As the Memorial Day weekend began, heavy rains drenched an already waterlogged Vermont causing major property damage to roads and buildings. The traditional beginning of the summer vacation season also saw gasoline prices hovering around $4 a gallon. Sen. Bernie Sanders blames oil  speculators for artificially driving up prices. He pressed federal commodity regulators on Thursday to crack down, but was disappointed by the  lackadaisical response. Also on Capitol Hill, a House-passed budget that would have destroyed Medicare and Medicaid was rejected by the Senate on Wednesday. In Montpelier, Vermont made history on Thursday when Gov. Shumlin signed a law that could lead to the first Medicare-for-all single-payer health care system in the United States.

Flooding in Vermont- Sanders conferred with Gov. Shumlin to coordinate relief efforts after the floodwaters recede. “Parts of the state are devastated. Businesses and families across Vermont are hurting from the effects of this historic flood. I will work with the governor and other members of the delegation to do everything we can to make certain that the federal government responds in an effective and timely fashion,” Sanders said on Friday. As killer tornadoes and damaging floods hit the American heartland earlier in the wake, Vermont environmentalist Bill McKibben raised the issue of global warming.

Gas Prices and Oil Speculation Experts blame excessive speculation for up to 40 percent of the price of oil. Sanders accused the Commodity Futures Trading Commission of breaking the law by not cracking down on commodity speculation as Congress mandated in last year's Wall Street reform law. Sanders told a press conference after a meeting with Chairman Gary Gensler that he was very disappointed. "There is nothing that I heard from him which suggests any sense of urgency about the need to protect consumers or in fact to protect our economy." He also spoke bluntly about the commission's failure to limit speculation by January, as required under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. "The chief regulator on oil speculation, in my view, is breaking the law," Sanders said.

Budget The Senate on Wednesday defeated a House-passed bill to drastically scale back Medicare as part of a Republican deficit-reduction plan that was extremely unpopular. Looking ahead, Sanders made clear that, in order to win his backing, any budget bill must rely on no less than a 50-50 mix of new revenue from the wealthiest Americans to go with spending cuts. He laid out the case in a Senate floor speech, a Burlington Free Press column, and in an interview with MSNBC's Thomas Roberts.

Comcast Rates With cable rates climbing in Vermont and around the country, Sanders asked the Federal Communications Commission to let states regulate basic cable television rates. "I've been hearing from many Vermonters who are very upset that cable TV rates are spiraling out of control," said Sanders. "On average rates increased by 10 percent last year at a time when inflation was virtually nonexistent and many people are earning lower wages than they used to." Read more about it.

Single Payer Vermont became the first state to lay the groundwork for single-payer health care on Thursday when Gov. Peter Shumlin signed an ambitious bill aimed at establishing universal insurance coverage for all residents. "We have to be bold in our thinking," Sanders said Friday on The Thom Hartmann Program. "If Vermont can do it the rest of the country can do it."

‘Patriot Act' Congress on Thursday extended a controversial domestic surveillance law. Sanders voted no. "I voted against extending the Patriot Act today for the same reason I voted against enacting it in 2001: it gives the government far too much power to spy on innocent United States citizens and provides for very little oversight or disclosure," he said.  "While we must aggressively pursue international terrorists and all of those who would do us harm, we must do it in a way that protects the Constitution and the civil liberties which make us proud to be Americans." The Senate vote was 72 to 23. The bill also passed the House and was signed by President Obama.