Hundreds of Vermonters shared gripping personal stories about the middle class squeeze in an outpouring of emails to Senator Bernie Sanders. They were, he said, "sad and depressing." Nationwide, another 80,000 jobs vanished last month, the government reported on Friday. On Capitol Hill, Sanders pressed for a cap on interest rates that credit card issuers and other lenders may charge. The National League of Cities, meanwhile, praised Sanders efforts to help cities and towns help the environment and save energy. The environment, education, the economy all came up at a Burlington City Hall town meeting Monday when Sanders hosted Finland's ambassador to the United States.

Real People's Real Stories In advance of town meetings on the economy in Vermont on Saturday, Sanders posted a video on his Senate Web page asking people to tell him about their personal experiences. The response was overwhelming. More than 360 people poured out stories about how their household budgets were stretched by a combination of sky-high gasoline prices, record-setting home heating bills, steep price hikes for food, out-of-control health care costs and other expenses. Sanders will be joined at the town meetings in Montpelier and South Royalton by Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren. To read some of the emails, click here. To watch the Senator read some of these emails, click here. To listen to a Vermont Public Radio interview Professor Warren, click here.

More Unemployment For the third month in a row, there was a sharp drop in U.S. payrolls. In yet another signal that we are in a recession, the American economy shed 80,000 jobs in March, according to the Labor Department. Leading the decline were sharp downturns in the manufacturing and construction sectors. Employers cut far more jobs in January and February than originally estimated, the report added. The bottom line was that the jobless rate went up to 5.1 percent from 4.8 percent. That's the highest unemployment rate since the fall of 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. The report said more Americans looked for work in March than in February, when many just took themselves out of the job market. To watch the Senator discuss this and the above emails, click here. To read more about the report in The New York Times, click here.

Interest Rates The Senate began debating legislation to address foreclosures and other problems related to what some have called the worst housing slump since the Great Depression. A Sanders amendment would propose a cap on interest rates that banks and credit card companies may charge. "Given the severe problems in the housing market and credit card interest rates which are as high as 30 percent, the time is long overdue for Congress to say enough is enough," Sanders said. The Sanders measure would outlaw interest charges of more than 14 percent if it were in force today. The adjustable cap would be pegged to the interest rate that the Internal Revenue Service charges late income tax filers, a rate that may fluctuate every three months. The Sanders Amendment faces formidable opposition. In 2006, the top five credit card companies — JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Capital One, and HSBC — made $8.5 million in congressional campaign contributions. "This amendment obviously will receive fierce opposition from mortgage companies, banks and credit card companies. They are pretty powerful in D.C." Sanders told Vermont Public Radio. To listen to Sanders on the radio, click here. If you are sick and tired of credit card ripoffs and want to do something about it, click here.

The Environment The National League of Cities presented key senators with the signatures of nearly 400 local officials from 46 states in support of funding for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program. In a meeting with Senators Bernie Sanders Robert Menendez, officials displayed 400 energy-efficient light bulbs representing the innovative work already occurring in cities and towns across the country to advance energy conservation. "Funding for the program will enable local officials to take new actions or build on the many existing approaches leading toward greater energy independence and security. The light bulbs represent one example of the kind of partnerships cities and towns can forge with local businesses and non-profits under the provisions of the Grant program," said NLC President Cynthia McCollum. To read the Brattleboro Reformer article on the press conference, click here.

What We Can Learn from Finland Speaking to a standing-room-only crowd of some 350 people in City Hall last Monday, Senator Bernie Sanders thanked Ambassador Pekka Lintu of Finland for visiting Vermont to discuss what Sanders called "one of the best economic and social models in the world." The ambassador met with students and faculty at the University of Vermont, where he focused on education. He lunched with business leaders, and in the evening appeared at the packed town hall meeting. To read The Burlington Free Press coverage of the town hall, click here.