The American economy teetered. A government bailout that could total a whopping $1 trillion was under discussion on Capitol Hill. Senator Bernie Sanders proposed a surtax on the very wealthy to bankroll the bailout. While the White House rushed to the rescue of Wall Street, the Bush administration trickled out help for seniors and families facing higher home heating bills as the season's first frost covered parts of Vermont.

The Economy The government on Friday moved aggressively to restore stability in the markets. The Treasury, Federal Reserve and congressional leaders held talks on what could be the biggest bailout in United States history. Details of the plan were being worked out, but Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson acknowledged the government would take on "hundreds of billions of dollars" in obligations. Under the developing plan, the government would buy distressed mortgages at deep discounts from banks and other financial institutions. The Treasury also said that it would guarantee money market funds up to $50 billion in order to ensure the solvency of a sector that was considered among the safest investments. Meanwhile, in Vermont the unemployment rate rose to 4.9 percent in August. That rate was the same as in May, and both months marked the worst jobless figure in 14 years.

The Sanders Plan Amid one of the worst financial crises in American history, Sanders laid out a four-part plan to cope with the collapse of financial institutions and avoid future failures of businesses "too big to fail." He proposed a surtax on the very wealthy to pay for bailouts of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and American International Group. He called for stronger oversight of financial institutions. He said giant businesses like Bank of America should be broken up so no company in the future could bring the American economy down with it. And he called for an economic stimulus package which would put people back to work rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. To read the senator's op-ed laying out his plan, click here. To listen to Bernie discuss his plan on Vermont Public Radio, click here.

Home Heating As temperatures in Vermont dipped below the freezing point, Washington sent $2.5 million more to the Green Mountain State for home heating relief. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid restated his support for the effort spearheaded by Sanders to double funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Under the Sanders bill, Vermont would receive an additional $20 million. "We need to keep up the pressure to secure additional funding so that we can get the millions more we need to protect seniors and children in this environment of wildly volatile and unnecessarily high energy prices. This is going to be tough in the final days of this Congressional session but the Vermont delegation is all pulling together to get it done," Sanders said. To read more, click here.