After weeks of massive and mostly peaceful demonstrations, President Hosni Mubarak turned over all power and left the Egyptian capital on Friday. In Washington, Sen. Bernie Sanders applauded the development, but he cautioned that the transition from a military autocracy to a democracy will not be easy. President Obama put finishing touches on the budget he will send to Congress on Monday. Sanders was wary that programs to help working families and seniors could face cuts only weeks after Congress and the White House gave out billions of dollars in tax breaks to the wealthy.   

‘Egypt is Free' The announcement that Mubarak had stepped aside was delivered during evening prayers in Cairo and set off a frenzy of celebration.  "Egypt is free!" demonstrators shouted. Sen. Bernie Sanders said the week's developments in Egypt were due to the "extraordinary uprising" by hundreds of thousands of Egyptian demonstrators "who took to the streets to say that after 30 years of autocratic rule they want democracy." 

Obama Budget President Obama will send to Capitol Hill on Monday a budget expected to propose cuts in many programs. The White House leaked on Thursday that the president will propose to halve federal funding for home heating assistance. Sanders led the effort in Congress that doubled funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program to $5.1 billion a year since 2008. "We are very concerned about reports that the president's budget will propose a 50 percent cut to the program that helps more than 20,000 Vermont households," the Vermont lawmakers said in a joint statement," Sens. Sanders and Patrick Leahy and Rep. Peter Welch said in a statement.  "While we all believe that we need to reduce the federal deficit, we cannot balance the budget on the backs of senior citizens on fixed incomes, low-income families with children, and persons with disabilities. This is especially true after Congress voted to provide billions of dollars in tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans."

House 'Chaos' The Republican majority in the House of Representatives flatly rejected a spending plan crafted by their own House leaders. The Washington Post said the situation had "turned chaotic" and that the "uprising exposed serious divisions among Republicans."

Health Care Sanders praised a proposal that Gov. Peter Shumlin presented on Tuesday to Vermont lawmakers to move the state toward a single-payer health care system. "I applaud the governor for presenting his health care proposal to the Legislature and I look forward to working with him. With 50 million Americans uninsured and the cost of health care soaring, Vermont can be a model for the nation as we move toward a Medicare-for-all, single-payer health care system," Sanders said. Sanders introduced legislation on Jan. 25 to help the state use a new national health care law to enact a single-payer system. Sen. Patrick Leahy is a cosponsor of the Senate bill, and Rep. Peter Welch introduced companion legislation in the House.

Credit Card Rip-Offs As Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke came to testify on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Sanders spoke out about the need for the Fed to limit how much banks may charge their credit card customers. Sanders also said the country's largest four financial institutions, which now issue two-thirds of the credit cards in America and hold half the mortgages, should be broken up.  The senator made his points during an interview with MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan about the role banks and Wall Street should play in rebuilding the American economy. To watch the interview, click here.

Social Security Roll Call reported on Thursday that Sanders is leading the charge against cutting Social Security, a stand that the Capitol Hill newspaper said is shared by Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus.  Not only are conservative Republicans poised to attack the successful programs, but there was new evidence on Friday that the White House considered offering specific benefit cuts and tax increases.  The Obama administration backed off for the time being because there was not a clear signal from Republicans that they were ready to talk, sources told The Wall Street Journal.