Senator Sanders

Too Big to Exist Some of the world's largest financial firms on Monday urged Congress not to pursue big bank break-up legislation, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, Federal Chairman Bernanke said regulators should have power to shrink a bank that poses a risk, Bloomberg News reported. Both news agencies mentioned that Sen. Bernie Sanders unveiled legislation requiring Treasury to name banks whose collapse would shake the economy and break them up. "One-hundred years ago Teddy Roosevelt broke up the big corporations of his time," Sanders said on WCAX. "We have to do the same." LINK, LINK and VIDEO

Rx Prices Sen. Sanders spoke out about a new report showing the pharmaceutical industry has raised prices on brand-name drugs. "At a time when health care costs are soaring, I find it extremely distressing that the pharmaceutical industry is leading the pack and has raised prices for brand-name drugs by 9 percent...[M]any seniors cannot afford to fill the prescriptions their doctors are writing," Sanders said on WCAX. Any serious health care reform must control the cost of prescription drugs, he added. LINK and VIDEO

Health Care - Public Option Senate liberals on Monday pressed Senate Majority Leader Reid to stand firm behind a public insurance option. Congress Daily said the meeting was arranged by Sens. Brown and Sanders. Sanders told Roll Call afterward that it seemed inconceivable to him that the Democratic Senate would not pass a public option that has strong support generally from the American people and 80 percent support from Democrats. LINK and LINK

Health Care - Choice "You have millions of women who vote Democratic, have fought their entire adult lives for the right of a woman to choose with regard to abortion. Can you imagine, after eight years of fighting against the Bush administration, an anti-choice president, that it would be a Democratic president and a Democratic Congress that would take away the rights of millions of women to exercise their choice in this issue?...I can't imagine that happening," Sen. Sanders told Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. VIDEO

Health Care - Single Payer Sen. Sanders has been a leader in Congress in the movement for single-payer health care, or Medicare for all, but he's also working with the Senate leadership to ensure that the bill that does pass, while it won't be single-payer, will contain more positive steps than negative ones. In his weekly Web video, Sanders laid out the good (more coverage, no preexisting conditions), the bad (proposed tax on existing benefits), and the ugly (the Stupak amendment) in the current House and Senate plans, Laura Flanders said on Grit TV. LINK

Vermont Stimulus A key factor in Vermont's improving jobless rate is federal stimulus money flowing to the state, according to Tom Kavet, an economist for the state Legislature. He said Vermont's two senators may be responsible, to a significant degree, for the apparent windfall the state is enjoying. Kavet described Sen. Patrick Leahy as "really seasoned" and called Sanders a "real fighter" on behalf of the state's interests, according to Vermont Business Magazine. LINK

‘A Big Fan' Marselis Parsons retired last month after a remarkable 42-year career in television journalism. In an interview with Vermont Business Magazine, the former WCAX anchorman talked about why he's a big fan of Sen. Sanders. "Bernie holds a press conference every two weeks. And almost any question is fair...Give Bernie credit. At a time when every member of Congress was taking a raft of grief from their constituents all across the country, Bernie held town hall meetings...."

International

Obama, Hu Vow Cooperation President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao promised a determined, joint effort to tackle climate change, nuclear disarmament and other global troubles yet emerged from their first full-blown summit Tuesday with scant progress beyond goodwill, The Associated Press reported. LINK

Denmark Seeks Specific Pledges at Climate Talks Denmark has told the United States and all other developed countries they must bring specific pledges to cut greenhouse gases to next month's climate change conference, the Danish prime minister said Tuesday according to The Associated Press. LINK

Inspectors Fear Iran Is Hiding Nuclear Plants International inspectors who gained access to Iran's newly revealed underground nuclear enrichment plant voiced strong suspicions in a report on Monday that the country was concealing other atomic facilities, The New York Times reported. LINK

National

Bernanke Offers Grim Job Outlook Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke waded Monday into the debate among policymakers over the vigor of the economic recovery, offering a sobering view of what lies ahead in his most detailed comments on the economy in months, according to The Washington Post. LINK

Health Care Foes Spend Big Business foes of health care overhaul legislation are outspending supporters at a rate of 2-to-1 for TV ads as they grow increasingly nervous over a final bill. Led by the giant U.S. Chamber of Commerce, opponents of the Democratic health care drive have spent $24 million on TV commercials over the past month to $12 million spent by labor unions and other backers, The Associated Press reported. LINK

Tax Snafu More than 15.4 million Americans could owe taxes for 2009 because of complications in the Making Work Pay tax credit, a cornerstone of the $787-billion economic stimulus package enacted in February, according to a Los Angeles Times article on a government watchdog report released Monday. LINK

Flu Vaccine Shortage A "glaring discrepancy" between the demand for the vaccine and the supply available has resulted in pregnant women and others considered high-risk for the flu lining up for hours at clinics across the country to receive the vaccine, only to be turned away because of shortages, Sens. Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins said in a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, ABC News reported. LINK

Vermont

Food Stamps Up 39% Vermont had one of the largest increases in the country in the percentage of people using food stamps last year, according to data released by the U.S Department of Agriculture. Between August 2008 and August 2009, the number of people in the state seeking assistance with their food bills jumped 39 percent, the sixth highest increase in the nation. In August this year, 80,175 people in Vermont used the federal food stamps program, now known as 3SquaresVt, or almost 13 percent of the population, the Brattleboro Reformer reported. LINK

School Budgets The Douglas administration wants local school officials to hold the line on next year's budgets. The administration also plans to go to the Legislature with proposals to trim spending on education. One of the proposals would give the education commissioner more power to consolidate school districts, Vermont Public Radio reported. LINK

Governor '10 Calling himself a fiscal conservative, state Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin announced his candidacy for governor Monday, saying he has the know-how to create jobs and make state government live within its means. Also seeking the nomination in the Sept. 14 Democratic primary: state senators Susan Bartlett and Doug Racine, Secretary of State Deb Markowitz and former state Sen. Matt Dunne, The Associated Press reported. LINK

Guard Holidays A fundraising effort begun just two weeks ago to help bring Vermont National Guard troops home for the holidays has raised $150,000 that will be used to charter buses. About 700 troops will be training in Indiana in December and will get a week off at the holidays, but must pay for their own trips home, the AP reported. LINK

Veterans Get Official Apology The Burlington City Council told veterans it is sorry for comments made last week during a Veterans Day ceremony by a stand-in for Mayor Bob Kiss. In an 11-3 vote Monday, the council approved a resolution sponsored by two Republican council members. The Burlington Free Press said the council's three Progressive Party members voted against the resolution. LINK