Politics

WASHINGTON, June 11 – The Senate today voted nearly unanimously for a bill to expand hospitals and clinics run by the Department of Veterans Affairs and to hire more doctors and nurses to provide timely, quality care for veterans.

The bipartisan bill by Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) would let veterans facing long delays for doctor appointments at VA facilities go elsewhere. Their measure also would hold VA officials accountable for trying to conceal patient wait times.

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Peter Welch made the following statement after Senators Sanders and McCain announced a bipartisan agreement for reforms at the Department of Veterans Affairs:

“The cost of any war must include the cost of caring for warriors when they return home. That solemn commitment has been shaken by recent events.

WASHINGTON, June 5 – Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) today reached a bipartisan agreement to improve veterans’ access to health care and address serious problems facing the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“While this is not the bill that I would have written, we have taken a significant step forward with this agreement,” said Sanders.

At a time when VA medical facilities in parts of the country have waiting lists that are too long, this legislation would give veterans access to private doctors, community health centers, Department of Defense medical facilities and facilities funded by the Indian Health Service.

BURLINGTON, Vt., June 2 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was joined this morning by representatives of Vermont-based, worker-owned businesses and an employee-ownership expert at a news conference to announce legislation to help workers who want to form their own businesses or worker-owned cooperatives.

Sanders said employee ownership increases employment, productivity, sales and wages. The federal government, however, has not done enough for employee ownership to realize its full potential.

BURLINGTON, Vt., June 2 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) welcomed an Obama administration initiative unveiled today to reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants, but the senator said real progress on global warming has been blocked by Republicans in Congress who have thwarted every measure to confront a planetary crisis that they deny is happening.

BURLINGTON, Vt., June 1 – Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today outlined a comprehensive legislative package to address “reprehensible” behavior by VA officials and to correct underlying problems in access to medical care.

“There must be a culture of honesty and accountability within the VA and people who have lied or manipulated data must be punished. But we also have to get to the root causes of the problems that have been exposed. The simple truth is that with 2 million more veterans coming into the system in recent years there are many facilities within the VA that do not have the doctors, nurses and other personnel that they need to provide quality care in a timely way.”

You are likely aware of the incredible influence the Koch brothers (Charles and David) are having on US politics. Their combined wealth is over 70 billion dollars which is more than the wealth of any other individual in the U..S. They have used their money to very strongly influence politics in this country through the cover of organizations such as Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Partners which in turn contribute large sums of money to conservative groups such as the Tea Party. The Koch brothers with their enormous wealth are part of an ever increasing takeover of the US democracy by private and corporate wealth and influence.

As I suspected, our “leaders” in the U.S. Congress aren’t inclined to require the Obama Administration to release the “targeted kill” memo authored by David Barron before confirming his judicial appointment today.  And once again, the mainstream media got suckered by the White House’s PR machine to enable business as usual.

While I encourage all to read , here’s how bmaz, a lawyer and top-level blogger at Emptywheel blog, ends his post on the subject today:

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MIDDLEBURY, Vt., May 16 – U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz spoke at a Vermont Energy Summit today as part of a first-hand look at how Vermont is on the cutting edge of transforming its energy systems from fossil fuels to sustainable energy.

In remarks at Middlebury College, Moniz focused on the need to reduce the cost of clean energy. Vermont, he added, “really looks unique” in terms of public and private cooperation on energy issues.

New FDA rule threatens mutually beneficial and environmentally sound partnership between brewers and farmers

Waterbury, VT (May 14th) – At the Alchemist Cannery today in Waterbury, Rep. Peter Welch unveiled a two-prong bipartisan effort to block a proposed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule that would likely end the longstanding practice of Vermont brewers providing nutritious and cost effective spent grain to farmers to feed their livestock. The spent grain would otherwise be dumped in landfills or composted at a significant cost to brewers.

Commissioner Recchia to Testify at U.S. Senate Hearing

WASHINGTON, May 13 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today introduced legislation to give states a greater role in decommissioning nuclear power plants.

