Sen. Sanders outlines progressive vision for budget

Nicole Gaudiano | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — More federal spending on infrastructure. Lower student interest rates. No tax loopholes for corporations.

Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, the top-ranking minority member of the Senate Budget Committee, said Monday he wants to take next year's budget resolution in a "radically different" direction from the one preferred by House and Senate Republicans.

"I'm going to work as hard as I can with other progressive members of the Senate to do everything we can to make sure this budget is not balanced on the backs of working families and low-income Americans," said Sanders, a potential presidential candidate.

Different versions of the fiscal 2016 budget resolution, which will provide a blueprint for federal spending, will be taken up by the House and Senate Budget committees this week. Sanders hasn't seen the resolutions crafted by Republicans, but he and committee Democrats already have changes in mind.

One amendment he plans to offer calls for a "significant" increase in funding to rebuild crumbling bridges, roads, airports and water systems.

"We can put millions of people back to work," he said.

Other amendments that either he or Democratic committee members will offer aim to:

• Make college more affordable and lower student interest rates "substantially." At the very least, Sanders said, Congress should support President Obama's proposed state-federal partnership to provide two years of community or technical college free of charge to qualified students.

• Make clear that Congress should not cut Social Security or Medicare.

• End a variety of tax loopholes that allow corporations to avoid paying taxes. Sanders said this would generate "substantial" revenue to invest in infrastructure and education.

"We're losing about $100 billion every year because corporations and wealthy individuals stash their money in these tax havens, and we want to eliminate that," he said.

Sanders and Democratic committee members also want to raise the federal minimum wage, improve overtime pay and address pay equity for women workers.

Sanders said he would discuss his priorities during Senate floor speeches this week and next. He has said previously he would announce by March whether he plans to run for president. On Monday, he said that deadline may be pushed back as he focuses on the budget.

"This is a decision that's going to have to be made in a reasonably short period of time and that's what we will be doing," he said.

Republicans have so far offered few details about their fiscal 2016 spending blueprint, which aims to balance the budget in 10 years. Senate Budget Chairman Mike Enzi of Wyoming held a hearing last week on the benefits of a balanced budget. He said government programs that aren't delivering results should be improved, and those that aren't needed should be eliminated.

"By spending responsibly and putting our fiscal books in order in a balanced and responsible way, we can restore the trust that we have broken with the American people," he said in a statement. "A balanced budget is essential for strong economic growth and job creation."

Some Republicans have discussed converting Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps) into block grant programs, and repealing the Affordable Care Act. Sanders says he will oppose those ideas.

He also said he opposes the austere approach he believes Republicans will take to balance the budget. Cutting spending on programs that benefit the elderly, children and sick and low-income people is not only "immoral" but "bad economics," he said. A better approach to deficit reduction is a "full-employment economy," where working people receive decent wages and pay taxes, he said.

"It really is very much a Robin Hood principle in reverse," he said of Republicans. "They are going to take from working families and the poor and give to the wealthy and large multinational corporations. At a time when we have so much wealth and income inequality, when we have much-too-high unemployment, to go after programs that working families desperately need is to me unconscionable."