As the world went on alert for a flu pandemic, the recession that already had spread misery around the globe got even worse; the No. 3 carmaker in America filed for bankruptcy, and a major report showed the U.S. economy still shrinking, by a lot. In Washington, names in the news included Justice Souter retiring from the Supreme Court and Sen. Specter switching to the Democratic side of the aisle. On Capitol Hill, Congress went on record in favor of a proposal by Senator Bernie Sanders to make the super-secretive Federal Reserve disclose what it has done with more than $2 trillion in taxpayer dollars. A crackdown on credit card companies passed the House, and Sanders prepared to make a concerted push in the Senate for a nationwide cap on credit card interest charges, a subject that more than 1,200 of you e-mailed him about in the past week.

Health Care Dr. John Matthew of The Health Center in Plainfield, Vt., testified in favor of U.S. Sen. Bernard Sanders' proposal to quadruple funding for Federally Qualified Health Centers. "We're keeping people well, we're keeping them out of emergency rooms, we're keeping them out of hospitals, and what the studies suggest is we're saving substantial sums of money," Sanders said at a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing that he chaired. "If every American had access to a community health center, we would see $500 billion in health care cost savings," Dan Hawkins, senior vice president of the National Association of Community Health Centers, told the panel. To watch excerpts, click here.

Credit Cards The House on Thursday passed a bill that would limit when and by how much credit card companies could hike interest rates. The Senate is expected to take up its own credit card legislation next week. Sanders favors the reforms, but he would do more. He has proposed legislation that would emulate the regulations that credit unions live under - a 15 percent maximum interest rate. If credit unions can grow and prosper with a 15 percent cap, so can banks. "In order to protect the American people and our small businesses, we must pass a national usury law and place a cap on interest rates," he said. The senator asked for your stories. On the Senate floor, he read some of the more than 1,200 e-mails that you sent to him. "Please don't let the credit card companies abuse us anymore. I work hard for my money and I am one of the people that pays their bills and is never late with any of my bills. I cannot afford to have my hard earned money wasted on increased interest rates. Please stop them now ..." wrote one e-mailer. To read more of the comments, click here.

Bankers Win Again The Senate stopped legislation that would have given cash-strapped homeowners more flexibility to renegotiate mortgage terms. The mortgage provision, which Sanders supported, garnered only 45 votes, far fewer than the 60 needed to break a threatened filibuster of the proposal to give bankruptcy judges greater flexibility to modify mortgages. The banks, lamented Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, "own the place." "Anyone who tells you that money doesn't influence votes is whistling Dixie," Sanders told nationally-syndicated radio host Thom Hartmann. Click here for an American News Project report on how the bankers lobbied and won.

Federal Reserve Congress passed legislation calling on the Federal Reserve to identify banks and other financial institutions that received more than $2.3 trillion in taxpayer-backed loans and other financial assistance. The provision added by Sanders was included in a budget resolution passed by the House and Senate on Wednesday. It puts Congress on record in favor of requiring the central bank to reveal the names of financial institutions that borrowed funds since the financial crisis began last year. Sanders sponsored an amendment on Fed transparency that was initially adopted by the Senate on April 2. During the worst financial crisis in our nation's history since the Great Depression - a crisis which has led to the largest taxpayer bailout ever - the very least we can do is explain to the American people what the Federal Reserve is doing with their hard-earned taxpayer dollars," Sanders said. To read more, click here.

Fraud Investigations The Senate on Tuesday passed the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act. "As a result of the greed, recklessness, and illegal behavior of a handful of executives on Wall Street, we are suffering through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression," said Senator Bernie Sanders. "It is critical that we provide the tools and resources needed to hold those responsible for the financial crisis accountable and throw those that engaged in fraud in jail where they belong." Under President Bush, the federal government basically turned a blind eye to white collar crime. The bill that passed the Senate will provide resources to hire 160 FBI agents, another 200 professional staff and forensic analysts, and 300 new prosecutors, civil enforcement attorneys and support staff in the Department of Justice. "We have a responsibility to explain to the American people how this financial crisis happened, how did we get here, and what we can do to make sure that this never happens again," Sanders said. "Most importantly, we need to find out exactly which individuals caused this unprecedented crisis and we need to hold them accountable.

Organizing the Grass Roots The practical impact of Sen. Specter's party switch was exaggerated by the media, but he could be an important vote on important issues if people make their voices heard. Here's how Sanders summed it up during an interview Tuesday night on "The Ed Show" on MSNBC: "We have Democratic president, strong majority in the House, 60 votes in the Senate. If we cant deliver on energy, on health care, on workers rights, then whats the sense of it all? And the answer is, people have got to put pressure on Congress to have the guts to stand up to the insurance companies, the drug companies, the banks, the military industrial complex." To read the transcript, click here.

Economy The American gross domestic product shrank at an annual rate of 6.1 percent from January through March, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported. The third straight quarter of declines nearly matched the falloff at the end of last year, when the 6.3 percent decline in GDP was the worst drop in a generation. In Europe, rising unemployment, stagnant wages and fury at the way that governments are handling the financial crisis drew unusually large crowds onto the streets on Friday to mark May Day, the traditional workers' holiday. Incongruously, world markets from New York to London to Tokyo rallied from a low point in March to surge by 25 percent or more by the end of April.