Vermont and neighboring states should have more input in the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission process for determining what happens after the shutdown later this year of the 42-year-old Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, Sanders said. Aging plants also are projected to be mothballed in the next decade in Florida, Wisconsin, New Jersey, New York and Ohio.

BURLINGTON, Vt., May 12 – Flanked by Vermont college students and graduates who are deep in debt, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said today he will introduce legislation to help students earn college credits in high school in order to cut the cost of earning a college diploma.

Sanders said he supports a separate bill to lower interest rates on student loans. And, as a member of the Senate education committee, he also is working on ways to bring down college costs.

BURLINGTON, Vt., May 9 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will hold a press conference Monday in his Burlington office to announce legislation to help children from working families go to college. Sanders will be joined by Vermonters who will share how carrying heavy student debt loads has affected their lives.

Sanders plans to introduce legislation in the Senate early next week to help students earn college credits while still in high school. That would cut the time and the cost of earning a college diploma.

WASHINGTON, May 6 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called for Congress to act on proposals to curb greenhouse gas emissions after a major new report today warned that global warming could exceed 10 degrees Fahrenheit in the United States by the end of this century.

“This important report is another loud and clear warning that greenhouse gases are rising faster than ever and our refusal to recognize and deal with the crisis could have catastrophic consequences,” said Sanders, a member of the Senate energy and environment committees.

“It is no longer acceptable for a majority in Congress to ignore the overwhelming scientific evidence. It is no longer acceptable that coal and oil companies spend millions of dollars to defeat efforts to protect the planet,” Sanders added.

WASHINGTON, May 5 – Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement today after the American Legion called for the resignation of Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki:

“Serious allegations have been made regarding waiting lists at the Phoenix VA. Secretary Shinseki has done the right thing by calling for an immediate investigation of those allegations by the independent Office of Inspector General. I have promised to hold hearings on this issue as soon as we have the facts. While it might be temporarily satisfying to call for firing someone, it doesn’t get us any closer to the truth or solve problems that may exist.

Legislation increases tax credit and removes barrier for purchasers

Montpelier, VT (April 28th) – At a charging station in Montpelier this morning, Rep. Peter Welch unveiled new legislation that makes electric vehicles more affordable for middle-income Vermonters and easier to purchase. Welch arrived at a Statehouse electric vehicle charging station driving a 2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid Energi provided by Lamoille Valley Ford.

BURLINGTON, Vt., April 24 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and the senior Obama administration official responsible for improving access to health care met here today with representatives from 11 community health centers throughout Vermont.

Mary Wakefield, who heads the Health Resources and Services Administration at the Department of Health and Human Services, joined Sanders at a news conference to discuss what the senator has called a crisis in primary care in the United States.

“We have made some good progress in Vermont and across the nation in the last few years but clearly we still have a long way to go,” Sanders said.

BURLINGTON, Vt., April 23 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today congratulated the Vermont Legislature for passing a bill making Vermont the first state in the nation to require labels on food containing genetically-modified ingredients.

“I am very proud our small state stood up to Monsanto and other multi-national food conglomerates and is taking the lead in a movement to allow the people of our country to know what is in the food that they eat,” Sanders said. “Working with Vermonters, I will continue my efforts in Washington to pass national legislation on this important issue.”

BURLINGTON, Vt., April 22 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a member of the Senate environment and energy committees, said today’s observation of Earth Day is a reminder that dramatic action is needed to curb the carbon and methane emissions responsible for the planetary crisis of global warming.

Sanders cited a warning this month by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, made up of the world’s leading climate scientists, which reported that emissions of greenhouse gases have gone up nearly twice as fast so far in the 21st century as they did in the last decades of the 20th century.

BURLINGTON, Vt., April 16 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today welcomed a Vermont Senate vote to require labels on food containing genetically-modified ingredients.

“I am very proud that Vermont is taking the lead in a growing national movement to allow the people of our country to know what is in the food they eat. GMO labeling exists in dozens of countries around the world and should exist in the United States,” Sanders said.

“I will continue my efforts in Washington – against Monsanto and other multi-national food industry corporations – to pass national legislation on this issue. In the meantime, it is extremely important that Vermont and other states lead the way,” Sanders said.