Senator Sanders

Health Care Sen. Bernie Sanders debated health care with Sen. David Vitter on CNN's Crossfire Wednesday. Sanders voted for the Affordable Care Act to provide insurance for 20 million more Americans, but he said he does not believe it goes far enough to address the nation's health care problems. “I believe that the United States should join the rest of the industrialized world and guarantee health care as a right for all people,” Sanders said. LINK, LINK, VIDEO

Minimum Wage Senate Democrats plan to discuss their legislative strategy for raising the minimum wage to over $10 an hour at a lunch meeting Thursday. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin is spearheading the push to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour but not all Democrats are yet on board. Thirty-one Democrats and Sen. Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, have co-sponsored Harkin’s bill, The Hill reported. LINK

Earned Benefits Sen. Sanders and a coalition of liberal allies are lining up to oppose potential cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security through the budget conference committee, Congressional Quarterly reported. “On these issues, Congress is way out of touch. The American people do not want to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid,” Sen. Sanders said. LINK

No Grand Bargain The latest round of budget negotiations likely will not yield a so-called "grand bargain" that includes cuts to major entitlement programs, according to BuzzFeed. Liberal Democrats are opposing any changes to Social Security, which Republicans are demanding for a deal. “The issue is not a big deal or a little deal, the issue is what kind of deal makes sense to the American people,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders. “If you have a deal that cuts Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid that is a very bad deal. “ LINK

VA Nominees At his nomination hearing before a Senate committee Tuesday, President Barack Obama's pick to serve as deputy director of Veterans Affairs Department, Sloan Gibson, pledged to tackle a host of challenges plaguing the department, Federal News Radio reported. Sen. Sanders said in his opening statement at the hearing, "I think the average veteran in this country believes the VA is doing a good job in terms of health care, at least. But we can do better." Connecticut Veterans' Affairs Commissioner Linda S. Schwartz also was nominated for assistant secretary for policy and planning of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, The Hartford Courant reported. LINK, LINK 

VA Claims Backlog More can be done to fight the backlog of service members’ disability claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to Sen. Charles E. Schumer. In a conference call Wednesday, the senator said the average wait for veterans in the state to have their claims processed is 400 days. He is promoting two bills to reduce the wait. One to coordinate VA and Pentagon records is sponsored by Sen. Bill Nelson and the Claims Processing Improvement Act of 2013 is sponsored by Sen. Sanders, Daily Courier-Observer in Massena, N.Y., reported.

Senate Passes Homeless Veterans Bill Veterans and their family members who become homeless as a result of domestic violence could be eligible for certain benefits under a measure that passed the Senate Wednesday. The bill passed by unanimous consent would expand the definition of a homeless veteran to include a veteran or a veteran’s family member fleeing domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking or other life-threatening conditions in their homes. Before passing the bill, the Senate adopted an amendment by Sen. Sanders that would extend the department’s ability to provide referral and counseling services, Congressional Quarterly reported. LINK

Students Test Entrepreneurial Skills The president of the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies, David Bradbury, has observed a number of Vermont college students testing their entrepreneurial skills by starting their own enterprises, Vermont Public Radio reported.  Sen. Sanders’ press secretary, Jeff Frank, was among the success stories Bradbury mentioned. LINK

Home Heating About 28,600 low-income families in Vermont are expected to receive an average of almost $800 to help pay their home heating bills this winter, thanks to $16.6 million from the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. “But more is needed, much more must be done, and we will continue to press for additional support for LIHEAP,” Sens. Sanders and Patrick Leahy and Rep. Peter Welch said in the Times Argus.

St. Albans School Visit Philip Fermonte, the Outreach Director for Bernie Sanders, and Haley Pero, an Outreach Staff member, visited City School this week to learn about the issues schools and students care about, to share information and support, the St. Albans Messenger reported. 

A Political Revolution “We need a political revolution in our country today,” Sen. Sanders said in an open letter posted on OpEdNews. “We need to have a progressive presence in 50 states,” he said. LINK

Vermont Republicans Vermont Republican Party Chairman Jack Lindley said Wednesday he will not seek re-election to the post and will instead back John MacGovern who, according to the Vermont Press Bureau, is best known for losing to independent Sen. Sanders last fall. LINK

World

Peace Talks Falter Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiations have deteriorated over the past week, The Guardian reported. After the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, met with both sides on Wednesday, he expressed optimism that the difficulties could be overcome. LINK

Oil Price-Fixing Lawsuit Four traders have filed a class action in Manhattan court alleging that oil majors and trading houses, including BP, Royal Dutch Shell, and Statoil, have fixed prices since at least 2002, BBC News reported. LINK

National

Worried Senators Press Obama on Health Law Democratic senators took their complaints about the troubled launch of the federal health law directly to the White House Wednesday, as the surprisingly close governor's race in Virginia prompted some in the party to warn that they would face voter backlash next year if the problems weren't fixed. At a Senate hearing Wednesday, meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers warned Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that she must fix the troubled health insurance website by the end of November. "There is no room for error. You must meet—and I prefer you beat—that deadline," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.) told her. LINK

Final Push on Sex Assault Bill In one last push to win a Senate vote for her bill, Sen. Kristen Gillibrand held a press conference Wednesday on legislation to take military sexual assault cases outside the chain of command, The Hill reported. LINK

Supreme Court Hears Prayer Case The Supreme Court considered on Wednesday whether a town in upstate New York had crossed a constitutional line in opening its Town Board meetings with mostly Christian prayers, The New York Times reported. LINK

CIA Said to Pay AT&T for Call Data The C.I.A. is paying AT&T more than $10 million a year to assist with overseas counterterrorism investigations by exploiting the company’s vast database of phone records, which includes Americans’ international calls, according to government officials. The cooperation is conducted under a voluntary contract, not under subpoenas or court orders compelling the company to participate, according to The Washington Post. LINK

Incarceration Increased with Drug Sentences The federal prison population ballooned 790 percent since 1980, and almost half of those now imprisoned are there for drug crimes, Think Progress reported. LINK

Vermont

Strengthening Downtowns Gov. Shumlin outlined a proposal to provide an additional $500,000 annually to strengthen city and town centers Wednesday,  VermontBiz reported. The proposal would restrict some of the big-box retail development in community centers until 2020. LINK

Vermont Gas Announces Rate Cut The Vermont Public Service Board approved a nearly 6 percent rate reduction in Vermont Gas prices, The Associated Press reported. LINK

Hunters Help Economy The Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife reports that hunters contribute $292 million to the state’s economy every year, The Associated Press reported. LINK

Shipping Inmates Out of State Vermont’s criminal justice system continues to send the Department of Corrections more inmates than the agency can house, compelling Vermont to keep shipping inmates out of state, Seven Days reported. LINK

New Home for Adaptive Ski and Sports Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports opens its new $1.3 million headquarters this week at Pico, Vermont Public Radio reported. Officials say the new space will make it much easier for athletes in wheelchairs and those with other special needs to enjoy the outdoors. LINK

Microbrewery To Close Retail Shop The Alchemist, a Vermont microbrewery that makes one of the world's top-rated beers, plans to close down its retail operation to avoid legal troubles with its neighbors, the Burlington Free Press reported. LINK

Shumlin’s Take on Election Results The chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, called Terry McAuliffe’s election in Virginia a rebuke to the national GOP, Politico reported. Gov. Shumlin discounted Republican Gov. Chris Christie’s thumping victory in New Jersey as a testament to the politics of personality. LINK