In the first days of 2008, Senator Bernie Sanders hoped the new year would see an end to the Iraq war and an improved economy for the shrinking American middle class. By week's end, presidential politics was on newspaper front pages, but below the fold there was steady stream of news about the worsening American economy. The Labor Department reported on Friday that hiring came to a virtual stand-still in December, driving the nation's jobless rate up to a two-year high of 5 percent and fanning fears of a recession. In Vermont, the senator spoke out about desperation among people struggling to pay rising home heating bills and provide food and shelter for their families.

2008 "Congress must become more forceful in its opposition to President Bush's disastrous policies and more aggressive in fighting for the middle class and an end to the war," Sanders wrote in an op-ed published by the Brattleboro Reformer, Rutland Herald, the Times Argus and other Vermont publications. In a separate article, he told the Reformer, "My New Year's resolution will be to get a very strong sense of what Vermonters are thinking about by trying to hold town meetings in every county in the state." To read the senator's column, click here.

Desperate Times for the Hungry, Homeless and Cold Homeless shelters are running out of beds. Food banks have depleted their supplies. Many elderly and poor people are in danger of going cold in their homes because the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program is running out of funds to help pay record-high heating bills, Sanders told a press conference in Burlington. "In other words," he said, "in Vermont and all over this country, a significant and growing number of our people are hungry, cold and homeless. There is a level of desperation not seen in many years. This is the United States of America. People in America should not be worried about staying warm in the wintertime. People in America should not have to worry about whether they have enough food for their kids, and people in America should not be worrying whether or not they have a roof over their heads.'' To listen to Vermont Public Radio's coverage of the press conference, click here. To watch the video of the press conference, in which the Senator describes some ways to concretely address these problems, click here. To read The Associated Press account, click here.

Green Jobs The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland, Calif., is creating a program that will provide technical assistance for communities that want to train unemployed and disadvantaged residents to install solar equipment, build wind farms or fill other green-collar jobs, the San Francisco Business Times reported. The Sanders-Clinton Amendment will create a national energy worker program that "provides quality training for jobs created through renewable energy and energy-efficiency initiatives, former New Jersey Governor James Florio wrote in an op-ed published by the Asbury Park Press and the Morristown Daily Record. To read the articles, click here.

Standing Up for Vermont Workers Several Vermont lawmakers are supporting St. Albans immigration workers who want to join a union after Virginia-based Stanley Inc. took over operations at the U.S. Agency of Citizenship and Immigration Services Center and slashed the wages of a quarter of the center's 400-plus employees by about $60 a week. Sanders signed a letter that's being sent to Stanley management asking the company to respect the employees' right to form a union. To read the WCAX-TV report, click here.

Most Valuable Progressives The Nation's John Nichols called Sanders the "most valuable senator" in a year-end post that recounted how the senator "boldly battled the Bush administration on the international stage by traveling to Costa Rica before that country's fall referendum vote on whether to accept the Central American Free Trade Agreement." To read the article, click here.