Congress considered legislation to fund troops in Iraq and set a timetable for bringing them home. Senate Republicans filibustered, and once again thwarted the majority in Congress and the nation. Working in the environment committee, Senator Bernie Sanders continued his effort to strengthen legislation on global warming. At the Federal Communications Commission, the regulators of the public airwaves gave Vermonters more time to weigh in on cell phone service. The FCC chairman, meanwhile, floated a proposal that would allow more corporate media concentration in America. On a day when the season's first winter storm warning was issued in Vermont, a fifty-foot fir was harvested in the Green Mountain National Forest that will be this year's official Capitol Christmas Tree.

The War in Iraq Congress once again tried but failed to advance legislation calling for troop withdrawals. The Senate failed to break a Republican filibuster that blocked consideration of a bill that included a timetable for bringing troops home. The vote to end debate was 53 to 45, seven fewer than the number needed. The blocked measure would have provided $50 billion for U.S. troops in Iraq but required a troop drawdown to begin with one month. "The war in Iraq has cost us over 3,800 dead and 28,000 wounded. While the president is vetoing bills because he thinks we don't have enough money for health care or education, there are estimates that this war will end up costing us over $1 trillion," Sanders said. He was referring to a new study that puts the financial cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan at $1.6 trillion. That is double what the Bush administration has requested. The analysis by Congress's Joint Economic Committee considered "hidden" costs, like interest on funds borrowed to bankroll the wars, lost investment, expenses for long-term health care for injured veterans and the cost of oil market disruptions. Meanwhile, "U.S. military officials expressed growing concern over the Iraqi government's failure to capitalize on sharp declines in attacks against U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians," according to the Washington Post. "The lack of political progress calls into question the core rationale behind the troop buildup President Bush announced in January, which was premised on the notion that improved security would create space for Iraqis to arrive at new power-sharing arrangements." To read more about the Joint Economic Committee report, click here. To read the Post article, click here.

Climate Change "The time is long overdue for Congress to go beyond deal-making and politics as usual in addressing the crisis of global warming. The droughts, floods and severe weather disturbances our planet is already experiencing will only get worse, potentially impacting billions of people, if we do not take bold and decisive action in the very near future," Sanders said in a Senate floor statement and in a column published by the premier environmental publication, Grist. A bill under consideration by a Senate committee "is a step forward," he added, but "it goes nowhere near far enough in creating the policies that the scientific community tells us must be developed if we are to avert a planetary catastrophe. It is also does too little to pave the way for the transforming our energy system from fossil fuels to energy efficiency and sustainable energy technologies." To read the Grist column, click here.

Verizon in Vermont The Federal Communications Commission extended for three months the deadline to comment on the proposed sale of Unicel to Verizon Wireless. Sanders told The Burlington Free Press he is considering holding hearings throughout the state to examine the potential economic impact of the deal that would give Verizon a virtual monopoly on cell phone service in Vermont. "Vermonters must take a very close look at what a Verizon Wireless monopoly would mean in terms of progress toward universal service at reasonable prices," he said. The senator's effort was applauded by the Valley News, which said in an editorial that "Sen. Sanders is right to fight on behalf of Vermont's mobile phone users." For information about how to register your opinion with the FCC, click here. To read the Valley News editorial, click here. To read the Free Press article, click here.

Media Moguls The Federal Communications Commission chairman on Tuesday proposed relaxing a ban on the combined ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations in the 20 biggest U.S. cities. FCC rules now ban such so-called cross ownership arrangements unless the commission grants a waiver. "The FCC is much more concerned about corporate profits than the needs of the American people," Sanders told the Thom Hartmann Show on Air America. The proposal by Chairman Kevin Martin would further concentrate media ownership and "give just a handful of people huge power to determine what people see and read. We need more diversity," Sanders added. "We need more local control."

Peace on Earth Destined for a sloping lawn outside the U.S. Capitol overlooking the National Mall, a fifty-foot balsam fir harvested in the Green Mountain National Forest will be this year's Capitol Christmas Tree.