Politics

BURLINGTON, Vt., Sept. 7 – One day before the U.S. Senate votes on a constitutional amendment to restore limits on big money in politics, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called the drive to undo Supreme Court decisions that gutted campaign finance laws “the major issue of our time” and said Monday’s showdown vote is “a pivotal moment in American history.”

“Billionaires buying elections is not what our Constitution stands for,” said Sanders. He is a cosponsor of the amendment to reverse Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and later court rulings that let millionaires and billionaires spend virtually unlimited and unregulated sums to sway elections.

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt., Sept. 6 – With the wealth gap in the United States growing and greater already than in any other major country, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders today called for a progressive estate tax on multi-millionaires and billionaires.

“A nation will not survive morally or economically when so few have so much while so many have so little. We need a tax system which asks the billionaire class to pay its fair share of taxes and which reduces the obscene degree of wealth inequality in America,” Sanders said in a speech to be delivered this morning at the Vermont AFL-CIO annual convention here.

BURLINGTON, Vt., Sept. 4 – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has added his crucial backing to calls for a one-year moratorium on U.S. Postal Service plans to close up to 82 mail processing plants, slow down mail delivery and eliminate up to 15,000 jobs.

Reid added his signature to those of 50 other senators who calling for a ban on Postal Service cuts as part of must-pass legislation to keep the government running into the new fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) organized the effort to block the cuts proposed by Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe.

BURLINGTON, Vt., Sept. 3 – Amid a major crisis in primary health care, the situation may become significantly worse unless Congress renews support for community health centers that care for 22 million Americans, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) warned today.

Sanders four years ago helped lead the effort to secure $12.5 billion in the Affordable Care Act to expand community health centers and to recruit more doctors, dentists, nurses and other primary health providers. The health centers provide affordable primary care, dental care, mental health counseling and low-cost prescription drugs for low- and middle-income Americans.

BURLINGTON, Vt., Aug. 31 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement in advance of Monday’s observation of Labor Day:

“Today, we salute the trade union movement and all Americans who are fighting for the needs of working families.

“The sad reality of today’s America is that while the wealthiest people and largest corporations are doing phenomenally well, the middle class is disappearing and millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower wages. Congress must start listening to the needs of ordinary Americans, not just the billionaire class and their lobbyists.

Rebecca Balint and Jeanette White received the most votes for the Democratic primary today in Brattleboro. Balint had 699 votes; White received 751.

Roger Albee garnered 269 votes and Joan Bowman had a total of 128.

Shumlin and Welch received solid support.

Congressman Peter Welch
United States House of Representatives
Official Appearance Schedule

Monday, August 25th, 2014

10:30 a.m. Roundtable Discussion: Brattleboro

Rep. Welch will participate in a roundtable discussion on the Support and Services At Home (SASH) program. SASH is a federally funded, integrated care pilot program that coordinates health care services for seniors with an emphasis on improving health outcomes.

Following successful forums in Townshend and Bellows Falls, the Windham County Democratic Committee will host its final candidate forum in Brattleboro.

Guilford, VT, August 15, 2014 – The final State Senate candidate forum hosted by the Windham County Democratic Committee will be at the American Legion Hall in Brattleboro, beginning promptly at 6:30pm. Regarding the forums, organizer Betty Frye said:

BURLINGTON, Vt., Aug. 13 – Marking Thursday’s 79th anniversary of Social Security, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called today for expanding “the most successful federal program in modern American history.”

The law creating the retirement program was signed on Aug. 14, 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Vermont has a special place in the history of Social Security. The first monthly retirement check, for $22.54, was issued in 1940 to Ida May Fuller of Ludlow. A legal secretary, Miss Fuller retired at age 65 and lived to be 100 years old. Today, there are 134,000 Vermonters on Social Security.

BURLINGTON, Vt., Aug. 11 – Vermont will receive $1.68 million from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to help address veteran homelessness, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman, announced today.

