Senator Sanders

Campaign Cash On the eve of a crucial Senate vote, President Obama pushed Republicans on Monday to cross party lines and support campaign finance legislation. "This is a very big deal," Sen. Bernie Sanders told radio host Bill Press. Sanders said a Supreme Court ruling that lifted a long-time ban on corporate campaign cash creates an "intimidation factor" on lawmakers who may fear the threat of "an onslaught of advertising."

Energy Efficiency A clean energy financing program that Sen. Bernie Sanders called "a very sensible approach" is ensnared in a dispute between federal agencies, Sen. Bernie Sanders told The Burlington Free Press. LINK

Estate Tax Nearly 75 organizations asked senators to cosponsor estate tax legislation by Sen. Sanders, saying it would raise much-needed revenue and protect small businesses and family farms, the Bureau of National Affairs reported. LINK

Elizabeth Warren Sen. Sanders said President Obama should name Professor Elizabeth Warren to a new consumer financial protection bureau to balance a White House economic team that tilts toward Wall Street. "We need one person in that mix we can count on to call a spade a spade," he said in a radio interview.

School Rules Rigid rules don't necessarily meet the needs of local communities, the Valley News said in an editorial citing the "nonsensical" removal of a Burlington principal to qualify for federal money. "She should not have been removed," said Sen. Sanders. LINK

International

Leaks Put White House on Defensive The White House sought to reassert control over the public debate on the Afghanistan war on Monday as political reaction to the disclosure of a six-year archive of classified military documents increased pressure on President Obama to defend his war strategy, The New York Times reported. LINK

National

Course of Economy Hinges on Fight Over Stimulus Eighteen months after President Barack Obama administered a massive dose of spending increases and tax cuts to a weak economy, a brawl has broken out among economists and politicians about whether fiscal-stimulus medicine is curing the illness or making it worse, The Wall Street Journal reported. LINK

American Robert Dudley is New BP CEO The man in line to run BP is an American with ties to the region the oil spill has devastated and experience navigating in rough waters, USA Today reported. LINK

Panel Seen Approving F-35 Engine, Risking Veto  Despite increasing calls from lawmakers for deficit reduction, one military program opposed by the White House and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates - an alternate engine for the joint strike fighter - so far refuses to die, according to The New York Times. LINK

Vermont

Lake Champlain State and private organizations in Vermont and New York are getting $10 million to help protect Lake Champlain. Sen. Patrick Leahy announced the grants Monday at the edge of the lake in Burlington alongside officials with the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other groups, The Associated Press reported. LINK