A contingent of Vermont National Guard soldiers headed out Friday for a yearlong deployment in Afghanistan. “We look forward to seeing you come home safely as soon as possible,” Senator Bernie Sanders told the troops in South Burlington. In Washington, the White House credited an economic stimulus package with slowing the recession. Saying there has been “a little light,” Sanders told Thom Hartmann’s nationwide radio audience on Friday that “for the middle class and working families, the economy remains a disaster.” Obstructionist Senate Republicans blocked a bill Sanders cosponsored to extend unemployment benefits. Also on Capitol Hill, Senate and House leaders advanced health care reform legislation, and a Senate panel held hearings on global warming. That’s the subject of this week’s Web video Senator Sanders Unfiltered.

Economy and Jobs Consumer spending fell in September by the most in nine months and incomes were flat, the Commerce Department reported on Friday. While the government also reported on Thursday that the overall economy grew at a rate of 3.5 percent in the third quarter, economists expect the official unemployment rate for October to top 10 percent.  Add the under-employed and those who have given up looking for work and the number climbs to more than 17 percent of the workforce. Legislation that would extend unemployment benefits stalled Thursday in the Senate. Sanders denounced Republicans for blocking the measure. He cosponsored the bill to provide 14 extra weeks of unemployment benefits in all 50 states. "If we do not pass this legislation by the end of this year, nearly two million Americans will see their unemployment benefits expire," he said.  Meanwhile, the White House announced that the economic stimulus program is on?track to create and save a total of at least 3.5 million jobs by next fall. To watch the senator’s floor speech on the economy and unemployment, click here.

Global Warming The Senate environment committee held three days of hearings on climate change legislation. The hearings underscored the point that “good environmental policy is good economic policy,” as Sanders put it. He is the chairman of the Senate Green Jobs and New Economy Subcommittee.  “When we go forward in this area we are not only helping to save the planet in terms of global warming, we are also moving to get this country out of the economic crisis that we are in right now,” Sanders said. Three Cabinet secretaries, in testimony before the full committee on Tuesday, echoed that theme.  To watch Sanders’ opening statement on the global warming bill, click here.  To see a list of Sanders’ priorities that were included in the global warming bill, click here.

Smart Grid Vermont will receive $69 million to develop a smarter, stronger, more efficient and reliable electric system.  The nationwide program is designed to increase efficiency, promote renewable energy sources, and save consumers money.  “This is an opportunity for Vermont once again to lead the nation in energy efficiency and in developing a greener economy.  These investments help move our state and our nation toward energy independence and will create many good-paying jobs,” said Sanders, chairman of the Senate green jobs subcommittee.  The Vermont project was one of 100 nationwide to receive a total of $3.4 billion in grants made available by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, the economic stimulus legislation. The funds will leverage an overall $8 billion investment in projects that will create tens of thousands of jobs and develop a stronger and more reliable energy grid. To read more about how Smart Grid works, click here and here.

Health Care House Speaker Pelosi on Thursday followed Senate Leader Reid’s announcement on Monday that they were advancing major health reform legislation that will be the basis for floor debates in the coming month.  Both bills contain versions of a so-called public option to compete with private insurance companies. “Senator Dick Durbin acknowledged the effect of the campaign on the Democratic leadership. The toughness of progressive senators like Bernie Sanders and Russ Feingold and Tom Harkin, who held their ground for a public option, also was instrumental,” Matt Rothschild wrote in The Progressive. At a recent private meeting of Senate Democrats, Sanders  argued that polls show strong and growing support for the public option.  "What we said is, 'Look, the overwhelming majority of the people want the public option,'" Sanders told The Wall Street Journal. "How are we going to tell people they must get insurance, and then force them into a private insurance company and not give them a public option? Who wants to defend that?"  To read the Journal article, click here. To read the Progressive article, click here.

Afghanistan The first contingent of Vermont National Guard soldiers left Burlington on Friday for the first leg of a major deployment to Afghanistan.  Maj. Gen. Michael Dubie presented the unit commander a folded green battle flag rich in history dating back to the Revolutionary War’s Green Mountain Boys.  “Thank you very much for your service,” Sanders told the departing troops. “We look forward to seeing you home safely as soon as possible.”   In Washington, meanwhile, President Obama on Friday was to meet with the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the latest in a series of meetings on his strategy going forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The White House says a final decision on the new war strategy and possible increase in troop levels will be announced in the coming weeks. In Afghanistan on Tuesday, two separate bomb attacks killed eight American troops, making October the deadliest month for U.S. forces since the 2001 invasion.