. Half of it

will be serious also on this minimum wage issue and half of it will be quote unquote light and fluffy. Okay, so check that out members. TYt.com slash join anywhere else on Twitch as you all know. Here I'll read one of yours. Sean the Sasquatch writes in. member for six years, Twitch sub for a few months. Jim 818 writes in, take this Bezos money, y'all. Okay, so if you have Amazon Prime, it is free for you guys, but we do get the money, so it's win-win for everybody except Jeff Bezos. All right, no, he likes it, that's why he's doing it, so everybody wins. So now, Peter Hamby writes in a super chat. How many of their donors are saying that it's quote, it's our money and we want to keep it, and the Democrats are agreeing?

Republicans is automatic and conservatives don't care if they starve to death. Yeah, Peter, honestly, that's pretty much how it's going down. The Chamber of Commerce speaks for the business community and for all those donors. So when they say, and they recently met with Biden, and they said, no, don't you do the minimum wage. And then Biden says, okay, we're not doing the minimum wage. Why? Parliamentary. But remember, Biden said a week before the parliamentarian ruled that if the parliamentarian rules that way,

We're definitely gonna kill it. Wink, wink, he wanted to kill it all along. Super obvious. Let's see if Kamala Harris has any courage. Little Max is something that's important on Super Chat. I don't think people realize that even a mansion no vote is a quasi win. We'll have everyone on the record that they did not care if people got paid more. Gee, I wonder what we will campaign on in 22 and 24.

That's exactly right. That's why they're asking Bernie to cover for them. I'm keeping it real. Like I'm sure that Bernie's team does not view. it that way, they like, oh, parliamentarian, blah, blah, blah, blah, and they're buying into that nonsense, okay? I guess, I guess, I hope not, right? And they still have time to act here. But, but, but it's real that in Washington, they think, what if we lose the vote? Who cares? It's, if you don't try your, it has no chance of success. Try it. And then at least we

have people on the record that is definitely a win. All right, we'll be back. We're going to be able to be. We're going to be. Oh, Oh, uh, uh, Uh,

Uh, will be Uh, we're Uh, Uh, Oh, Uh,

Uh, Uh, Uh, Uh, Uh, Uh, All right back on Young Church, Jank and Anna with you guys. I tell you we do this show together, you prove it right every day on Twitch, by the way.

Bob Christina gave a thousand bits. Bits sound like they're unimportant by definition. It's just a bit. No, they matter a lot and they helped a show a lot. So thank you, Bob. Really appreciate and everyone who's chipped in. Lady Dragon, wonderful donation on Super Chat. Really appreciate it. Your comment just got erased. Don't worry, it'll get put back on and I'll read it later. And so we've got so much more for you guys. So let's give you the news and then I'll come back to the comments. All right. In a surprising move, President Joe Biden decided to come out and support

of the organizing workers in Bessemer, Alabama. These are Amazon warehouse workers who are currently in the process of trying to form a union. We'll see whether or not they'll be able to do so by March 29th. That's when the ballots for forming a union will come in. They'll count the votes from the employees and see if the majority of them do in fact want to unionize. Now, he didn't mention Amazon by name, but it was very clear that he was referring to the Bessemer, Alabama, Amazon warehouse workers. And here's what he had to say in the video that he released just over the weekend. The choice to join a union is up to the workers, full stop, full stop. Today and over the next few days and weeks, workers in Alabama, and all across America are voting in whether to work.

organize a union in their workplace. This is vitally important, a vitally important choice as America grapples with the deadly pandemic, the economic crisis, and the reckoning on race, what it reveals the deep disparities that still exist in our country. And there should be no intimidation, no coercion, no threats, no anti-union propaganda. Unfortunately, since these are employees in Alabama, a state that doesn't have very many labor laws on the books, there is quite a bit of intimidation and propaganda taking place on behalf of Amazon. They're forcing their workers, 6,000 of them to attend anti-union meetings. They're also playing some pretty sick tricks when it comes to basically squashing any efforts to organize. So for instance, they're not allowed to organize when they're on the Amazon, you know, premises. Like they have to do so outside of work.

And so one thing that they've been doing with some of these organizers is they've been talking to Amazon employees as they're stopped at red lights, you know, before they go into work. And what it appears happened is Amazon got the county to change the timing of the lights. That way they don't have enough time to talk to the employees. I just want to show you a quick video that was put together to kind of explain how this all went down. Take a look. Amazon actually had the city to come out there and recalibrate the red lights. There was a truck across the field that had been sitting there for about two hours.

