Congress passed and sent to President Bush an economic stimulus package that Senator Bernie Sanders said "was substantially improved by adding help for 20 million seniors on Social Security and 250,000 veterans living on disability benefits. That will help people truly in need, and it will help the economy overall." On another fiscal front, Sanders asked hard questions of Bush administration officials defending his budget at Senate Budget Committee hearings. The Senate debated a controversial spy law. And as the war in Iraq dragged on, there was a new price tag from the Pentagon brass and a new focus on the toll on soldiers returning home.

Economic Stimulus Moving with unusual speed, Congress gave final approval on Thursday to a $168 billion economic rescue package, including rebates for taxpayers that lawmakers hope encourage spending to give the economy a shot in the arm. The package included rebate checks for 20 million seniors and a quarter-million disabled veterans. Vermont Senators Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy voted for the bill that did not include home heating assistance or an extension of unemployment benefits that were in an earlier Senate version. To read more about it, click here. To listen to Sanders discuss the package on Vermont Public Radio, click here.

Bush's Last Budget Lawmakers sparred with Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. over the president's push to extend tax breaks for the wealthy. At a Senate hearing, Paulson fielded questions from Sanders over repealing the estate tax — as Bush's budget proposed — instead of devoting resources to home heating assistance, health care and education. "Tell me why it is a good idea, with oil prices soaring, to cut back on LIHEAP so people go cold in America?" Sanders asked. "Well, it's a little bit like asking me, 'When did you stop beating your wife?'" Paulson replied." "Well, if you were beating your wife I'd ask you that," Sanders retorted. Paulson ultimately refused to answer the senator's question. Said Sanders: "Bush continues to support billions of dollars in tax breaks for the wealthiest 1 percent, while he massively cuts back on priority programs for middle- and low-income Americans." To watch Sanders question the treasury secretary and the White House budget director, click here and here.

Spy Law Declaring that telecommunications companies involved in President Bush´s domestic spying program "undermined [the] fundamental civil protections and privacy rights of Americans," Sanders and 28 other members of Congress wrote to President Bush warning that they will oppose any legislation that grants the companies retroactive legal immunity. A proposal to have the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expire in four years failed to muster the 60 votes needed for passage in the Senate on Wednesday, leaving intact a six-year sunset provision. Senate debate resumes Monday and a series of votes are scheduled on Tuesday.

The Costs of War Military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost $170 billion in the next fiscal year over and above the $515.4 billion regular Pentagon budget that President Bush has proposed, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told a Senate panel. There are others costs of war. Half of all National Guard soldiers returning from the Middle East suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injuries, according to a special report broadcast on WCAX-TV. The cost of war is a lot more than most people think it is," Sanders said. "It's not just the tanks, the weapons and the bombs. It's not just those who come home in caskets or the funerals. It's not just those who lose their legs and arms. We can see that. There is an invisible cost of war." Sanders, the report noted, helped secure federal funds for a first-of-its-kind Veterans and Families Outreach Program in Vermont. To read or watch the report, click here or here.