President Obama was re-elected on Tuesday. Democrats and independents expanded their majority in the U.S. Senate. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the longest serving independent in the history of Congress, won another term with 71 percent of the vote in Vermont. He said right-wing extremism suffered a major defeat on Election Day. Congressional leaders began jockeying on a way to avert automatic spending cuts and tax increases next year. Sanders told The New York Times that deficit reduction could be achieved by making the wealthy and profitable corporations pay their fair share in taxes and by cutting unnecessary spending, especially on the military, while maintaining the strongest armed services in the world. And in advance of Veterans Day, Sanders and leaders of more than 50 veterans and seniors organizations made the case on Friday that any budget deal must not cut VA benefits. 

Election Day 

Despite dozens of billionaires spending unprecedented sums of money trying to defeat Obama and progressive candidates around the country, the president won a strong victory and Senate Democrats overcame long odds and bolstered what will likely be a 55 to 45 majority. Sanders urged the president to embark on a nationwide campaign to challenge right-wing Republicans.  He said Obama should go to the home states of members of Congress who are out of sync with mainstream majorities of their own constituents on issues ranging from Social Security to tax breaks for millionaires to global warming. “My sincere hope is that the Republican Party now understands that the American people do not want a government pushing right-wing extremist policies. They want a government that addresses the needs of working families, the elderly, the children and the sick, and not just the wealthiest people in this country,” Sanders said.

Watch Sanders on The Ed Show »

Citizens United 

Voters in Montana and Colorado on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved ballot initiatives calling on their congressional delegations to help overturn Citizens United, the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that led to unlimited spending by corporations and wealthy individuals. They became the 10^th and 11^th states to pass such resolutions. Vermont voters in more than 60 towns last spring approved similar resolutions and the state Legislature also called for action to amend the U.S. Constitution. Sen. Bernie Sanders is the sponsor of the Saving American Democracy Amendment. “Amazingly enough, we withstood the assault. We withstood the hundreds of millions of dollars that came in from these billionaires,” Sanders said after the election.  But an amendment to undo the Supreme Court ruling still is needed, he added. “I worry very much what it does on the floor of the House and the Senate. How many people are going to have the guts to stand up to big money when they know that the airwaves in their states are going to be flooded with negative ads if they vote against Wall Street or vote against coal or oil?”

Veterans Benefits 

Sanders is working to prevent cuts to veterans' benefits. A senior member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, Sanders wrote a letter to congressional leadership making the case against reducing cost-of-living adjustments for veteran's benefits and Social Security. So far, more than 50 organizations representing veterans, seniors and the disabled have signed onto the letter coordinated by the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.

Read more in the Burlington Free Press »