And so we went over to him. And he said, no, no, guys, I'm just here to do a traffic study right there at our red light where we stand. And then they stayed there for the rest of that day. And from that day forward, those red lights were completely different. And the reason they do that is when they come down, the exit, that red light will turn green. And they have to keep going. So they can't stop and chat with them.

A person might pull up and say, hey, can you answer this quick question for me? By the time she gets that out of her mouth, the light has changed green that quick. It's caused an accident since we've been out there. Big Mike almost got hit. Two calls, crash, jumped up on the block while I was standing there. I had to literally jump off the block, get back up and try to help the people to make sure they was okay.

So this is a big deal, Jank, especially considering the fact that it's pretty unprecedented for a sitting president to be this supportive, at least even if it's lip service, toward workers organizing and forming a union. And I think it's really important when it comes to the single law. largest employer in the country, which is Amazon. We're talking about 6,000 warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama alone. And we know what their labor conditions are like. We've reported stories about how these warehouse workers are treated. So this is really important. Yeah. So first of all, on that red light, it's a small point, but the county might or might

not know what Amazon's motives were. Amazon changing the light, their motive is super clear. Okay, but the county might be in on it or not in on it and it just fell for Amazon's trick. We don't know. Okay, so now moving on to the more important points. Joe Biden putting out that video, that's really good. I'm really glad he did it. It's already better than Obama. Obama, that famous line about, oh my God, if the unions ever go on strike, do we have that video? Yes, yes. So let me give you some context real quick though, because this video is before he got elected. He campaigned pretending as if he would put his walking shoes on and join workers at the picket line. So just know that this is in 2007 before he got elected. And obviously

afterwards, when he did get elected, he did not support workers the way that he said he would. So let's just take a quick look at that. It's a short video. If American workers are being denied, they're right to organize and collectively bargain when I'm in the White House, I'll put on a comfortable pair of shoes myself. I'll walk on that picket line with you as president of the United States of America. Okay. It didn't happen. Yeah, those are the most unused pair of shoes in American history. So, of course, they did go on strike famously in Wisconsin. And it was about collective bargaining.

It was exactly what Obama was talking about. And he just could not find those shoes in the closet, barely engaged in the fight at all. Because God forbid, it could hurt his ratings. So he did almost nothing to help the workers in Wisconsin, Obama. And of course, Biden was part of that administration. Of course, he followed suit. So this is already better than Obama that at least Biden is coming out as president and making a statement about it. It's weird that he's not bothering to mention Amazon and the particular case, even though he says Alabama.

Just finish it, Joe. Who cares? What are you still scared of Amazon? Anyway, I'm trying to give him credit. God bless. I like that you made the comment, okay? So now, but if you want to keep it real on what actually matters, there's one thing that Biden could do that would make a giant difference. You just say, that's it. I'm in favor of the $15 minimum wage. And we're not going to let the parliamentarian kill it. Parliamentarian has no power. We have the power. Kamala Harris is the presiding officer of the Senate, and she will rule that we can use reconciliation for the $15 minimum wage. The workers of Alabama, congratulations. I just gave you a giant raise. Now, by the way, that doesn't mean that they shouldn't unionize. Amazon is a near perfect company to unionize against. They're gigantic. They're worth about a trillion dollars. They treat their workers very poorly. In the past, they used to have ambulances in front the hospital because they figured out that it was cheaper to have ambulances than to pay for the air conditioning. Now they got so much negative publicity, they changed that policy. But now they still

time a lot of their workers for how long they can stay in the bathroom. I mean, if you that, if you're not organizing around that, I don't know when you would ever organize. So they should definitely unionize Amazon in Alabama. It's like the largest corporation in the world almost. And so, again, that's a perfect situation for a union. And so let's go. Let's all unite on the wages and the workers' rights in that situation. And, Jake, if I may, there's one more thing that I wanted to bring to everyone's attention, because it's also one way that Biden can show that he doesn't just, you know,

