As a wicked winter blizzard barreled into the mid-Atlantic region and buried the Capitol under a blanket of snow, the Senate worked through the weekend in hopes of finishing health care reform by Christmas Eve.  Senator Sanders welcomed strong support for community health centers in the amended health bill introduced Saturday, a provision he had worked to secure. Earlier in the week, the senator's single-payer proposal got a thorough reading in the Senate. There were also signs of mounting opposition to the nomination of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke for a second term.  At the end of the worst year in decades for dairy farmers in Vermont and elsewhere, there finally was some good news.

Health Care Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid planned around-the-clock Senate sessions and a series of votes, beginning at 1 a.m. Monday, to meet his deadline for completing a health care bill before Christmas.  Reid worked mostly behind the scenes to craft the final version of a bill that could win the 60 votes needed to overcome Republican obstruction tactics.  For his part, Sanders was in non-stop negotiations with Senate leadership and the White House to strengthen the bill.  "I am trying to make this a better bill so I can vote for it. I'm not there yet," he told the NBC Nightly News. In another interview, the senator said he was weighing the plusses and minuses:  "When is the next time legislation is going to come up which will increase health care reform for 30 million people, deal with some of the major abuses in terms of pre-existing conditions, and deal with disease prevention?"

Access to Care A $10 billion investment in community health centers, expected to go to $14 billion when Congress completes work on health care reform legislation, was included in a final series of changes to the Senate bill unveiled Saturday.  The provision, which would provide primary care for 25 million more Americans, was requested by Sen. Bernie Sanders.  He said the additional resources will help bring about a revolution in primary health care in America and create new or expanded health centers in an additional 10,000 communities.  Very importantly, Sanders also said the provision would save Medicaid tens of billions of dollars by keeping patients out of emergency rooms and hospitals by providing primary care when then needed it.  Sanders is also working with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to improve language already in the bill to provide waivers for states that want to provide comprehensive, affordable health care and curb rapidly-rising costs for money-making private health insurance companies. To read the senator's press release, click here.  To read the "manager's amendment" the the health care bill, click here.

Single Payer For the first time in American history, a proposal came before the U.S. Senate on Wednesday to create a single-payer health care system and save the $400 billion a year wasted on private insurance administrative costs and CEO salaries.  As part of an overall effort to block any health care reform, Republicans stalled the amendment by requiring the Senate clerk to read all 767 pages.  The parliamentary maneuver had the unintended consequence of drawing even more attention to Sanders' amendment, and to the senator's impassioned, half-hour floor speech. To watch, click here.

The Fed The Senate banking committee recommended Ben S. Bernanke for a second term as Federal Reserve chairman, but The Washington Post said "the discussion and vote by a Senate committee suggested that confirmation is not a foregone conclusion." The committee vote for Bernanke was 16 to 7.  The nomination now goes to the full Senate, where Sanders has placed a hold on Bernanke. That means that 60 votes will be needed when the full Senate votes on whether to confirm Bernanke. The day before the committee vote, Sanders was joined at a Capitol press conference by William K. Black is an associate professor of economics and law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and Robert L. Borosage,  the Campaign for America's Future co-director. To watch the news conference, click here.

Dairy Crisis The USDA on Thursday began preparing to issue $290 million in checks to hard-pressed dairy farmers who suffered through their worst year in four decades. The assistance is part of a $350 million dairy assistance measure approved by Congress at Sanders' request.  "This emergency support for Vermont's dairy farmers could not have come at a better time. While prices have come up a bit recently, our farmers are still in the middle of a deep crisis," Sanders said. "While the emergency relief is desperately needed, we also must stay focused developing long-term policies which will provide fair and stable prices for dairy farmers." Bob Wellington, an economist for the seven-state dairy cooperative Agri-Mark, praised Sanders for landing the federal dollars: "We have a tremendous delegation in Vermont. But on this deal, Sen. Sanders took the lead and farmers throughout the nation should be grateful to him." To read more, click here.