Vote. Them. Out.
Critics lambasted Senate Republicans on Wednesday after Sen. Lamar Alexander blocked a vote on an emergency paid sick leave bill hours after the World Health Organization officially declared the global coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) moved to speed the proposal through the legislative process so senators could quickly vote to guarantee all American workers 14 days of paid sick leave in the event of a public health emergency.
"For many of our workers―restaurant workers, truck drivers, service industry workers―they may not have an option to take a day off without losing their pay or losing their job," Murray said. "That's not a choice we should be asking anyone to make in the United States in the 21st century."
Claiming the bill would be an "expensive" and burdensome mandate for employers, Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, blocked the Senate from voting on the bill, saying it must be voted on first by the GOP-controlled Health Committee.What better example of the Republican "profits before people" philosophy can you get than that?
Sen. Lamar "(!)" Alexander, one of the media- dubbed "moderate" Republicans (who also voted to acquit inept crime family boss Donald "Donny Small Hands" Trump in the impeachment trial) is retiring this year. He'll then be comfortably ensconced in one or more corporate boardrooms or academic board of regents and won't have to worry about making the choice whether to go to work sick or feed his family.
BONUS: The Senate Republican rats are refusing to consider a subsequent House Democratic bill addressing paid sick leave, emergency unemployment benefits, food assistance, and free coronavirus testing. They're judging helping working families during a pandemic "an ideological wish list."
(Photo: Lamar! with Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA))
