U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is on a roll.

The Brooklyn-born, self-described socialist delivered a fiery speech on the Senate floor last Tuesday that has become an Internet hit, topping 500,000 views on YouTube [1].

Capitol Hill Republicans’ call to give tax cuts to the wealthy, and cut benefits to the unemployed inspired Sanders’ online blockbuster. In it, he claims the growing gap between rich and poor is turning the U.S. into a “banana republic.”

“When we were in school, we used to read the textbooks which talked about the banana republics in Latin America, used to read the books about the countries in which a handful of people owned and controlled most of the wealth in those countries,” lectured Sanders. “Well, guess what? That’s what is happening in the United States today.”

MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow played clips of Sanders’ 13-minute speech on her show and had the senator on as a guest.

The following day, Sanders landed on the pages of the Wall Street Journal for his legislation forcing the secretive Federal Reserve to disclose the names of the entities to which it extended loans during the height of the financial crisis.

In all, the Fed loaned out more than $9 trillion to some of the largest banks in the world — an amount Sanders described as “jaw dropping.” The senator pointed out the irony of large financial institutions receiving zero-interest loans while struggling homeowners paid astronomical rates on their mortgage and credit-card debts.

Don’t be surprised if progressive circles start suggesting Sanders as a possible primary challenger to President Barack Obama in 2012. Former Gov. Howard Dean has said he’s not interested.

Sanders’ progressive political stock could rise again this week if he tries to block Obama’s proposed deal [2] that would extend tax cuts to the top 2 percent of wage earners.

“I will do whatever I can to see that 60 votes are not acquired to pass this piece of legislation,” Sanders told Ed Schultz, host of MSNBC’s “The Ed Show.” Sanders was so mad, he almost uttered the f-word on Schultz’s show Monday night.

Schultz bluntly asked Sanders if he would filibuster the bill.

“I will do whatever I can,” Sanders repeated. “This is a very, very bad agreement. I think we’ve got to hold tough on this, hold firm on this and not concede to Republicans,” he added.

This time, will he get in touch with his inner Mr. Smith Goes to Washington? Sanders threatened to hold up the federal health care bill earlier this year unless there was a strong public option. In the end, he caved.

While Sanders is leading Senate opposition against the proposed tax-cut deal, his successor in the House — Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) — is leading a similar effort there.

“We oppose acceding to Republican demands to extend the Bush tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires for two reasons,” Welch wrote in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). “First, it is fiscally irresponsible. Second, it is grossly unfair.”

Must be something in the V8 they serve on those flights from Burlington to D.C.

Obama’s “deal” is meant to have something for everyone. It includes extending unemployment benefits, cutting payroll taxes by 2 percent, and other measures to lessen the tax burden on middle-class and working-class people. Price tag: $700 billion.

“Without a doubt, the very same people who support this addition to our debt will oppose raising the debt ceiling to pay for it,” Welch added. “We support extending tax cuts in full to 98 percent of American taxpayers, as the president initially proposed. He should not back down. Nor should we.”

Democrats not back down? There’s hope and change for ya.