One year after the economy began to collapse, Senator Bernie Sanders questioned what Congress has done to rein in Wall Street. “What’s going on in Congress?” he asked in his weekly video message. “I and some others have fought for an investigation to ask some simple questions: How did a handful of CEOs of major corporations precipitate this economic crisis? Who is accountable? Who should be going to jail? How do we make sure what happened in terms of the recklessness and irresponsibility on Wall Street doesn’t happen again? I wish that I could tell you that Congress is now doing that investigation. It is not,” he said.  With more and more Americans losing health insurance along with their jobs, President Obama made the case for health care reform before a special joint session of Congress. “If we do not act now, the likelihood is that more and more Americans will lose their health insurance and health care costs will double,” Sanders said after Wednesday night’s address. Earlier the same day the Supreme Court signaled that it may roll back restraints on corporate influence over American politics. "If this decision is overturned...you're just giving over our democracy to the wealthiest and most powerful institutions in the world," Sanders said.

The Great Recession The president plans to give a speech about the financial crisis on Monday in New York, marking the anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the beginning of the worst downturn in the economy since the Great Depression. "I was one of those in the House who said you can't just deregulate, deregulate. If you deregulate Wall Street, all these guys know how to do is make money any way they can, whether it is illegal, whether it is good for the country or not. So you have to revisit the whole issue of reregulation," Sen. Bernie Sanders told Ed Schultz on MSNBC. Wall Street and the economy also were the topic of this weeks’ “Senator Sanders Unfiltered.” To watch, click here.      

Health Care – Insurance The number of uninsured Americans rose by nearly 6 million as the recession intensified during the last 12 months, according to the White House. The figures updated data that was contained in a new Census Bureau report saying that, between 2000 and 2008, the number of uninsured Americans rose by 7.9 million. The percentage of people covered by private insurance dropped to 67 percent, and 29 percent are covered by such public programs as Medicaid, children's health insurance, the Veterans Administration or the military.  While only 8 percent of individuals in households with incomes more than $75,000 lack insurance, 24.5 percent of individuals in households with incomes below $25,000 have no coverage, the Census Bureau said. Vermonters are better off than the nation as a whole with 90.8 percent of people covered in 2008. According to the Census Bureau, 71 percent of Vermonters are covered by private insurance and 35 percent by government (note that people can be covered in part by both). To read the new census report, click here. To see the 2008 data for Vermont, click here.

Health Care – Congress The president spoke to a special joint session of Congress to make the case for health care reform. “As the president mentioned, it is an international embarrassment that the United States remains the only major country on earth that does not guarantee health care to all of its people, while spending twice as much per capita as most other nations. The president cogently made the case that the rabid partisanship that we have recently seen must end and the Congress must come together to provide comprehensive, universal and cost-effective health care for all Americans. The reality is that, if we do not act now, the likelihood is that more and more Americans will lose their health insurance and health care costs will double within eight years.  This would be a tragedy for the American people and for our economy. Doing nothing is not an option.”

Campaign Finance At the Supreme Court, conservative justices signaled that they may strike down a long-standing fixture of campaign finance law.  A majority of the court seemed ready to overturn curbs on corporations that throw millions of dollars into attempts to influence elections. When justices rule on a case that they considered during 90 minutes of oral arguments on Wednesday, the court could overturn two of its precedents and stymie efforts by Congress to limit corporate campaign spending. If that happens, Sanders told CNN’s Rick Sanchez, “You're just giving over our democracy to the most wealthy and powerful institutions in the world...It's going to open the flood gates for corporate money." To watch the interview, click here.