As Congress geared up for its return to Washington on Monday after an August recess, Sen. Bernie Sanders called for ending soon-to-expire Bush-era tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans and investing more in job-creating projects rebuilding roads, rails and runways. "There is no question that this country faces enormous economic problems, but people have to remember where we were 18 months ago at the end of the Bush era," Sanders said Friday on The Thom Hartmann Program. "Do we need to be more aggressive and vigilant about job creation? You bet we do," Sanders added on the nationwide hour-long radio that he is on every Friday at noon.

Economic Recovery President Obama on Monday proposed $50 billion for roads, railways and runways to spur the economy. At a Labor Day barbecue in Middlebury, Vt., Sanders also called for more infrastructure investment. "Let's put people to work rebuilding America," Sanders told more than 250 union members at a Labor Day breakfast in New Hampshire AFL-CIO. He called for reforming U.S. trade policies that have resulted in the loss of American jobs to overseas. "We all know, as Americans, we have a moral responsibility to do everything we can to uplift people throughout the world. But we don't have to do that by destroying the working class of the United States of America," Sanders said to a standing ovation. "Unfettered trade is about forcing American workers to compete against desperate people all over the world," he added. "We have got to tell corporate America that, if they want us to buy their products, which they certainly do, they have got to start manufacturing those products back here in America," Sanders said.

Employment Outlook Sanders on Thursday released a report showing that low-wage jobs will provide the biggest share of Vermont employment growth through 2018. As the state and nation struggle through the worst recession since the 1930s, Vermont's 6 percent unemployment rate and the 9.6 percent national jobless figure overshadow a decline in manufacturing jobs and other occupations that once supported middle-class families. "Unfortunately, many of the new jobs being projected for Vermont and America are low-paying jobs. We can and must do better," said Sanders, a member of the Senate labor committee. He is working to create good-paying jobs by reforming U.S. trade policies, expanding broadband service throughout Vermont, promoting employee-ownership of businesses and encouraging major employers, such as Sandia National Laboratories, to locate facilities in Vermont.

End Tax Breaks for the Wealthy President Obama on Wednesday opposed extending Bush-era tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. Sanders agreed. "I think President Obama is right.  At a time when we have a $13 trillion dollar national debt, we should not be renewing huge tax breaks for the wealthy.  This would cost the treasury over $1 trillion in a 10-year period," Sanders said. "In my view, we should use half that money for deficit reduction and half that money should be invested in rebuilding our roads, bridges and rail systems which, over a period of time, could create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs."  Obama and Sanders favor extending tax cuts for the 98 percent of households with income below $250,000 for couples and $200,000 for individuals. For the top 2 percent - those with incomes above those cutoffs - federal income tax rates in 2011 would go back to their pre-2001 levels. Nationwide, a majority of Americans favor letting the tax cuts enacted during the Bush administration expire for the wealthy. While 37 percent support keeping the tax cuts for all Americans, 44 percent want them extended only for those making less than $250,000 and 15 percent think they should expire for all taxpayers. What do you think?

Health Care The government will monitor "unjustified" insurance premium increases linked to the health care overhaul and may block offending companies from participating in a new insurance marketplace, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius warned. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that some carriers plan premium hikes of 20 percent and blame the new law for one to nine percentage points of the increases.

Warren Watch President Obama on Tuesday met with consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren, the head of the panel overseeing the bailout of financial firms and a leading contender to lead a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau created by the Wall Street reform bill. Answering questions at a White House press conference on Friday, Obama called Warren "a dear friend" and a "tremendous advocate" for consumers.  "I'll have an announcement soon," he added.  In a letter sent to the White House last July 19, Sanders urged the president to pick Warren as the first director of the protection bureau. "At a time when doubts about Wall Street and its practices run very deep ... American consumers need a federal government that is looking after their best interests," Sanders said. Warren is a Harvard Law School professor. The Washington Post found noteworthy an e-mail from Harvard law school dean Martha Minow to incoming students: "I'm writing to let you know that Professor Jerry Frug will be teaching your Contracts class this term instead of Professor Elizabeth Warren. ... Professor Warren regrets that she will not be able to teach you this fall and we regret the last minute change."

Vermont Firefighters and Veterans A ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new firefighter training facility at Vermont Technical College was held Tuesday. Sanders said firefighting is "not just rushing into a building with a hose and putting out a fire. It is a scientific effort to know how to do what you're doing and doing it in the right way." The senator secured nearly $407,000 in federal funding for the project. On Thursday, the senator participated in the grand opening of a new community health clinic for Northeast Kingdom veterans.  The clinic housed at Newport's North Country Hospital will be the sixth operated by the White River Junction VA Medical Center.  The other clinics serving Vermonters are in Bennington, Brattleboro, Colchester, Rutland, and Littleton, N.H.  The Brattleboro clinic opened in June of this year.