President Obama returned from his first overseas trip. "The United States is the most powerful country in the world, but we can't do it alone," Senator Bernie Sanders said. "It is really inspiring to see how people throughout the world are responding to him." In Vermont, the state Legislature passed marriage equality legislation that Sanders called "the right thing to do." At home during the Senate's spring recess, Sanders announced legislation to help volunteer firefighters. He also began a swing through the state that will take him from St. Albans and St. Johnsbury to Brattleboro and Bennington. It wraps up with a town meeting in Montpelier.

Volunteer Firefighters Sanders was joined by firefighters and leaders of Vermont's first responder community for an announcement that he had introduced legislation to strengthen support for the thinning ranks of volunteer firefighters. The tradition of emergency responder volunteerism is "in danger of weakening and possibly even dying out," according to the Department of Homeland Security. Nationwide, the ranks of volunteer firefighters have dropped more than 10 percent from their peak in 1984. Vermont's 5,600 volunteer firefighters and the nation's 800,000 volunteer firefighters and emergency medical service personnel "deserve our strong support," Sanders said. To read more, click here.

Good Questions The Federal Reserve is loaning money to banks and other financial institutions. So far, the total outlay is more than $2 trillion. But the Fed won't say who received the funds. "How can you put $2.2 trillion of taxpayer money at risk and not know who is receiving that money?' Sanders asked before the Senate voted 59 to 39 for his amendment to require disclosure. "What's worse, that we need a law to find out which financial institutions receive taxpayer bailout money or that 39 senators voted against it?" Lou Dobbs asked on CNN.

Town Meeting In the coming week, Sanders will cap his travels to all corners of the state - from St. Albans to Brattleboro - with a town meeting in Montpelier on Thursday night to discuss how we got into the economic mess and how to prevent another financial meltdown from ever occurring again. Joining Bernie will be William K. Black, author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One. To watch Black's interview last week on Bill Moyers Journal, click here. For details on Thursday's town meeting, click here.