Stock markets gyrated wildly despite massive infusions of government cash. Oil prices fell, and gasoline in parts of Vermont dropped was under $4 a gallon. Heating fuel still cost more than last winter, so it was good news that Senator Bernie Sanders and the Vermont congressional delegation secured double the amount for home heating assistance this year compared to last winter. The cold weather is coming, leaves are past their peak, and moose hunting season opens this weekend.

The Economy in Crisis Among the major steps taken in the past month is a Treasury Department announcement that it would inject up to $250 billion in U.S. banks in return for partial ownership stakes. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. also promised to temporarily guarantee new issues of bank debt and to provide unlimited deposit insurance for non-interest bearing accounts, mainly used by small businesses. And the Federal Reserve, along with the world's other major central banks, sliced interest rates. After doing so much for the banks, insurance companies and Wall Street, Sanders and others in Congress are working on legislation to help the middle class. Sanders told The Valley News he believes the country is "moving into a serious recession" and said Congress should pass a large recovery package that focuses on rebuilding roads, bridges and other infrastructure, expanding primary health care services and creating "green jobs" that encourage energy conservation and development of renewable energy sources, like solar power. Sanders also spoke with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid about what should be included in recovery legislation that Congress may take up in November. "I just spoke to Senator Harry Reid and I will strongly support an economic recovery act. We want to make sure we just don't pay attention to the banks. We must also pay attention to the middle class," Sanders told Vermont Public Television's Report from Washington. To read The Valley News column, click here.

Home Heating The Vermont congressional delegation announced Thursday that Vermont's share of federal funding for home heating assistance this winter will be $38.7 million. The total is $3.7 million more than was projected for Vermont even after Congress doubled funds for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Last year, Vermont received $17 million in federal funds and the state contributed $6.3 million. The extra federal assistance at a time of rising home heating bills was based on a bill introduced in June by Sanders and cosponsored by Senator Patrick Leahy. Representative Peter Welch introduced a companion bill in the House. "Given the tough economic times we are now in, I would like to see us expand the program, at least on a one-year basis," Sanders told the Vermont Press Bureau. He believes the state should put additional money into the program, just as it did last year. To read the Rutland Herald and Times Argus story, click here.

Silent Cal Sanders visited Plymouth Notch on Wednesday to announce federal funds he helped secure to expand the visitors' center at the historic home of President Calvin Coolidge. The project will help keep the Vermont landmark open more often - even during the winter - making it more accessible to school children. "We must do everything we can to preserve our historic treasures for future generations. Vermonters are proud of their heritage and the many contributions we have made to American history. The Coolidge homestead is an important piece of that history," Sanders said. The Coolidge family homestead was the site at which the 30th president of the United States was sworn into office by his father, a local notary public, by the light of a kerosene lamp after the untimely death of President Harding in 1923. Sanders secured $196,000 in federal funds to improve and expand the visitors' center. To read more about it, click here.

Northeast Kingdom Bernie traveled to the Northeast Kingdom towns of Lyndon and St. Johnsbury on Tuesday. He spoke to high school students at the Lyndon Institute and announced essential funding for rural transportation at the new Welcome Center in St. Johnsbury. The senator was able to help secure $328,300 in federal funds to promote bus facilities in the under-served rural communities of the Kingdom. With the price of gas still very high, rural Vermont workers need affordable options to get to and from work every day. Sanders said, "As Vermonters' budgets are squeezed by high gas prices and a struggling economy, these funds will provide more choices to people who need to get to work or simply get around town every day. Public transportation like this is essential as we work to break our national addiction on oil and confront a looming climate change crisis."