The Supreme Court on Wednesday handed the wealthy more power to spend more money and have more influence on who wins elections. After a very rocky rollout, there were very impressive results by a midnight Monday deadline when more than 7 million Americans signed up for health care under the Affordable Care Act. The March jobs report issued Friday by the Labor Department showed the number of Americans out of work six months or more is twice as high as before the recession began in 2007. The latest jobless numbers bolster the case for Congress to extend benefits that expired late last for the long-term unemployed.

Unemployment The official unemployment rate for March was 6.7 percent, unchanged from February, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced on Friday that real unemployment ticked up to 12.7 percent. That number counts workers forced to settle for part-time jobs and those unemployed for so long that they have given up looking for work. There were 3.7 million long-term unemployed in March compared to 1.2 million long-term unemployed in March of 2007 before the recession. The Senate is expected to vote Monday to resurrect benefits that expired last Dec. 28 for the long-term jobless. “This will impact several million American workers who are at the end of their ropes financially,” Sanders said. The measure to help the unemployed and in the process stimulate the economy nevertheless faces an uncertain fate in the Republican-run House.

The Rights of the Rich The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Wednesday that it is unconstitutional to limit how much an individual may give to all candidates running during a two-year election cycle. The right-wing court majority said limiting donations violates the First Amendment. Sanders sees it differently. “Freedom of speech does not mean the freedom to buy the United States government.” The decision in McCutcheon vs. Federal Elections Commission follows an earlier ruling in Citizens United vs. FEC that lifted limits on what corporations and wealthy individuals may spend on political campaigns. The decisions have dismantled decades of anti-corruption laws passed by Congress and state lawmakers.Sanders is the sponsor of a proposed constitutional amendment to undo the decisions. The long-term solution, Sanders said, is public funding of elections “so that all candidates have a fair shot at getting elected, and they can be judged by their ideas, by what they're fighting for, and not by the bank accounts of their campaign sponsors.” Read more

Democracy vs. Oligarchy There’s a framed poster hanging in Sanders' Senate office of a man speaking up at a town meeting. Last Sunday, Sanders held four town meetings that were a lot like the one in Norman Rockwell’s 1943 painting. Like hundreds of other meetings that Sanders has hosted over the years, he listened to constituents, answered questions and gave a rundown of what's going on in Washington. This process is called democracy. Ironically, that same weekend potential Republican presidential candidates were in Las Vegas angling for the financial support of Sheldon Adelson, the multi-billionaire casino tycoon. Thanks to the Supreme Court, Adelson, the Koch brothers and a handful of other billionaires are taking control of the political process in America. That’s called an oligarchy. “The great political struggle we now face is whether the United States retains its democratic heritage or whether we move toward an oligarchic form of society where the real political power rests with a handful of billionaires, not ordinary Americans,” Sanders said. Read more

A Big Deal on Health Care There was a surge in signups for health coverage in advance of Monday’s midnight deadline to enroll under the Affordable Care Act. In addition to the 7.1 million who insured through federal and state exchanges, 11 million more now qualify for Medicaid, according to figures that the Obama administration released on Friday. Moreover, 3 million young adults have been able to stay on their parents’ plans. “This is a big, big deal,” Sanders said. Even more Americans would get access to care if governors and legislators in 23 states would agree to expand Medicaid, at no cost to their states for three years. And even more people would be covered and get better care at less cost if the United States provided Medicare-like coverage for all Americans. Sanders hopes Vermont will show the rest of the country the advantages of single-payer universal health care like the rest of the major countries in the world. Watch Sanders discuss health care on MSNBC

Mental Health Care for Veterans A shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, on Wednesday by a gunman being treated for mental health issues threw a spotlight on efforts in Washington to improve care for veterans returning from wars. We have to do a heck of a lot more than we are currently doing,” said Sanders, chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. “The VA has greatly expanded its mental health capabilities, but frankly we have got to do more.” A Sanders bill that all but two Republican senators voted against would improve mental health services for veterans by boosting education and training for mental health professionals at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Watch Sanders and Chris Jansing on MSNBC

Another Warning on Global Warming There was another wake-up call issued on Monday by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The report said the effects of global warming already are occurring on every continent and across the world’s oceans. The scientists warned that the problem was likely to grow much worse unless greenhouse gas emissions are brought under control. Polar ice caps are melting, sea ice in the Arctic is collapsing, heat waves and flooding are becoming more intense, some animals already have become extinct and coral reefs are dying, according to the latest report from the panel of experts that periodically summarizes climate science. The report also warned that climate change can increase risks of civil war and other violent clashes by amplifying forces like poverty and economic shocks that drive such conflicts.  “The time is late. We can no longer ignore warnings that climate change already is happening and that unless we act in a bold way the worst is yet to come,” said Sanders. A member of both the Senate environment and energy committees, Sanders has proposed a tax on carbon and methane greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.

Burlington Bus Strike Buses were back on the roads Friday in the Burlington, Vt., area after a three-week strike forced almost 10,000 riders to find another way to get to school or work. Sanders helped broker the agreement that ended the walkout. He urged managers of the transportation authority for Vermont’s largest county to address its own role in souring relations with workers.