talk the talk, that he's actually willing to back substantive legislation that would help protect workers' rights to organize. So it's known as the Pro Act. It actually passed in the house already, obviously by party lines. Some Republicans voted in favor for it. But it's important because, you know, the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 essentially stripped away some of the protections that unions had. Like, it really did away with some of the strength that labor had in the country. And it did so by allowing states like Alabama to pass right to work laws. So I want to give you some details on what the pro act would do. The protecting the right to organize act, known as the pro act, would amend some of the

country's decades old labor laws to give workers more power during disputes at work, add penalties for companies that retaliate against workers who organize and grant some hundreds of thousands of workers' collective bargaining rights they don't currently have. It would also weaken right to work laws in 27 states that allow employees to forego participating in and paying dues to unions. So let me explain that real quick, because part of the Taft-Hartley Act was to basically make it mandatory that if a portion of the workers at a company decide to unionize, well, then they can't force other workers in that company to pay union dues if they don't want to be part of the union. However, they would also get the non-unionized workers would also get the same benefits that the unionized workers fight for. You know, the unionized workers will go on strike, they'll lose their wages as they're on strike. And as their colleagues and their coworkers are crossing the picket line to go to work, you know, their workers, what they're fighting for, what they accomplished through those strikes would still extend to those workers who don't join them in the fight.

So what does that do? It disincentivizes people from joining the union, from being part of that fight, and more importantly from paying the union dues that help to strengthen that union. So that's part of what would be repealed under this pro act. So I haven't heard Biden, you know, mention a peep about that. And I do think it's important for him to show that he's willing to back actual legislation that would strengthen labor and people's bargaining rights in this country. All right, last two things. The reason why I love this fight so much is because, look, I'm going to keep it real. Sometimes unions go in and they, they're afraid to take on fights with giant corporations because they have so much power. So they'll go pick on the local mom and pop. And they organize against the local diner and the local warehouse and makes it even harder to compete against Amazon. Amazon's like, thank you very much. Really appreciate it. And the union thinks, well, that's a fight I could win. So in this case, they're not doing that. They're going after the actual giant corporation. Well, more power to you, brother. That's the fight we all agree to. And so, and that doesn't secretly help giant big

businesses. It actually challenges power. That's what you use are supposed to do. So love this one, okay? And I'm gonna read one comment from, from our audience, from our members. A very stable dragon wrote in, in light of the $15 minute wage battle, and that Biden hasn't come right out and say that he should be left in the bill, Biden's strong words in support of unions collapses. Unions fight for higher wages. If Biden was truly pro-union, he'd be pro-fifteen-dollar minimum wage. And so that's absolutely right. Biden doesn't have to say anything about this. He could just put the $15 million in the COVID relief bill, and that's it. That'd be the most pro-union thing you could ever, ever do. Giant $92 billion raise for workers across this country every single year.

But Biden says he wants the $15 minimum wage and every person in the media writes that he wants it, but then he helps kill it by saying, no, the parliamentarian is more important than 32 million workers in this country. So understand right now as things stand, Joe Biden plans to kill the $15 minimum wage. Do not let him blame Republicans. They have the power to put it in the bill. And Biden and Kamala Harris at this point are choosing not to use that power on behalf of workers. So I like the video, but it really is the tip of the iceberg and what he could do. Go find those shoes in the closet, Joe, and actually put them on, and then tie them and then walk around. All right, let's discuss some of these updates on Andrew Cuomo before

we go to our next break. So we've been talking about Cuomo quite a bit lately, and he has been embroiled in some pretty serious scandals. So New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is apologizing after now a second former aide has come forward and accused him of sexual harassment. This weekend, former aide Charlotte Bennett, a health policy advisor in the Democratic governor's administration until November, told the New York Times that Cuomo asked her all sorts of inappropriate questions about her sex life, including whether she had ever slept with older men, and I should note that she's younger. Cuomo is much older than her, so it was easy to kind of connect the dots and figure out that he was trying to refer to himself there. Charlotte Bennett said

the governor had asked her numerous questions about her personal life, including whether she thought age made a difference in romantic relationships and had said that he was open to relationships with women in their 20. Wow, wow, what a revelation. An older man is interested in a relationship with a woman who was much, much younger. Wow. Comments as she interpreted as clear overtures for obvious reasons to a sexual relationship. And I wanted to give you this quote from Charlotte Bennett. She said this. He asked me if I believed if age made a difference in relationships. And he also asked me in the same conversation if I had ever been with an older man. I understood the governor wanted to sleep with me and felt horribly uncomfortable and

scared and was wondering how I was going to get out of it and assumed it was the end of my job. And you know, that power imbalance is a huge problem because he's her boss and he's asking her incredibly inappropriate, invasive questions. And it puts female employees like her, like Charlotte Bennett, in a terrible position. And it takes a lot to come out and speak out about her alleged experiences with Cuomo. And I should also note that this is now, second former aide who's come out and alleged that he had sexually harassed her. Yeah, so look, Cuomo's in trouble. So the nursing home situation was a debacle to begin with. And now this layered on top is a very powerful one, two punches. Now, but let's break it down.

