Congress worked into the weekend as a Tuesday deadline loomed for raising the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling to avert defaulting on the nation's debts. Saying the legislative options "are all bad," Sen. Bernie Sanders turned his focus to a provision in the Constitution declaring that the debts of the United States "shall not be questioned."  Aggravating the crisis atmosphere, a disappointing Commerce Department report on Friday documented anemic economic growth.

The Imminent Debt Crisis "Vermonters are deeply concerned about the possibility of the United States defaulting on its debt for the first time in our nation's history. My office has received hundreds of calls about this. Because of Republican Tea Party intransigence, the options that are currently before Congress run the gamut from bad to worse," Sanders said in a statement on Friday. "The least damaging approach might just be for President Obama to rely upon the 14th Amendment, which says the debts of the United States ‘shall not be questioned.'" To read more, click here.

Budget In a Wall Street Journal column published on Friday, Sanders said a "bad" deficit-reduction plan by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "does not ask the wealthy and big corporations to make any sacrifice." House Speaker John Boehner's plan "is much worse," Sanders added, because it would only be a short-term fix to the debt limit and give extraordinary power to a special congressional panel to come up with another $1.8 trillion in cuts within six months. To read the column, click here.

Economy The United States economy slowed considerably, the Commerce Department reported on Friday. The gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 1.3 percent in the second quarter. The news came as Congress debated measures that some economists worry could further slow the recovery and even throw the economy back into recession.

Gas Mileage Sanders, who last year proposed legislation to raise fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks to 55 mpg,  applauded an agreement announced Friday between the Obama administration and automakers that will increase the average fuel economy of American cars to 54.5 mpg by 2025. Sanders said that the deal will save motorists money at the gas pump, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and generate new jobs. To read more, click here.

War Contractors Sanders and Rep. Jan Schakowsky  on Wednesday introduced legislation that would phase out private security contractors in war zones. The United States increasingly has relied on private contractors to wage our wars, wasting taxpayer money, damaging military morale and hurting our reputation around the world.  There are 155,000 contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan today, but only 145,000 uniformed service members. To read more, click here.