Senator Sanders

Senate Advances Bad Trade Bill Sen. Bernie Sanders voted no on Wednesday in a losing effort to block President Barack Obama's push for a new trade deal with 11 other Pacific Rim nations, The Associated Press, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Burlington Free Press, Rutland Herald, Times Argus and The Guardian reported. “When virtually every major corporation, Wall Street and the drug companies want something, they usually get it,” Sanders told Ed Schultz on MSNBC. The Trans-Pacific Partnership would be disastrous for workers, Sanders said in radio interviews on The Jeff Santos Show and The Leslie Marshall Show. LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, VIDEO

Family Values Oregon this month became the fourth state to pass a bill requiring companies to give workers paid sick days. Chipotle soon will offer hourly workers paid sick days and vacation days, joining McDonald's, Microsoft and others. Democrats have signaled that they see paid leave as a popular policy change. Sen. Sanders has introduced legislation to guarantee paid sick, vacation and family leave, The New York Times reported.

Immigration “When we have 11 million undocumented workers in this country the vast majority of them who are working hard, who are honest people, they deserve a path toward citizenship,” Sanders said in an interview with Jon Ralston on KNPB-TV in Las Vegas, Nevada. LINK 

Transaction Tax A Concord (New Hampshire) Monitor editorial agreed with Sen. Sanders proposal for a financial transaction tax, a tiny surcharge on the sale of stocks, bonds, derivatives, treasury securities and other financial instruments traded daily in vast quantities could, by different estimates, raise $50 billion to $350 billion per year in a way that for most taxpayers would be painless. LINK

Wall Street The financial crisis of 2007-08 was a missed opportunity to develop new ways of regulating speculative financial practices. This was the verdict of Pope Francis, who Sen. Sanders has called “a miracle,” according to a column in USA Today.

Pot In an interview with The Denver Post, Sanders said he supports the legalization of medical marijuana and his home state’s effort to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. On Saturday, as he traveled to a campaign rally at the University of Denver, Sanders said he wanted to learn more about Colorado’s legalization of recreational pot before he talks about what he wants to see happen at the national level. LINK

Trans Ban Sen. Sanders supports allowing transgender men and women to serve in the military, The Washington Blade reported, but President Obama is not expected to announce a policy change during a gay pride event at the White House on Wednesday. LINK 

Community Development Brattleboro will receive a $300,000 Community Development Block Grant. In a joint statement, Sens. Sanders and Leahy and Rep. Peter Welch said the block grants are a “principal source of much-needed funding for our communities,” the Brattleboro Reformer said. LINK 

Letter; Grassrooots Movement “I am thrilled to see Sen. Bernie Sanders garnering the attention he deserves as a true champion of working people,” Brent W. Welder of St. Louis wrote to The Des Moines (Iowa) Register. LINK

Letter: Social Security “Perhaps you meant that Sanders’ plan was unrealistic because Congress would never enact it? If so, you might be right, because the ruling party in Congress has shown that it cares more about the wealthy few (who would pay more under Sanders’ plan) than it does about ordinary people who are struggling," James Paulson wrote to The (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) Northwestern. LINK  

Letter: Black Men “Sen. Sanders’s important point is that the rate of incarceration is much higher for black men than other men. Would it make any real difference if the rate was 1 in 4 or 1 in 5? The bottom line is that as a society we have failed our black men,” John DesMarteau wrote in The Washington Post. LINK

World 

NSA Spying The French government reacted with anger on Wednesday to revelations about extensive eavesdropping by the United States government on the private conversations of senior French leaders, including three presidents and dozens of senior government figures, The New York Times reported. LINK

Nuclear Negotiations In a speech on Tuesday night, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei insisted Iran would only dismantle its nuclear infrastructure if economic sanctions were lifted first. He also ruled out a freeze on research and development for 10 years, as well as inspections of military sites, the BBC reported. LINK 

National 

Trade Deal Near Passage A razor-thin Senate vote Tuesday put President Obama on the cusp of claiming victory for his ambitious international trade agenda, clearing the way for legislation granting him “fast track” negotiating powers to potentially reach his desk by week’s end, The Washington Post reported. LINK

Hostage Policy The White House will release on Wednesday a presidential directive and an executive order that will allow the government to communicate and negotiate with terrorist groups holding Americans hostage, a source briefed on the matter told CNN. LINK

Confederate Flag What began as scattered calls for removing the Confederate battle flag from a single state capitol intensified with striking speed and scope on Tuesday into an emotional, nationwide movement to strip symbols of the Confederacy from public parks and buildings, license plates, Internet shopping sites and retail stores, The New York Times reported. LINK

Vermont

Tropical Storm Irene Ever since Tropical Storm Irene struck in 2011, Vermont has been pushing to make sure bridges and culverts are rebuilt to more flood-resistant standards. But the Federal Emergency Management Agency is rejecting — at least for now — the state’s argument that the federal agency should pay all costs, the Associated Press reported. LINK

VT Gas On the second day of a Public Service Board hearing to determine the fate of the proposed expansion of the Vermont Gas pipeline into Addison County, the CEO of the utility said he looked forward to continuing to build "this great project for Vermonters." Don Rendall said Vermont Gas will proceed in accordance with whatever the Public Service Board decides, but that he's confident the project to extend the pipeline 43 miles from Colchester to Middlebury remains on track, the Burlington Free Press. LINK