Facing another government shutdown deadline, Congress and the White House haggled over how much to slash spending.  The latest stopgap bill runs out April 8. Addressing "demoralized progressives," the editor of The Nation said Sen. Bernie Sanders was among those "showing real moxie" by offering alternatives "that respond to rising suffering, inequality and corporate greed." Sanders on Wednesday called out corporations that paid little or no taxes.  On Thursday, he questioned why billions of American taxpayer dollars bailed out a Libyan-owned bank. And on Friday, the Labor Department announced that the 8.8 percent unemployment rate in March was the lowest in two years. Still, 13.5 million people were looking for work.

Budget Negotiations Facing another deadline for a government shutdown, congressional and White House bargainers hashed out a tentative plan to cut $33 billion in spending.  Vice President Biden came to the Capitol Wednesday and heard from senators worried that that unless the administration takes a stronger stand now, President Obama will only be "nibbled to death" and weakened in future dealings with the Republican-controlled House.

Tax Dodgers Exxon Mobil, Bank of America, GE and other giant corporations paid no U.S. taxes despite billions in profits. In fact, they pocketed big IRS refunds.   As budget writers focused only on how many billions of dollars to cut from spending on programs for working families, Bernie tried to broaden the debate. He compiled a top-10 list of tax-dodging corporations. To read his column on The Huffington Post, click here. To watch the speech, click here.

Save Social Security Sanders on Monday addressed more than 300 seniors and workers who packed a "Back Off Social Security" rally on Capitol Hill. Sanders said Social Security has worked. The poverty rate has fallen from more than 50 percent before the retirement program was created to about one-in-ten seniors today.  Social Security has been a success story without contributing a dime to the federal deficits. In fact, there is a $2.6 trillion surplus in the retirement fund that is projected to grow to over $4 trillion by the year 2023. To watch his remarks at the rally, click here.

Bank of Libya Sanders on Thursday questioned why the Federal Reserve provided more than $26 billion in credit to an Arab intermediary for the Central Bank of Libya. The total includes at least $3.2 billion in loans that the Fed was forced to make public today in addition to earlier revelations under a Sanders provision in the Wall Street reform law.  Sanders also asked why the Libyan-owned bank and two of its branches in New York, N.Y., were exempted from sanctions that the United States this month slapped on other Libyan businesses to pressure Col. Moammar Gadhafi's government. To read more, click here or here.

War in Libya President Obama delivered a speech on Monday saying that NATO was taking charge of the allied military operation against Libya.  Sen. Sanders said the Libyan dictator was a murderous thug, but questioned whether the United States should be drawn into a third war in the Middle East. Do you favor or oppose the U.S. military getting involved with the situation in Libya? To take the poll, click here.