The Senate voted on Friday for a stopgap spending measure after stripping out a House-passed provision to defund Obamacare. Sen. Bernie Sanders voted for the funding bill. A panel of experts appointed by the United Nations on Friday renewed its conclusion that global warming is real, that it is caused by humans and that it is likely to get a lot worse. Sanders supports bold action to limit greenhouse gas emissions but few others in Congress are prepared to confront the coming planetary crisis. Sanders on Wednesday addressed a rally of low-paid government contract workers who marched to the White House as part of a one-day strike for better pay. Sanders discussed all these issues and more on The Thom Hartmann Program Friday.

Shutdown Showdown The 54-44 Senate vote on Friday leaves it up to the House to keep the government running after a new federal budget year begins on Tuesday. “People can disagree about the Affordable Care Act, but it is wrong for right-wing Republicans to ignore the results of the last election and hold the American people hostage by threatening to shut down the government because they can’t get their way,” Sanders said. The House now must decide whether to go along with the Senate version and send a funding bill to President Barack Obama before a midnight Monday deadline. "We should not be threatening to withhold pay for members of the military, the FBI, or cancer researchers. We should not be shutting down Head Start centers or denying food to fragile seniors. What happens in the House depends on whether House Speaker John Boehner surrenders to his right-wing extremists or whether he's prepared to work with Democrats and moderate Republicans to continue funding the government," Sanders said.

Single Payer A Medicare-for-all health care system would provide better care for more people at less cost. Sanders prefers that single-payer approach, but said Tuesday on CNN’s Crossfire that the exchanges opening next week under the Affordable Care Act will insure millions of more Americans than are covered today. Watch Crossfire

I Like Ike The Republican Party in 1956 boasted that President Eisenhower raised the minimum wage. Today’s Republicans would wipe the wage law off the books. Ike’s Republicans were proud that Social Security was expanded. Tea Party extremists would abolish Social Security altogether. Citing the Texas Republican Party platform during a Senate speech, Bernie detailed those and other proposals by a far-right fringe that has commandeered the party. Watch Sanders speech, Read more

Low-Wage Workers “We cannot stand by and do nothing while the income of the average middle-class family has gone down by more than $5,000 since 1999,” Sanders said at the White House rally on Wednesday. He organized a group of 15 senators who signed a letter to President Obama urging him to set a minimum-wage preference for private companies doing business with the federal government. They suggest that at least $10.10 an hour should be paid to the lowest-paid of the some 2 million employees of private businesses that last year alone received more than $446 billion in federal contracts. A National Employment Law Project survey found that more than seven out of 10 workers who make military uniforms, drive trucks, serve food and perform janitorial services were paid less than $10 an hour. Watch the rally

Global Warming “Human influence has been detected in warming of the atmosphere and the ocean, in changes in the global water cycle, in reductions in snow and ice, in global mean sea level rise, and in changes in some climate extremes,” the report released in Stockholm said. "Once again, the world's leading scientists on climate change have spoken. Their conclusion is that global warming is real, that it is already causing enormous problems for our planet, and that it will only get worse unless we take bold action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and transform our energy system," Sanders said. "It is long past time for Congress to address this major planetary crisis."

USPS The Postal Service’s August financial report released on Tuesday showed that revenues were up 1.4 percent during the first 11 months of the fiscal year. The Internet helped more than it hurt. First Class mail volume continued to drop because of email but packing and shipping services grew thanks to online sales. The Postal Service would have made a $182 million profit for the year so far except for a $5.13 billion payment to a fund for future retiree health benefits that already has more money than it needs.