On the April 15 deadline for most Americans to file their income taxes, Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a bill to stop corporations from stashing profits in the Cayman Islands and other tax havens to avoid U.S. taxes. At Sanders’ urging, the Obama administration agreed on Tuesday to investigate steep price hikes for generic drugs. In a Monday evening talk with students at American University in Washington, D.C., Sanders called for making 4-year public colleges tuition-free. There was a huge rally on Wednesday outside the Capitol by union workers worried about another job-killing trade deal that corporate interests are trying to ram through Congress. A Senate panel on Thursday took a big step toward replacing the discredited Bush-era education law known as No Child Left Behind. Sanders applauded the latest move by President Obama to end half a century of Cold War and normalize relations with Cuba.

Offshore Tax Havens

Sanders spoke at a Capitol news conference in front of a photo of the notorious Ugland House, the Cayman Islands office that is the registered address of more than 18,000 companies. It's all a scam to avoid paying taxes to the U.S. government. Nobody is really doing business there. “At a time when we have an $18.2 trillion national debt; at a time when many of the largest corporations in America are paying no federal income taxes; and at a time when corporate profits are at an all-time high, it is past time for corporate America to pay their fair share in taxes so that we can address the many problems which this country faces," Bernie said.

More Corporate Tax Dodgers

A new study released on Tuesday shows that 15 major Fortune 500 companies paid little or no taxes on billions of dollars in profits in 2014. Sanders praised the Citizens for Tax Justice report for revealing the unfairness of our tax system and the fact that a number of the biggest and most well-known corporations such as CBS, GE, Mattel and others pay little or nothing in taxes.”  

Read the Citizens for Tax Justice report

House Votes to Cut Taxes on Super Rich

The House on Thursday voted 240-179 to provide $269 billion in tax breaks for the families of the wealthiest 0.2 percent of Americans subject to the inheritance tax. “At a time of increasing inequality, it is beyond belief that Congress would provide hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to a handful of millionaire and billionaire families,” Sanders said. “Incredibly, not only are the Republicans giving huge tax breaks to people who need it the least, they are simultaneously raising taxes on working families by ending earned-income and children’s tax credits that benefit 13 million Americans.”

 Drug Price Probe    

The Department of Health and Human Services agreed this week to investigate how sudden price hikes by generic drug makers are driving up the cost of taxpayer-supported health care. “Generic drugs were meant to help make medications affordable for millions of Americans who rely on prescriptions to manage their health needs. We’ve got to get to the bottom of these enormous price increases,” said Sanders. The HHS probe was requested as part of an investigation by Bernie and Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland.     

 Read more in The Wall Street Journal

Bad Trade Deal

One day after the Steelworkers union rallied against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a bill was filed to rush the 12-nation agreement through Congress. “The Trans-Pacific Partnership is another corporate-backed agreement that is the latest in a series of failed trade policies which have cost us millions of decent-paying jobs, pushed down wages for American workers and led to the decline of our middle class,” said Sanders. “We want American companies to create decent-paying jobs in America, not just in low-wage countries like Vietnam, Malaysia or China. The TPP must be defeated.”

Leaving Behind ‘No Child Left Behind’

States would have much more control over how public schools are held accountable for student performance under legislation that a Senate panel approved on Thursday. A member of the Senate education committee, Sanders helped draft the measure to replace the much-maligned No Child Left Behind education law which   inaccurately stigmatized most Vermont schools for supposedly low performance. Vermonters had told Sanders the 2001 Bush-era law – which graded performance based on annual reading and math tests – unfairly punished students and teachers in one of the nation’s best school systems. “What we in Vermont understand is a kid is more than a test. We want kids to be creative. We want kids to be critical thinkers. We also want schools held accountable for factors other than test scores, including how they meet the challenges of students from low-income families.”

College Costs

In his American University appearance calling for tuition-free undergraduate education, Sanders also advocated letting students refinance loans, eliminating federal profits on loans, expanding work-study programs and providing incentives for colleges and universities to keep costs down. “We have a crisis in this country. Too many of our young people cannot afford a college education and those who do go to college are faced with crushing debt,” Sanders said. “Higher education must be available to all Americans who have the desire and ability.  This is enormously important if we are to rebuild our middle class and if we are going to be competitive in the global economy.”

50 Years of Cold War Is Enough    

The White House announced on Wednesday that President Obama is removing Cuba from America’s list of nations that sponsor terrorism: “While we may disagree with many aspects of Cuba's government, Cuba is not a terrorist state,” Sanders said. “I applaud President Obama for removing Cuba from the list of those countries that sponsor terrorism, and for moving forward toward normal diplomatic relations. Fifty years of failed Cold War policy is enough. It's time for a new relationship with Cuba.”