Senator Sanders

The Fed Ben S. Bernanke cleared a key hurdle Thursday to being confirmed for a second term as Federal Reserve chairman, but the discussion and vote by a Senate committee suggested that confirmation is not a foregone conclusion. Sen. Bernie Sanders has put a hold on the nomination, The Washington Post, New York Times, USA Today and American Banker reported. "The time is long overdue for a real debate about Wall Street," Sanders told Nightly Business Report on PBS. LINK and VIDEO

Bernanke Hold Sanders has acknowledged that, short of a powerful movement from outside the Senate, very little could be done to block Bernanke's confirmation. Still, Bernanke faces the real possibility that he could earn more "no" votes on the floor than any other nominee to the central bank, according to Congressional Quarterly. LINK

Fed Secrecy A bill by Sen. Sanders would open the Fed's monetary policy decisions - such as whether to lower interest rates to spark the economy - to congressional audits. The measure picked up a 32nd co-sponsor Thursday, Sen. Mary Landrieu, USA Today reported. LINK

Confirm Bernanke "Seven of the 23 votes on the Senate Banking Committee complained that in 2006 and 2007 Bernanke didn't see the financial collapse ahead, and Sen. Sanders, the Vermont lefty, said ‘Bernanke was as clueless as Greenspan.'...That Bernanke cannot see the future ought not to be held against him," The Seattle Times editorialized. LINK

Health Care "I am trying to make this a better bill so I can vote for it. I'm not there yet," Sen. Sanders said on the NBC Nightly News. "I am not there yet," he told The Wall Street Journal. "I don't know how you control rapidly escalating premiums for individuals and for the government and that's what I'm wrestling with now," he told Hearst TV. "When is the next time legislation is going to come up which will increase health care reform for 30 million people?" he asked on Countdown on MSNBC. LINK, VIDEO, VIDEO and VIDEO

Labor Opposition Service Employees International Union President Andy Stern and AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka called for changes in the health care legislation, but stopped short of pulling their support for the bill. With Republicans uniformly opposed to the bill, Democrats need the support of all 60 members of their caucus. A handful still haven't committed, including Sanders, The Washington Times and Bureau of National Affairs reported, LINK and LINK

Left in Revolt The White House scrambled Thursday to tamp down a liberal revolt over health care. "I can understand absolutely why they are frustrated. There are many aspects of this bill which are simply not good and some can argue absolutely correctly that this is going to be a giveaway to the insurance companies and the drug companies," Sanders told the CBS Evening News.  "I don't sleep well," Sanders told The New York Times. "I am struggling with this issue very hard." LINK and VIDEO  

Obama "Now it is time [for Obama] to show some passion in a legislative battle very close to the hearts of most Democrats. It is not too late, Mr. President. Try listening more to Vermonters like Howard Dean and Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the few in Congress willing to propose the best public option out there -- expansion of Medicare for all Americans," the Bennington Banner editorialized. LINK

Obama "Howard Dean wants the bill killed. Bernie Sanders says he isn't sure he'll vote for it. Labor unions are threatening to withdraw support. If liberals are upset, it's with good cause. And the blame goes directly to Obama," Denver Post columnist Mike Littwin wrote. LINK

Objection Tired of Republican delaying tactics, Senate Majority Leader Reid ordered presiding officers to deny senators' requests for unanimous consent to speak longer than their allotted time. A Reid spokesman told McClatchy that Democrats are fed up with what stall tactics like Wednesday's GOP call for a live reading of a 767-page amendment by Sen. Sanders. LINK

Coburn The Oklahoma senator explained why he demanded that the clerk read all of Sanders' amendment to create a single-payer health care system. "Bernie Sanders is a very intellectually honest person. He has the courage of his convictions. I wanted Americans to see to see what this was like," Coburn said Friday morning on C-SPAN's Washington Journal. VIDEO

Dairy Crisis The assistance is part of a $350 million dairy assistance measure approved by Congress at the request of Sen. Sanders, the Bennington Banner and Vermont Press Bureau reported. "This has been the worst year for dairy farmers in last 40," he told The Burlington Free Press. He said the dairy industry needs more than just a bailout to solve the crisis, WCAX, WPTZ, Fox 44 reported., LINK, LINK, LINK, VIDEO, VIDEO and VIDEO

Smoking Cessation A Massachusetts tobacco cessation program costs $11 million as year to run.  But program organizers say it saves taxpayers lots more money by keeping smokers out of the emergency room.  Sen. Sanders is co-sponsoring national legislation that would provide Medicaid coverage for tobacco addiction, New England Cable Network. VIDEO

International

Obama at Copenhagen President Obama told leaders of 193 nations on Friday that their collective will to address global warming "hangs in the balance" and urged both developed and developing countries to forge a climate change agreement he acknowledged would require compromise from all sides, The Washington Post reported. LINK

National

Wrap-up Bill Clears Senate Hurdle Must-pass legislation that wraps up the bulk of the remaining congressional agenda besides health care easily cleared a key Senate hurdles early Friday morning, AP reported. LINK

Estate Tax A congressional tax standoff has opened a window of opportunity for wealthy Americans determined to avoid paying up post-mortem, The New York Times reported. LINK

Vermont

Bridge Demolition The Vermont Agency of Transportation says a now-closed bridge to New York could be dropped into Lake Champlain with explosives next week. The date could change, but they would like to implode the Lake Champlain Bridge next Wednesday at 10 a.m. The bridge was closed Oct. 16 after engineers warned it was unsafe, The Associated Press reported. LINK