This Labor Day weekend, workers across the country continue to struggle to find good-paying jobs.  Labor Department figures for August show stagnation in American job growth.  Meanwhile, a recent report showed that even the jobs that are being created tend too often to leave out middle-income families.  Sen. Sanders traveled across Vermont last weekend talking to people about the economy and its impact on their lives.  The senator called for, among other things, rebuilding our infrastructure, moving away from imported fossil fuels toward energy efficiency and sustainable energy, and providing affordable loans to small businesses so they can expand and create new jobs. He also advocated rewriting our trade policy to rebuild our manufacturing capabilities and investing in improved health care and education.  This Labor Day, Sanders will host a barbecue in Middlebury (details) to discuss these many challenges facing working families - and to enjoy some good food and music with his fellow Vermonters.

Stagnant Job Growth - Private employers added 67,000 jobs in August, the Labor Department said on Friday. The number was more than forecast. Over all, the nation lost 54,000 jobs in August as state and local governments, many of them grappling with severe budget deficits, cut 10,000 jobs last month. Another 114,000 temporary Census positions also came to an end. In all, governments cut 121,000 jobs last month. The unemployment rate rose to 9.6 percent from 9.5 percent in July, reported The New York Times. 

Economic Perspective - Sen. Sanders discussed the state of our economy at a series of five town meetings he hosted over the course of two days in northern Vermont.  Sanders pointed out that that, when President Obama took office, we were losing an average of over 700,000 private sector jobs a month, the GDP had fallen by nearly 7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, and $5 trillion in Americans' household wealth had evaporated in a 12 week period. The senator said, "Obviously we need to create more jobs.  The unemployment rate is still way too high.  Wages are still too low.  And, the economy is not growing as fast as I would like.  In other words, the economy today is in bad shape but any fair minded person would acknowledge that progress has been made over the last 18 months." To read the rest of the senator's remarks, click here.  To see photos from the events in Island Pond, Craftsbury, Newport, Barton, and Morrisville, click here. Sanders town meeting in Morrisville will air nationwide on C-SPAN on Monday night around 10 p.m.

Middle Class Jobs Squeezed Out - For years prior to the start of the current recession, job growth in America has tended to take place most rapidly on opposite ends of the economic spectrum.  High-paid occupations requiring high levels of education have grown rapidly at the same time as the low-wage, service job sector has also expanded.  A recent study showed that "middle-skilled, middle-wage white-collar and blue-collar jobs" have been largely left out of this growth.  The current recession has magnified this on-going crisis facing the shrinking middle class of America.  To read this week's New York Times article on this crisis, click here.

Exposing Crooked Contractors - When taxpayers pay a company to provide a service, they should have the right to know if that company has defrauded the government or been convicted of a crime.  Bernie successfully introduced a provision in recently-passed legislation to guarantee taxpayers that right.  The new law requires online public disclosure of past illegal activities by federal contractors.  "I strongly expect that this new public awareness will put an end to handing out taxpayer-financed contracts to corporations with a history of fraud," Sanders said.  To read the Boston Globe front page article, click here. To learn more about the Bernie's disclosure provision, click here.

Sen. Simpson - 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." This outrageous statement came from conservative former Senator Alan Simpson.   After Simpson breezily apologized for his statement, the White House confirmed he'll stay on the commission. This week, Simpson again stuck his foot in his mouth as he criticized a system that automatically awards disability benefits to some veterans because of concerns about Agent Orange.  "The irony (is) that the veterans who saved this country are now, in a way, not helping us to save the country in this fiscal mess," the former senator told The Associated Press.  Sen. Sanders, a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee, has actively supported greater research into and support for veterans exposed to the defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

Social Security - "Despite all the right-wing rhetoric, Social Security is not going bankrupt. That's a lie!" wrote Sen. Bernie Sanders in an op-ed for Politico. "The hatred of Social Security from the right-wing, anti-government crowd is based on the fact that the government program has been enormously successful in accomplishing its mission. For 75 years, in good times and bad, Social Security has provided financial security for tens of millions of Americans." 

Labor Day - Senator Bernie Sanders is hosting a Labor Day barbecue on The Green in Middlebury on Monday, September 6 at 6 p.m (details here).  Sanders and local leaders will discuss the needs of working families and the economic challenges facing our nation.  The event will feature a free cookout and music from the Rachel Rice Trio.  Sen. Sanders said, "What we celebrate on this national holiday is not just the importance of work, but the great contributions that the labor movement has made to America in establishing the eight hour work day, in successfully ending child labor, in allowing labor unions to represent workers at the bargaining table - and in supporting Social Security so that workers who retire do not have to live in poverty."

Vermont Heat Wave (Again) Without a heat wave for seven years, Burlington now has enjoyed two within two months. When the temperature reached 91 degrees at 1:25 p.m. Thursday at Burlington International Airport, two milestones were met: A daily record high for a third successive day and a third day in the 90s - an official heat wave by meteorological measurements, according to The Burlington Free Press.