So let's just do political analysis for a second of how this plays out. There's of course a substance that Anna talked about whether there's harassment in the first place, right? That's a more important issue. But when you look at the politics of it, so if it turns out that he tried to kiss the first person that came out, and that's what she alleged, well, then he's in a world of trouble. That's you cannot cross that line. Now Andrew Cuomo swears up and down in his public statements that he did not do anything physical.

So that will be pivotal. Then number two, if it was just joking around in general, which is what Cuomo's statements seem to indicate, then he would almost certainly survive that politically. Whether you think he should or not, he would definitely survive that. But the middle ground one where it'll be interesting politically, and for a lot of you will not be middle ground, is the flirting. It's the unsolicited and fairly clear flirting with both of these women. Now I say fairly clear, but to be fair, it's if these accounts are right, it's definitive.

That's definitely flirting, right? It's not really in question. Now he can come out and say they're not correct, and that's not how the conversations happen. And in one of the cases on the plane, he has witnesses to back him up on the strip poker comment from the first set of allegations, right? But if it turns out he really did say these things, well, you know, then we're just from a political perspective, we're gonna see how many allies he has and how many enemies he has in the state.

And we're gonna see how much people are enraged by it. If they think, and a lot of, and this is not good and it certainly does not speak to all older Americans, but a lot of older Americans think the flirting is not that big a deal. Now, a lot of you will be in will be enraged by even hearing that opinion. But I'm not saying it, I'm relaying to you what older Americans think because I've seen it in other stories. Younger Americans on the other hand think it's totally unacceptable and that he's got to resign if he does that. So there's that battle too. So that's what makes it a really interesting story on many levels. Yeah, absolutely. And I do want to give you his apology because he doesn't apologize for what

he said, he apologizes for how it was interpreted. But I think that this so-called apology is important to mention because he's not denying that he made these comments. So he says, I now understand that my interactions may have been insensitive or too personal and that some of my comments given my position made others feel in ways I never intended. I acknowledge some of the things I have said and have been said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted for To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that. So that's not a denial. It's also not really a full-blown apology.

It's more of a, if I have offended you, I do apologize for that. But what I do also kind of find interesting, Jank, is that this is an important story. Don't get me wrong, and it's something that should be investigated. But I do find it interesting that Cuomo's scandal regarding his cover of mass deaths in his own state because of decisions he made related to the coronavirus pandemic and nursing homes didn't really seem to get as much attention as this does. And I just find that questionable, to be honest. Anna, you're so right about that. And it's actually super frustrating. It's not to say that this story shouldn't get attention. It should. Definitely.

But the press is obsessed with anything related to sex. And so it's not that they shouldn't be obsessed with these allegations, is that they should be at least as obsessed with all the people that died in the nursing homes. So Cuomo made a really terrible decision to take them out of the hospitals, COVID patients, and put them into nursing homes. I mean, that was just flat out disastrous. Then he clearly covered it up. And let alone the Medicaid cuts that caused the problem with the hospitals in the first place.

So when you put all that together, that is a massive story. And it got some play, but these allegations are getting a lot more play. And look, some of you might think, hey, Cuomo is a giant corporate Democrat, so I don't really care what gets them. I do care about the principles, and I think that the nursing home story is one that people should stay on because that's just so important to how you actually govern. When we come back from the break, we have a major update on the fight for a $15 an hour minimum wage. Bernie has spoken. We'll give you those details and more when we return.

Don't miss it. We'll be right back. Thanks for listening to the full episode of the Young Turks. Support our work, listen to ad-free, access members-only bonus content, and more by subscribing to Apple Podcasts at apple.com slash t-y-t. I'm your host, Shank Huger, and I'll see you soon.