The grant to the University of Vermont is part of the VA’s Supportive Services for Veteran Families program, which is providing approximately $300 million to 301 community agencies to help low-income veterans and their families.

FORT BELVOIR, Va., Aug. 7 – U.S. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement today after President Barack Obama signed legislation to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs:

“In a dysfunctional Congress, I’m glad we accomplished something significant for veterans. This legislation will go a long way toward ending unacceptably long waiting times for veterans to access health care and allow the VA the resources to hire the doctors, nurses and other medical staff it needs to address these problems over the long term.”

“Health and Aging: a Federal Policy Update”

The August “Brattleboro Citizens’ Breakfast” is planned for Friday, August 15,  2014 at the Gibson Aiken Center, downstairs, hosted by Senior Meals. Doors open at 7:30am.

This month we plan to hear from Sophie Kasimow Office. She is the HELP Committee Staff Director, that is Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which includes the Subcommittee on Primary Health & Aging. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is Chairman of this subcommittee.  

WASHINGTON, July 31 – The Senate tonight approved and sent to President Barack Obama a bill to improve access to health care for veterans and reform the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Crafted by the Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairmen – Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) – the $16.3 billion bill passed the Senate by a vote of 91-3. The House of Representatives voted 420-5 on Wednesday to approve the same measure.

WASHINGTON (TUESDAY, July 29, 2014) — Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on Tuesday introduced legislation that would restore Americans’ privacy rights by ending the government’s dragnet collection of phone records and requiring greater oversight, transparency, and accountability with respect to domestic surveillance authorities.

The updated version of the USA FREEDOM Act released today builds on legislation passed in the House in May, as well as the original legislation Leahy introduced with Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) last October. The legislation bans bulk collection under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and other surveillance authorities, requires the government to narrow the scope of a search to a clearly defined “specific selection term,” adds needed transparency and reporting requirements, and provides key reforms to the FISA Court. In an editorial on Monday, the New York Times wrote “the bill represents a breakthrough in the struggle against the growth of government surveillance power.”

Dean Corren for Lt. Governor is seeking campaign interns. Turn your free time into a valuable and exciting experience or connect with your school to receive credit for your work. We are looking for individuals to help with:

• Volunteer Managment
• Lawnsign Distribution
• Issue Research
  

PHILADELPHIA, July 25 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today addressed the annual convention of the National Association of Letter Carriers and drew standing ovations for opposing cuts in sevices and jobs at the U.S. Postal Service at a time of rising revenue.

Sanders is the chief sponsor of legislation to modernize the U.S. Postal Service, save Saturday mail and prevent other unnecessary cuts in services provided by one of the most popular and important institutions in America.

WASHINGTON, July 24 – Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today detailed compromise legislation that he offered to House negotiators that would reform the VA and give it the tools to provide quality, timely health care to veterans.

The proposal () would address the need for short-term, emergency access to care while strengthening VA’s capacity to address veterans’ needs in the long term. It also includes a provision to allow for the removal of incompetent officials at the VA.

The Windham County Democratic Committee is organizing meetings for the public to meet and hear the four Democratic candidates for State Senate.

The first forum will be held tomorrow, July 24, 2014, at 6:30 PM, at the Townshend Town Hall.

WASHINGTON, July 17 – In joint remarks before the U.S. Senate today, Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) honored former Vermont Gov. Phil Hoff, who just turned 90 years old.

Hoff served three terms as governor. First elected in 1962, he was the first Democrat to hold the state’s highest office in more than a century.

“We rise today to celebrate Philip Hoff, the 73rd governor of the state of Vermont, for his extraordinary contributions to the state of Vermont, and to our nation,” Leahy and Sanders said in a joint statement submitted for the Congressional Record.

I hadn’t heard of this before today:

In 2008, Vermont senator Patrick Leahy was traveling in a car 125 miles south of the U.S.-Canada border in the state of New York.

They came to a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint, which stopped the U.S. senior senator, and an agent ordered him to get out of the car.