Senator Sanders

Credit Cards Despite growing consumer outrage, efforts in Congress to cap credit card interest rates are faltering because of opposition from Democrats and lackluster support from the White House. Sen. Bernie Sanders said many credit cards are issued by banks that received taxpayer bailout money after last year's economic meltdown. ``People are disgusted. We bailed these [companies] out and they then had the gumption to raise interest rates on the American people,'' Sanders said in an interview with the Boston Globe. LINK

Health Care Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hosted a meeting with supporters of a public option. "The vast majority of the American people want a public option," as do 80 percent of Democrats, Sen. Sanders told Bloomberg. "I think the Senate bill that Senator Reid will present will have the public option that he said it will have in it. My job is to make sure that a very strong public option stays in," he told Talking Points Memo. LINK and LINK

Too Big to Fail Congress is trying hard to figure out a way to avoid the next bailout of a gigantic bank, but "the solution proposed by the Obama administration and its allies in Congress just doesn't add up," according to a MarketWatch commentary. "There is a simpler answer, one endorsed by former Fed chairmen Paul Volcker and Alan Greenspan, Sen. Sanders, and Bank of England Gov. Mervyn King: Break them up. Any bank that's too big to fail is too big to exist." LINK

Not Too Big for Jail Dave Zweifel, editor emeritus of The Capital Times, wrote that the Madison, Wis.-based Center for Media and Democracy has started a new project called BanksterUSA to rally support for Sanders' legislation and advocate for prosecution of Wall Street executives who purposely manipulated markets for their private gain. Its motto is: "Too big to fail, but not too big for jail!" LINK  

King Coal A group of 14 coal-state senators told Majority Leader Reid the climate change bill needs to include more protections for coal-dependent utilities. While the coal industry and its backers try to chip away at the bill, a weaker emissions target also could cost votes. "I'll do everything I can to oppose that," Sen. Sanders said, according to United Press International. LINK

Big Oil Oil stockpiles surged last week while U.S. refinery processing sank to the lowest level in more than two decades. Yet the price of oil jumped Monday by $2.50 a barrel. What is going on? The price of oil no longer has anything to do with supply and demand. Commodity regulators had talked about restrictions on energy trading, but we are still waiting. "Extraordinarily cogent testimony on the issue was presented by Sen. Sanders," author Raymond J. Learsy wrote on The Huffington Post. LINK

Book TV C-SPAN is promoting its "After Words" program this weekend. Nomi Prins, former managing director at Goldman Sachs and current senior fellow at Demos, talks about the 2008 financial crisis and its ongoing aftermath and her latest book, "It Takes a Pillage: Behind the Bonuses, Bailouts, and Backroom Deals from Washington to Wall Street."  Ms. Prins discusses her book with Sen. Sanders. LINK and VIDEO

International

Clinton in Kabul for Karzai Inauguration U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has arrived in Afghanistan to attend Thursday's inauguration of President Hamid Karzai and meet with top U.S. commander Gen. Stanley McChystal, The Associated Press reported. LINK

China Holds Firm on Major Issues in Obama's Visit In six hours of meetings, at two dinners and during a stilted 30-minute news conference in which President Hu Jintao did not allow questions, President Obama was confronted, on his first visit, with a fast-rising China more willing to say no to the United States, The New York Times reported. LINK

U.S., China Discuss Emission-Reduction Goals Buried in the text of Tuesday's joint declaration between President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao was a hopeful clause about climate talks: The Obama administration is likely to offer emission-reduction targets at next month's climate summit, as long as the Chinese offer a proposal of their own, The Washington Post reported. LINK

National

Three Democrats Could Block Health Bill in Senate Senator Ben Nelson is not sure he is ready to help a Democratic health care proposal clear even the most preliminary hurdle: gaining the 60 votes his party's leaders need to open debate on the measure later this week. Sens. Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas are proving tough sells as well, according to The New York Times. LINK

AP Poll: Health Plan Divides Public Tell Americans that letting the government sell insurance in competition with private industry would be cheaper for them, and a majority is in favor. Tell them the government would be making decisions about what medical care they could get, and support sinks. LINK

Senate to Put Off Climate Bill Until Spring Senate Democratic leaders said Tuesday they would put off debate on a big climate-change bill until spring, in a sign of weakening political will to tackle a long-term environmental issue at a time of high unemployment and economic uncertainty, The Wall Street Journal reported. LINK

Apology From Goldman After first staunchly defending its outsize profits and pay, and then bristling at calls for restraint in these tough economic times, Goldman is trying a new tack: It is apologizing for past mistakes that led to the financial crisis - and sharing at least some of its riches, The New York Times reported. LINK

House Leaders Push for Jobs Bill The House of Representatives is pushing a bill aimed at boosting employment, a potentially risky move that underscores Democrats' fears about the economy and jobs -- including their own as they head into an election year, The Wall Street Journal reported. LINK

Democrats End Filibuster on Court Nominee Democrats on Tuesday crushed a Senate filibuster against a controversial appeals court nominee, demonstrating to Republicans that they cannot stop President Obama from turning the federal judiciary to the left, according to the Los Angeles Times. LINK

In Senate Vote, Signs of Shift on Detainees The Senate on Tuesday rejected an attempt to bar using funds from a defense spending bill to build or modify prisons in the United States to hold detainees from Guantanamo Bay, a move that suggested congressional Democrats may be lining up behind President Obama's vision for closing the military prison, according to The Washington Post. LINK

Byrd is Longest Serving Congress Member West Virginia Sen. Robert C. Byrd has become the longest-serving lawmaker in congressional history, a milestone to be marked Wednesday with a Senate resolution, AP noted. "I look forward to serving you for the next 56 years and 320 days," Byrd said in a statement marking the occasion. LINK

Vermont

Vermont is Healthiest State For the third year in a row, Vermont has been ranked the healthiest state in the country, according to America's Health Rankings. Vermont was ranked ninth for the lowest number of people lacking health insurance, second in both public health funding and in keeping its violent crime rate low, and fourth for fewest children living in poverty. Vermont also had rates of smoking and obesity that were below the national averages, The Associated Press reported. LINK

Health Care Rep. Paul Poirier isn't holding his breath waiting for health care reform to come down from Washington, D.C. The Barre City independent wants Vermont to launch its own public option health insurance as a way to reduce costs and insure more people. He would combine all of the state's health care plans under one program that would compete on the private insurance market, the Vermont Press Bureau reported. LINK

Budget Woes Vermont will face a deficit of at least $88 million in the coming budget cycle when state lawmakers resume their 2009-10 session in January, the Senate's highest-ranking Democrat said Tuesday. "The economy's fallen apart, our revenues have plummeted and the state of Vermont's facing the toughest fiscal challenges in our history," Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin told legislators and lobbyists gathered at the Statehouse for a budget briefing, AP reported. LINK

Champlain Bridge Construction could begin this week on a new ferry crossing between Vermont and New York that would take the place of the now-closed Lake Champlain bridge between Addison and Crown Point. A Vermont Transportation Agency spokesman told AP the first phase of construction will be to build access roads to the edge of the lake. The 80-year-old bridge was closed Oct. 16 after it was deemed unsafe. LINK

BTV The Burlington International Airport has hired a prominent aviation marketing firm to help restore growth at Vermont's largest airport. The Burlington Free Press said the number of fliers at the airport dropped 10.8 percent last month compared with October 2008. So far this year boardings are down 6.1 percent. Airport Director Brian Searles attributed the falloff to the recession, smaller planes and fewer flights. The airport hired Evergreen, Colo.-based Boyd Group International to help bolster service.