The Week in Review
As final preparations were made for Tuesday's historic inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States, the Senate held confirmation hearings on his Cabinet choices. Senators also voted to release $350 billion left in a financial rescue fund, and continued work on Obama's plan for $825 billion in new spending and tax cuts to spur the troubled economy. "As a nation, we face the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression," Friday, January 16, 2009
As final preparations were made for Tuesday's historic inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States, the Senate held confirmation hearings on his Cabinet choices. Senators also voted to release $350 billion left in a financial rescue fund, and continued work on Obama's plan for $825 billion in new spending and tax cuts to spur the troubled economy. "As a nation, we face the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression," Senator Bernie Sanders said. "The good news is that in Barack Obama the American people have elected a new president who is not only extremely intelligent, but has extraordinary leadership qualities and a real sense of history."
Economic Recovery Obama on Friday toured an Ohio company that makes wind turbines as part of his drive to promote investments in alternative energy through his economic recovery package. As senators worked behind the scenes on a recovery plan, leaders in the House of Representatives unveiled an $825 billion tax cut and spending bill they hope will help reverse the steep decline in the U.S. economy. The bill would combine $550 billion in emergency spending initiatives with $275 billion in temporary tax benefits over the next two years. "This is extremely exciting and very significant," Sanders said of the proposal Friday on The Thom Hartmann Program on Air America Radio. "It begins the process of rebuilding America, creating millions of good-paying jobs and addressing the needs that Bush has ignored for years."
Confirmation Hearings In the Senate energy committee, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu pledged to address the causes of climate change and talked about ways to achieve energy independence by developing sources of clean energy. Sanders asked the Energy Secretary-designate about ways to promote solar energy. The senator also discussed solar energy with Ken Salazar at a hearing on the former Colorado senator's nomination to head the Department of Interior. At the Veterans' Committee, retired Army Gen. Eric K. Shinseki pledged to transform the Department of Veterans Affairs to meet the needs of a growing population of wounded veterans. "We are somewhere back in the 19th century" in terms of the VA claims system, Sanders told him. Shinseki agreed.
At an education committee hearing, Sanders asked Chicago public schools chief Arne Duncan about early childhood education and questioned him about ways to make higher education affordable. To watch Sanders and Salazar discuss solar energy, click here. To watch Sanders and Chu on alternative energy, click here. To watch the exchange with the education secretary designee, click here. For video of the VA hearing, click here.
Banks Bailout The federal government propped up Bank of America with another $20 billion investment hours after the Senate voted 52 to 42 on Thursday against a resolution to block releasing $350 billion remaining in the bailout fund. "President Obama will do a far, far better job in directing that money, but I still have concerns about the need to hold these large banks and financial institutions accountable," Sanders told National Public Radio before voting to block the funds. To listen to the report on NPR's "All Things Considered," click here.
Pentagon Waste The Army had $3.6 billion in excess spare parts on average from 2004 through 2007. Though some of the parts may be needed over the next decade, the Army probably never will use about $900 million of the equipment it had in storage, according to the Government Accountability Office investigation requested by Sanders. "This is waste, pure and simple, and it's waste that has to end," said Sanders. To read the story in USA Today, click here. To read the GAO report, click here.
President Bush Unless he revs up Air Force One for a trip to Vermont this weekend, the outgoing president will have ended his two terms in office without ever visiting the Green Mountain State. "A badge of honor" for Vermont, Sanders called the state's footnote in W's White House history. Speaking of recent history, the National Portrait Gallery on Monday agreed to change the text beside a new oil painting of Bush. The caption had said that the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, "led to" the war in Iraq. The notion that Iraq and 9/11 were linked has been authoritatively debunked, of course, and the museum director agreed to change the text. Looking through a longer historical lens as Inauguration Day approached, visitors here on the Web site weighed in with their judgments about who were the best and worst presidents. Lincoln, FDR, Washington, Jefferson and JFK are your five favorites. Interestingly, as of Friday, 7 percent of you included the outgoing president in your top five. Small comfort for Bush, because in the worst presidents survey the 43rd president far surpassed Richard Nixon and Herbert Hoover, the man who was in the White House the last time the economy was this bad during the Great Depression. So as Bush's second term winds down and Inauguration Day draws near, it's time for change we can believe in.
Economic Recovery Obama on Friday toured an Ohio company that makes wind turbines as part of his drive to promote investments in alternative energy through his economic recovery package. As senators worked behind the scenes on a recovery plan, leaders in the House of Representatives unveiled an $825 billion tax cut and spending bill they hope will help reverse the steep decline in the U.S. economy. The bill would combine $550 billion in emergency spending initiatives with $275 billion in temporary tax benefits over the next two years. "This is extremely exciting and very significant," Sanders said of the proposal Friday on The Thom Hartmann Program on Air America Radio. "It begins the process of rebuilding America, creating millions of good-paying jobs and addressing the needs that Bush has ignored for years."Confirmation Hearings In the Senate energy committee, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu pledged to address the causes of climate change and talked about ways to achieve energy independence by developing sources of clean energy. Sanders asked the Energy Secretary-designate about ways to promote solar energy. The senator also discussed solar energy with Ken Salazar at a hearing on the former Colorado senator's nomination to head the Department of Interior. At the Veterans' Committee, retired Army Gen. Eric K. Shinseki pledged to transform the Department of Veterans Affairs to meet the needs of a growing population of wounded veterans. "We are somewhere back in the 19th century" in terms of the VA claims system, Sanders told him. Shinseki agreed.
At an education committee hearing, Sanders asked Chicago public schools chief Arne Duncan about early childhood education and questioned him about ways to make higher education affordable. To watch Sanders and Salazar discuss solar energy, click here. To watch Sanders and Chu on alternative energy, click here. To watch the exchange with the education secretary designee, click here. For video of the VA hearing, click here. Banks Bailout The federal government propped up Bank of America with another $20 billion investment hours after the Senate voted 52 to 42 on Thursday against a resolution to block releasing $350 billion remaining in the bailout fund. "President Obama will do a far, far better job in directing that money, but I still have concerns about the need to hold these large banks and financial institutions accountable," Sanders told National Public Radio before voting to block the funds. To listen to the report on NPR's "All Things Considered," click here.
Pentagon Waste The Army had $3.6 billion in excess spare parts on average from 2004 through 2007. Though some of the parts may be needed over the next decade, the Army probably never will use about $900 million of the equipment it had in storage, according to the Government Accountability Office investigation requested by Sanders. "This is waste, pure and simple, and it's waste that has to end," said Sanders. To read the story in USA Today, click here. To read the GAO report, click here.
President Bush Unless he revs up Air Force One for a trip to Vermont this weekend, the outgoing president will have ended his two terms in office without ever visiting the Green Mountain State. "A badge of honor" for Vermont, Sanders called the state's footnote in W's White House history. Speaking of recent history, the National Portrait Gallery on Monday agreed to change the text beside a new oil painting of Bush. The caption had said that the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, "led to" the war in Iraq. The notion that Iraq and 9/11 were linked has been authoritatively debunked, of course, and the museum director agreed to change the text. Looking through a longer historical lens as Inauguration Day approached, visitors here on the Web site weighed in with their judgments about who were the best and worst presidents. Lincoln, FDR, Washington, Jefferson and JFK are your five favorites. Interestingly, as of Friday, 7 percent of you included the outgoing president in your top five. Small comfort for Bush, because in the worst presidents survey the 43rd president far surpassed Richard Nixon and Herbert Hoover, the man who was in the White House the last time the economy was this bad during the Great Depression. So as Bush's second term winds down and Inauguration Day draws near, it's time for change we can believe in.