Sen. Bernie Sanders blasts defense contractors over soaring costs, vows tougher oversight

By: Aaron Gregg; The Washington Post Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a former Democratic presidential candidate, says he will use his powerful new position atop the Senate Budget Committee to exercise tougher oversight over America’s vast national security establishment, including the private-sector organizations that profit from taxpayer-funded defense contracts. In an exclusive interview with The Washington Post ahead of a Wednesday

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Sanders: Drug companies should give up rights to COVID-19 vaccines

By: John Bowden; The Hill Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is calling on the World Trade Organization (WTO) to grant a patent waiver allowing countries to manufacture generic versions of Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines, saying it is “morally objectionable” that poor countries are experiencing massive surges of the virus while rich countries recover. In an interview on Sunday with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Sanders said that public

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Bernie Sanders: U.S. Should Have a Say in How Israel Uses Military Aid

By: Ben Samuels; Haaretz Sen. Bernie Sanders will tell the J Street 2021 National Conference on Monday that the United States should be able to determine how Israel uses the aid it gives to the state, and should restrict aid in response to moves that would undermine the peace process. “I strongly believe that we must also be willing to

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Progressives Propose Tripling Housing Commitment in Infrastructure Plan

By: Emily Cochrane; The New York Times Top liberal lawmakers unveiled legislation on Monday that would pour more than $100 billion over a decade into modernizing the public housing system and starting a transition to renewable energy, as progressives seek to prod President Biden to expand his far-reaching infrastructure plan. The legislation, led by Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, and

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Bernie Is Right. We Should Immediately Expand and Improve Medicare.

By: Michael Lighty; Jacobin We’ve reached a critical point in the campaign to win Medicare for All. For the first time in a decade, the decisive health care question is on the table in Congress: Should we continue with the commercial health insurance system, or should we improve and expand Medicare? Should we make the expanded subsidies for purchasing commercial

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Drugmakers prepare for the unusual: A defeat in Washington

By: Susannah Luthi & Sarah Owermohle; Politico The pharmaceutical industry is preparingto take a hit in Democrats’ next major legislative package — and the long-untouchable powerhouse is racing to contain the damage. Democratic lawmakers are weighing whether to include drug pricing measures that could extract tens of billions of dollars from the industry, or potentially more, to help pay for

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