(RepublicanWire.org) – During a hearing about Starbucks’ efforts to block its stores from being unionized, Schultz slammed an attempt by Sanders to paint him as a privileged oligarch who had success handed to him early in life.
“I grew up in federally subsidized housing, my parents never owned a home, I came from nothing,” Shultz said. “I thought that my entire life was based on the achievement of the American dream! Yes, I have billions of dollars — I earned it! No one gave it to me. And I’ve shared it constantly with the people of Starbucks.”
Schultz then directly addressed Sanders.
“Your moniker… is unfair,” he charged.
“No it is not!” Sanders shot back, and then informed him that it was now time to hear from other witnesses because “you’re not the only person testifying.”
At the start of the hearing, Sanders accused Schultz and Starbucks of waging “the most aggressive and illegal union-busting campaign in the modern history of our country.”
Multiple Starbucks locations have voted to unionize over the past two years but so far the company has not recognized any of them as legitimate.
In a heated exchange during the congressional hearing, Republican Markwayne Mullin called out Senator Bernie Sanders for his hypocrisy on wealth and wages. Mullin questioned Sanders how he could ridicule CEOs and billionaires for being rich, while at the same time, being wealthy himself.
Mullin told Bernie, “You and your wife have immense wealth, over $8 million…Why is it that Mr. Schultz, who actually creates jobs — and the bestseller of a book isn’t creating any jobs — why is it that he’s corrupt, and you’re not?”
“If you are not part of a union, you’re also paying starvation wages?” Mullin asked Sanders. “What hypocrisy. What bias. Chairman, you are chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee. We shouldn’t have a biased approach, we should have what’s best for America and all those that want to thrive and work in it.”
Mullin continued to accuse Sanders of bias, and suggested that his socialist approach is not what’s best for Americans who want to work and thrive.