The Week in Review
Supporters of a ban on corporate campaign cash marked Saturday's second anniversary of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC. Sen. Bernie Sanders talked about his constitutional amendment during the weekly "Brunch with Bernie" hour Friday on The Thom Hartmann Program on radio and Free Speech TV. In a major victory for the environment, President Obama on Wednesday rejected a permit to build an oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. And at the end of the week, congressional leaders backed off Internet regulation bills that were the target of online protests.
Saving Democracy
Sanders is the lead Senate sponsor of a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission. "You are talking about the unbelievable power that big-money interests have over every legislative decision," he said in an interview Sunday on MSNBC. The senator also laid out the case for the amendment in columns published by U.S. News & World Report, The Huffington Post and The Guardian. Watch the interview on "Up with Chris Hayes." Weigh in by taking Bernie's poll on Citizens United.
No Tar Sands Pipeline
The president's decision to stop the 1,700-mile oil pipeline was praised by Sanders, a member of the Senate energy and environment committees and one of the leading critics of the proposal. "In my view, this tar sands pipeline is a bad deal for the country and for our planet, and the president has acted in the best interest of the American people in saying no to Keystone XL," Sanders said. Bill McKibben, the Vermont scholar who led mass protests against the pipeline, credited several members of Congress. "Sanders has been all over this," McKibben told The Washington Post.
Nuclear Power
A federal judge on Thursday blocked Vermont from forcing the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor to shut down when its state license expires in March. The court said only the federal government, not states, may regulate nuclear safety. The state based its decision on economic grounds and Sanders called the ruling "wrong" and "ripe for appeal."
Internet
"In light of recent events, I have decided to postpone Tuesday's vote," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Friday. The recent events Reid referred to were huge online protests on Wednesday. The web encyclopedia Wikipedia and thousands of other Internet sites went dark to protest the bills in the House and Senate. Opponents of the bills said they would censor the web. Proponents said stronger measures are needed to curb the theft of copyrighted movies, books and other creative products.
