Disappointing economic growth numbers were announced Friday as Sen. Bernie Sanders prepared for another series of town meetings in Vermont - this time across the northern part of the state. Reflecting on what he's heard from Vermonters during these events, Sanders said, "The issue that is most on people's minds is the economy.  Unemployment is very very high.  People are working longer hours for lower wages if they are lucky enough to get jobs."  By the end of August, Sanders will have hosted 11 public forums in the state.  As part of ongoing efforts to fix our economy, Sanders this week continued his efforts to preserve and strengthen Social Security, called for strong leadership in the new consumer protection agency, tough rules to protect credit card users, Fed transparency and promotion of employee-owned businesses.

Holy Cow Bernie urged President Obama to dump the co-chairman of a White House deficit commission for calling Social Security "a milk cow with 310 million tits." The insulting wisecrack came from Alan Simpson, the cantankerous former senator who once derided the millions of retired seniors who paid Social Security taxes for all their working careers as "greedy geezers." Simpson apologized for the latest insult. Despite the uproar, the White House says he'll stay on the commission. To read more about Bernie's concerns in The New York Times, click here.

Warren Watch While the White House wasted no time in standing by the controversial Republican senator, there was no word on whether the president will tap consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren to head a new Financial Consumer Protection Bureau. It has been more than five weeks since the bureau was created by the Wall Street reform bill that Obama signed into law on July 21.  Sen. Sanders has been a leading supporter of Professor Warren's appointment to this important post.  More than 13,600 individuals have signed his petition of support for Warren.

Credit Card Rip Offs New rules just took effect limiting penalty fees, but banks are gouging credit card customers with the highest interest rates in a decade. "Forgive us if we are not jumping up and down in celebration," the Brattleboro Reformer said. "The most effective way consumers could have been protected was voted down in the Senate...when Sen. Sanders proposed a 15 percent cap on interest rates," the editorial added.

Fed Secrecy What is Ben Bernanke hiding? The Federal Reserve asked a U.S. appeals court to stay a ruling that the Fed must hand over information about its lending activities during the depths of the financial crisis. Bernie wrote provisions included in the new Wall Street reform law which demand Fed transparency.  The names of banks that took advantage of more than $2 trillion in secret loans must be divulged by Dec. 1.  He called the Fed foot dragging in the separate court case "an outrage."

Employee Owned Enterprise About 40 Vermont companies have chosen to sell control of their business to their own employees.  While the transition can be tricky, the benefits are often substantial - to both the workers and the bottom line.  Sanders, who has introduced legislation to help companies make such a transition to employee ownership, chaired a Senate committee hearing on this subject in the Vermont Statehouse Thursday.     The senator welcomed leaders from successful Vermont businesses who have taken this route who said their companies thrived after they sold to their workers.   To read more, click here.

Town Meetings Sanders has held more Vermont town meetings than anyone in modern history.  This weekend he will hold events in Island Pond and Newport on Saturday, and in Craftsbury, Barton and Morrisville on Sunday.  "I believe it's really important that people have an opportunity to come out and ask questions, make comments, and hear from their elected officials about what's going on in Washington," Bernie said. Sanders has also hosted a half-dozen similar forums across the southern part of the state earlier this month. To learn more about these events in northern Vermont, click here. To watch Bernie describe what he has been hearing as he travels Vermont, click here.