July 21, 2011

Senator Sanders

Gang of Six Sen. Bernie Sanders "came out swinging" on the so-called Gang of Six's deficit-reduction plan, MSNBC and The Hill reported. "Republicans have gotten 80 percent, 90 percent of what they wanted. They're in the process now ... of dismantling Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education and  virtually every program that working families need," he told Dylan Ratigan. LINK and VIEW

Social Security Sen. Sanders has emerged as a chief critic of the plan that he said changes cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security recipients, according to The Boston Globe. A typical 75-year-old's annual benefits would be $560 less than projected under current law in 10 years. LINK

Obama Faulted Sanders' comments reflect growing frustration among some in Congress with what they view as too much willingness on the part of the White House to compromise with Republicans on key progressive issues, according to The Huffington Post. On Social Security, Obama "said one thing and he's doing another," Sanders told The Young Turks' Cenk Uygur. LINK

Jobs A plan to end U.S. taxation of most corporate offshore profits as endorsed by the Senate's so-called Gang of Six was sharply criticized on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Sen. Sanders said the plan would "hurt American workers by giving U.S. companies more incentives to avoid U.S. taxes by shipping jobs to low-tax countries." LINK 

A Fraud This deal on the table for the Gang of Six, what they're throwing at the American people right now is a fraud," Ed Schultz said on MSNBC. "What bothers me is I'm not hearing enough Democrats say this. I hear Bernie Sanders ... [but] I don't see a litany of democrats stepping up to the microphone and saying, we will not allow this. VIDEO

Sanders is ‘Sarcastic', ‘Sassy' Sanders has been driven to sarcasm, according to articles and a column in The Huffington Post. The Washington Examiner called his statement congratulating Coburn and others "sassy." LINK, LINK, LINK and LINK

Radio Row Sen. Sanders discussed the budget negotiations with radio hosts David Lazarus in Los Angeles, Alan Colmes in New York, Bill Press in Chicago and Jeff Santos in New York. LINK, LINK, LINK and LINK

Poverty Facts A tweet sent by Sen. Sanders said that "since 2000, nearly 12 million Americans have slipped out of the middle class and into poverty." PolitiFact.com said Sanders "used a verifiable statistic," but it graded the statement as only "half true" because of "a number of issues that undercut Sanders' interpretation and framing of the data." LINK

World

Cameron on Defense in Hacking Scandal It was Prime Minister David Cameron's turn to battle for his reputation, and potentially even his job, in the House of Commons on Wednesday in a debate on the phone hacking scandal that has convulsed Britain, The New York Times reported. LINK

National

Push Intensifies for Larger Deal on Debt Impasse With the clock ticking down, President Obama and Congressional leaders began a final effort to forge a broad deficit-reduction plan even as new cracks appeared among House Republicans over how to proceed, The New York Times reported. LINK

Layoffs Deepen Gloom Companies are laying off employees at a level not seen in nearly a year, hobbling the job market and intensifying fears about the pace of the economic recovery, The Wall Street Journal reported. LINK

FCC Stops Clock on AT&T Merger AT&T Inc.'s proposed $39 billion acquisition of rival T-Mobile USA ran into headwinds Wednesday as the Federal Communications Commission extended its review of the deal, and a top Senate Democrat on antitrust matters called for the government to block it. LINK

U.N. Deadlock on Addressing Climate Shift The persistent inability of the United Nations to forge international consensus on climate change issues was on display Wednesday, as Security Council members disagreed over whether they should address possible instability provoked by problems like rising sea levels or competition over water resources, The New York Times reported. LINK

Split Within Nuclear Regulatory Agency A majority of the five-member Nuclear Regulatory Commission is signaling that it wants to move slowly on at least some new recommendations from its staff on how to reduce the chance of a Fukushima-type accident at an American reactor despite calls by its chairman for swift action, according to The New York Times. LINK

Vermont

Heat Wave With the forecast calling for temperatures in the mid to upper 90s in parts of northern New England, health officials are reminding people to take it easy to avoid heat stress, AP reported. LINK

Smart Grid Gov. Shumlin said an agreement between Green Mountain Power, Central Vermont Public Service Corp., and Vermont Telephone Company will give the state more control over energy consumption, expand access to broadband and create jobs, according to AP.

Flood Relief The Federal Emergency Management Agency is closing its disaster recovery centers in Franklin and Orleans counties but says people affected by the extreme spring rain and flooding can still get help, according to AP.

State House Teo Zagar of Barnard, an educator and documentary filmmaker, was appointed to a Windsor County seat in the Vermont House of Representatives. He succeeds state Rep. Mark Mitchell, a Democrat who resigned after he was diagnosed with lung cancer, AP reported.