June 19, 2012

Senator Sanders 

Food Labels Sen. Bernie Sanders wants food you buy at the supermarket to be clearly labeled if it includes genetically modified ingredients, the Burlington Free Press reported. "People want to know what's in the food they're eating and that they're giving their kids. To me it really is a no-brainer," Sanders told WPTZ-TV. LINK, LINK, VIDEO

Farm Bill Senators are to begin voting today on 73 amendments to the farm bill, including the one by Sanders on food labeling. Sens. Sanders and Debbie Stabenow, who chairs the agriculture committee, "exchanged words on the floor, with Sanders getting red in the face and at one point brushing away Stabenow's hand," Roll Call reported. A Sanders spokesman said the senator appreciated Stabenow's leadership and was pleased that there will be a vote on his amendment. LINK

Health Center Riverside Community Health Center in Burlington opened a renovated and expanded facility on Monday, the Burlington Free Press and WCAX-TV reported. Fox 44 said Sanders "was key in making the center happen." He pushed for a national grant that covered nearly all of the cost of the $11 million project. LINK, LINK VIDEO, VIDEO

Health Center "We are saving taxpayers' money because when people walk into this facility it cost about 10 percent of what it costs to go to the emergency room," he told Vermont Public Radio. "And we're providing a medical home for people for their long term primary health care needs." LINK

The Fed Sanders on May 22 introduced a bill to ban employees of bank holding companies or other firms regulated by the Fed from serving on regional boards. Sanders told Bloomberg News that a coalition of "progressives and some of the very conservative members who have long-term concerns about the Fed" would join in support of the bill. LINK

Bank Conflicts JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon "is an embodiment of how bankers have too much say about the financial system at the expense of everyone else," Nancy Miller wrote for Time magazine online. Sanders, she added, stepped up the heat when he listed regional board members whose companies received trillions of dollars in bailouts during the economic crisis. LINK

World

Obama Presses Putin on Syria President Obama on Monday unsuccessfully pressed his Russian counterpart, Vladimir V. Putin, to work with him to ease President Bashar al-Assad of Syria out of power, a move increasingly viewed by the West as the only way to end the bloodshed that has been under way there for more than a year, The New York Times reported. LINK

Nominee Withdraws Bid to Be Iraq Envoy President Obama's choice to serve as U.S. ambassador to Iraq withdrew his nomination following the disclosure of romantic emails the diplomat exchanged with a Wall Street Journal reporter, The Wall Street Journal reported. LINK

National

Senators Gird for Battle on Farm Bill Amendments he Senate reached a deal late Monday that probably guarantees passage of a new farm bill. The $969 billion, 10-year measure includes $23.6 billion in proposed cuts, The Washington Post reported. LINK

Taxes A growing number of Senate Democrats are signaling they are not prepared to raise taxes on anyone in the weak economy unless Congress approves a grand bargain to reduce the deficit. At least seven Democratic senators have declined to rule out supporting a temporary extension of the Bush-era income tax rates, The Hill reported. LINK

Clemens Cleared in Steroid-Lies Case A jury acquitted baseball great Roger Clemens on Monday of all charges that he lied to Congress about using steroids, The Wall Street Journal reported. LINK

Vermont

Gas Prices With the summer driving season under way, Vermonters are reaping an unexpected surprise: lower gas prices. According to VermontGasPrices.com, the average price of gasoline in the state Sunday was $3.66 a gallon - nearly 15 cents a gallon cheaper than a year ago and more than 17 cents cheaper than just a month ago, the Rutland Herald reported. LINK

F-35s More than 1,600 area residents have signed a petition supporting the basing of the F-35A at Burlington International Airport. The petition, presented Monday, urges the South Burlington City Council to reconsider its opposition to basing the new jets locally, the Burlington Free Press reported. LINK

Vermont Yankee The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant reduced power to 36 percent Monday afternoon after an electrical failure in a part of the plant used to vary the flow of reactor cooling water, the company reported in a news release, according to the Burlington Free Press. LINK 

Tar Sands Pipeline Environmental groups in Maine and Vermont are alarmed about the potential for tar sands oil to be piped across northern New England. The groups say energy companies are eyeing an existing oil pipeline to send Canadian tar sands through Portland, AP reported. LINK

Progressives With the slate of 2012 candidates set after last week's filing deadline, Progressives are focusing their energy on House races rather than statewide offices, hoping to add to the five Progressive members who have served in the 150-member chamber the past two years, the Vermont Press Bureau reported. LINK