Former Goldman Sachs boss weighs in on infrastructure vote: ‘Progressives blinked’

Former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein broke his yearlong silence on Twitter to weigh in on the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

“Progressives blinked,” Blankfein said in his first tweet since Oct. 14, 2020.  

Progressives blinked.

— Lloyd Blankfein (@lloydblankfein) November 6, 2021

Blankfein’s comment followed the House passing its $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill on Friday, which will now make its way to President Biden’s desk.

Blankfein also responded to a tweet from Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

“Let’s end Big Pharma’s greed,” Sanders said, citing how Americans pay “the highest prices on the planet for prescriptions.” 

Blankfein responded saying, “before you try to kill the industry, let them finish perfecting the vax’s and treatments for covid and all the other diseases that plague mankind.”

I get the neg sentiment towards pharma, but really, it’s not all bad. Pls, before you try to kill the industry, let them finish perfecting the vax’s and treatments for covid and all the other diseases that plague mankind. https://t.co/5iB9CPwZSu

— Lloyd Blankfein (@lloydblankfein) November 6, 2021

Last week, Sanders, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, again touted the importance of lowering prescription drug prices as part of the social spending bill.

He has also insisted on the inclusion of Medicare expansion and tax reform in the package, which a group of moderates are refusing to support until the Congressional Budget Office issues its final score on the bill. 

“I’m going to fight to the last moment here to make sure that those elements are in the bill,” Sanders has also said of those items. 

The online beef between Sanders and Blankfein is nothing new. 

In February 2020, the former CEO said he may vote for President Trump if Sanders was the Democrats’ presidential nominee. Sanders responded in a tweet saying that he would “welcome the hatred of the crooks who destroyed our economy.”