Senator Sanders

Health Care Sen. Bernie Sanders offered qualified praise Thursday for a massive health care reform measure, The Burlington Free Press, Vermont Public Radio and WCAX reported. "My vote for final passage of this bill is not at all guaranteed," he said. Sanders wants to make sure it "will be affordable for working families and the middle class," McClatchy reported. He also wants to let states form single-payer systems, The Hill and Congress Daily reported. LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK and VIDEO

Too Big to Fail Sen. Sanders would require Treasury to identify and break up too-big financial institutions within one year. "Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are reacting with alarm," according to The Nation's William Greider. "Such talk has clearly rattled the big banks," David Reilly wrote in a commentary for Bloomberg. Rep Maurice Hinchey on Thursday introduced a companion bill in the House, the Kingston, N.Y. Daily Freeman. LINK, LINK and LINK

Credit Cards Dramatic rate hikes have caused a furor and sparked talk about interest caps on credit cards. Sen. Sanders proposed just such a cap in May and the measure got smoked in the Senate by a 60-33 vote. Sanders hopes to pitch the idea again. Interest rate caps, Boston Globe columnist Steven Syre concluded, "would push banks to do better," LINK

Green Jobs Thanks to economic stimulus funding, Vermont and seven other northeast states will share nearly $4 million. Senator Bernie Sanders says the funding will be used to gather data on the demand for green jobs, WCAX reported. Sanders helped write the legislation and pushed for its appropriations in the stimulus package, the Brattleboro Reformer reported. LINK and VIDEO

Foreign Workers The two lawmakers who successfully added H-1B hiring restrictions to the financial bailout bill earlier this year have introduced legislation that would bar any firm that lays off 50 or more workers from hiring guest workers. This legislation, introduced by Sens. Sanders and Charles Grassley could potentially affect a broad swath of tech firms that have laid off large numbers of workers but continue hiring, Computer World reported. LINK

Senior Center The Bradford Community Development Corporation is trying to evict the Orange East Senior Center. "We don't plan on leaving the building until the court tells us to," OESC director Vickie Chaffee told The Caledonian Record. "When we moved in, we gave them every cent we had - $13,000, plus Bernie Sanders got us some federal money..." LINK

International

Cuba Travel Ban At a tempestuous hearing Thursday, one House member after another criticized a growing campaign to lift the ban on American tourists traveling to Cuba. The move would reward a regime that oppresses its own people, lawmakers declared, pointing to the recent assault on Yoani Sánchez, a Cuban blogger and government critic, by suspected state security agents, The Washington Post reported. LINK

Nations Unveil Plans to Rein in Emissions With less than three weeks remaining before negotiators gather in Copenhagen to hammer out a global response to climate change, a rapid-fire succession of countries are unveiling national plans that serve as opening bids for reining in heat-trapping emissions, The New York Times reported. LINK

National

Reid Pushes for Votes on Health Care Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid worked Thursday to nail down the votes needed to move to a final debate on health-care legislation, but a tepid assessment of the public insurance plan he crafted emerged as the latest potential obstacle to the passage of the far-reaching changes, The Washington Post reported. LINK

House Attacks Fed Political frustration over the rescue of Wall Street and high unemployment erupted in the House Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported. The House Financial Services Committee voted 43-26 to approve a measure sponsored by Texas Republican Ron Paul that would direct the Government Accountability Office to audit the Fed, which says the provision threatens its ability to make monetary policy without political interference. LINK

Congress Lashes Out Growing discontent over the economy boiled over Thursday on Capitol Hill in a wave of criticism and outright anger directed at the Obama administration. The Congressional Black Caucus, exasperated by the administration's handling of the economy, postponed the approval of financial reform legislation. At a Joint Economic Committee session, Republicans escalated attacks on Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, including a call for his resignation, The Washington Post reported. LINK

To Lower Interest, Citi Customers Must Spend For Citibank credit card holders, there is one way to escape the bank's rate hikes currently under way: Meet a monthly spending requirement, The Associated Press reported. LINK

Vermont

Farm Raids Federal immigration officials are serving subpoenas to dairy farmers asking them to provide payroll records and employee forms.  "I am disappointed in the timing of the situation-- just before Christmas and Thanksgiving," Sen. Patrick Leahy said.  Gov. Jim Douglas called the congressional delegation to learn more about these raids and he is working with them on a long-term solution to immigration issues, reported WCAX. LINK

Judicial Nominee Clears Committee Hurdle The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of a Vermont state judge to become the state's next federal judge. The nomination of Judge Christina Reiss of Essex Junction now goes to the full Senate, The Associated Press reported. LINK