Mitch McConnell may no longer be Senate Majority Leader, but Republicans can still block legislation supported by the vast majority. That's because of a Senate rule called the filibuster. If we have any hope of safeguarding our democracy and ushering in transformative change, Democrats must wield their power to get rid of the filibuster – and fast.

The filibuster is a Senate rule requiring a 60-vote supermajority to pass legislation. Which means a minority of senators can often block legislation that the vast majority of Americans want and need.

We have stunningly good news today: Wages in 2020 grew at by far the fastest rate in the last 45 years.

The bad news: It's a statistical anomaly caused by Donald Trump's lethal mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic. The scourge wiped out almost eight million jobs held by lower-paid workers and only two million better-paying jobs.

With the possibility of getting a more straightforward $15 federal minimum wage increase passed under the reconciliation process as part of the Covid-19 relief package in the U.S. Senate now in doubt, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is working on an alternative tax proposal as a way to make sure the nation's largest corporations don't continue to pay their employees what he describes as "starvation wages."Calling Thursday's guidance by the Senate Parliamentarian that the $15 wage increase should not be included in the Senate's version of the bill a "setback," Sanders told CNN's Anderson Cooper Friday night that lawmakers may "have to figure out another way to raise wages" as he referenced a Plan-B proposal of tax incentives tied to worker wages.

Asked by Cooper how he would determine which companies would face the new taxation policies, Sanders said Walmart continues to be the "poster child" when it comes to corporate greed and low-paid workers.