Senator Sanders

Family Values Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday called for paid family leave, sick time, and vacation time, Yahoo News, The Hill and WVNY-TV in Vermont reported. He is wresting the issue of family values away from the Republican Party, according to Policy Mic. LINK, LINK, LINK, VIDEO

Income Inequality In an interview Thursday on PBS, Sen. Sanders said the wealthy and profitable corporations should pay their fair share of taxes and transfer wealth toward a middle class that has seen wages stagnate for more than a decade, Bloomberg reported. VIDEO, LINK

College Costs Sen. Sanders is calling for zero tuition at public colleges and proposes a new tax on Wall Street transactions to pay for the $750 billion cost over 10 years, according to a front-page article in The Boston Globe. Sanders’ bill also would eliminate federal profits on loans, build on existing work-study programs to defray costs and offer incentives for colleges to keep tuition down. Making public colleges free, said Sanders, is the most efficient way to "create the best-educated workforce that we can have." "I’m siding with Sen. Sanders on this one ... I don't view helping young adults as wasteful spending," Kevin Martin wrote in The Huffington Post. LINK, LINK

Immigration Rep. Luis Gutiérrez claimed that he hasn’t heard Sen. Sanders speak out on immigration, The Hill, The Washington Examiner and The Huffington Post reported. Sanders supports Obama’s actions that shield millions of illegal immigrants from deportation and was critical of the president for delaying the actions ahead of the 2014 midterm elections. LINK, LINK, LINK  

Social Security “Social Security is on a path to insolvency in less than two decades, and action must be taken now to save it,” Judd Gregg and Ed Rendell wrote in a USA Today op-ed. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, a Republican, ruled out any changes to Social Security, while Sen. Sanders proposes expanding entitlements. Both proposals are detached from reality,” Gregg and Rendell wrote. LINK

Media Critic Sen. Sanders criticized media coverage which portrays his views as outside the mainstream, wrote The Week. “In virtually every instance, what I am saying is supported by a significant majority of the American people.” LINK

World

Obama Looks at Adding Bases and Troops in Iraq President Obama is open to expanding the American military footprint in Iraq with a network of bases and possibly hundreds of additional troops to support Iraqi security forces in their fight against the Islamic State, White House officials told The New York Times on Thursday. As Iraqi forces struggle on the battlefield, aides said Obama would consider establishing a series of outposts where American advisers would work with Iraqi troops and local tribesmen. LINK 

National

Trade Fight Goes to the Wire Supporters and foes of President Barack Obama’s bid to craft a sweeping Pacific trade deal waged furious, last-ditch campaigns hours before decisive votes set for Friday in the House. The vote over whether to grant the president the power to expedite trade pacts looks set to be razor-thin, The Wall Street Journal reported. LINK 

Vermont 

Go Fish Young anglers and their families are being invited to the Ed Weed Fish Culture Station in Grand Isle where they can catch trout while receiving free instruction during the 15th annual Grand Isle Family Fishing Festival this Saturday. Saturday is also Vermont's spring free fishing day, AP reported.