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News Dec. 31

Senator Sanders

End-of-Year Accolades John Nichols of The Nation compiled a list of the “Most Valuable Progressives of 2008”, naming Sen. Bernie Sanders the most valuable senator: “the independent senator from Vermont recognized that the biggest story of 2008 was not the election – it was the collapse of the economic house of cards… Sanders never forgets the human side of the equation: "It is one thing to read dry economic statistics which describe the collapse of the American middle class," he argues. "It is another thing to understand, in flesh and blood terms, what that means in the lives of ordinary Americans.” The list was also posted on Daily Kos. LINK, LINK

Sanders’ Priorities Sen. Bernie Sanders expects Congress will act quickly to pass a major economic stimulus package: “My view is that it should be at least $400 billion a year for two years.  I suspect that is somewhere in the vicinity of what President-elect Obama is in fact thinking.”  Sanders called for an investigation of the financial institutions that caused the economic meltdown and said the federal package will include money for transportation projects, community health centers, broadband development and the Medicaid health program.   "The immediate task we face as a nation right now is that we do everything we can to make sure we don't fall into a depression," Sanders said. "As bad as the deficit situation is today, it is more important to have a stimulus package, do what we can to prevent a major economic collapse, and then deal with that very serious national debt," according to WPTZ, WCAX, Vermont Public Radio and The Burlington Free Press.  VIDEO, VIDEO, AUDIO, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK

State Budget Implications Sen. Bernie Sanders says he is not certain if federal economic recovery funds will come soon enough to help Vermont avert painful budget cuts.  State lawmakers, who have agreed to $19.7 million in cuts to the state budget, are looking at a projected $66 million budget shortfall for this year and another $200 million or more in fiscal 2010.  “I’m not going to give the governor and the legislature advice.  But what I will say is that it will be very very important for the legislature to be watching what’s happening in Washington because there’s no question that there will be significant sums of money coming in to the state of Vermont and forty-nine other states.”  Sanders said he provided some details to the governor and lawmakers earlier this week, according to The Burlington Free Press, Vermont Public Radio and WPTZ.  State Senate leader Peter Shumlin said the state legislature will not delay the 2009 session to await the stimulus package.  “They'll instead glom themselves onto the congressional delegation and drink every bit of monetary information they can from them, in hopes that it will come in time to make key decisions,” wrote the Free Press’s vt.Buzz blog. VIDEO, AUDIO, LINK, LINK  

Treasury Over-Commits The Treasury Department has committed nearly $10 billion more than the $350 billion Congress has authorized to date for the financial-sector rescue package, which could constrain how the incoming Obama administration deploys the rest of the fund.  "They are pushing the envelope here.  What they are trying to do is create a situation to put pressure on [President-elect Barack] Obama and the Congress to provide the next $350 billion," Sen. Bernie Sanders told The Wall Street Journal. LINK

Tragedy in Gaza Sen. Sanders said during his press conference that the Palestinian group Hamas broke the ceasefire with Israel, but that the tragedy was compounded when Israel responded with an aggressive bombing campaign.  Sanders said the Bush administration has failed for eight years to negotiate a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians, according to Vermont Public Radio. Protestors in Burlington marched to the offices of each member of Vermont’s congressional delegation on Tuesday, asking the federal government to reduce funding of the Israeli government and military, according to WCAX and Fox 44. AUDIO, VIDEO and LINK

Blagojevich a ‘Disgrace’ Regarding the situation involving Illinois' Governor Rod Blagojevich trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat, Sen. Bernie Sanders said, "What upsets me about that is it just makes young people look at the political process and think everybody is like this guy and it's certainly not the case.  It's a disgrace period. What we said in the Senate is we would not accept his nomination, that it's been tarnished." Sanders hopes that Blagojevich will leave office soon. VIDEO, LINK

Congressional Pay, Bush in Vermont As congress considers a pay raise for itself of nearly $5,000 per member, Sen. Bernie Sanders thinks congress should just say no, according to WPTZ News.  Regarding the fact that Vermont is the only state President Bush has not visited, Sen. Sanders said that while he had personally invited the president, if Bush does not come to Vermont before leaving office, “I think the people of the state of Vermont can take a little bit of pride in that.  We saw early on what a disaster this administration was and (Bush) understands that.” LINK

Transportation Project on Hold A pending transportation project in St. Albans would get trucks off of Main Street making traffic planning in downtown easier.  In order to spend the $2.46 million the city has in federal grants, it must come up with 20 percent in matching funds.  Vermont’s congressional delegation recently introduced legislation to temporarily waive the matching funds requirement for projects where funds have already been allocated.  If the waiver does not pass Congress, this project may not be far enough along in engineering and permitting to get any stimulus funds, according to the St. Albans Messenger. LINK

Bennington Radio Lives On A group of Bennington area community leaders officially closed the deal to obtain WBTN, the local AM radio station.  They had to obtain 501c3 nonprofit status from the IRS to close the deal.  According to local officials, the IRS had been delaying the process until Sen. Bernie Sanders' office got involved in late November.  The station was put up for sale by Southern Vermont College after it reported significant losses since it was donated to the college in 2002, reported the Bennington Banner. LINK

International

48-Hour Cease-Fire Unlikely Israel was expected on Wednesday to reject a proposal for a 48-hour cease-fire in its military onslaught in Gaza, saying it would keep up pressure on Hamas but was open to ways of increasing humanitarian aid, according to The New York Times. LINK

Lashkar Linked to Mumbai Attacks by Pakistan Pakistan's own investigation of terror attacks in Mumbai has begun to show substantive links between the 10 gunmen and an Islamic militant group that its powerful spy agency spent years supporting, say people with knowledge of the probe.  At least one top leader of militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, or "Army of the Pure," captured in a raid earlier this month in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, has confessed the group's involvement in the attack as India and the U.S. have alleged, reports The Wall Street Journal. LINK

Thai Turmoil Thailand's new prime minister used his delayed maiden policy speech to lawmakers Tuesday to warn that the stalled economy is unlikely to recover as long as the country is held hostage by political conflict. "Political conflicts that have spread to civic groups could push the economy, along with the tourism industry, into recession if action is not taken quickly to resolve them and revive confidence among investors and foreign tourists," Abhisit Vejjajiva said according to the Washington Post. LINK

National

Senate Aims to Block Illinois Sen. Pick Within an hour of learning on Tuesday that Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois was about to name a Senate successor to President-elect Barack Obama, the Senate Democratic leadership drew a clear line in the sand: Anyone appointed by Mr. Blagojevich, the embattled Illinois chief executive, would not be accorded Senate membership.  But that declaration has touched off questions of whether Democrats have the power to keep out Mr. Blagojevich’s pick, Roland Burris, a former state attorney general. It is likely that the issue will end up in court, according to The New York Times. LINK

Vermont

Dr. Dean Recognized Former Vt. Gov. Howard Dean laid the foundation for the strategy that helped elect the nation’s first African-American president.  For his role in the historic election, The Burlington Free Press named Howard Dean of Burlington, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, this year’s Vermonter of the Year. LINK

Historic Sites Threatened Vermont's historic sites could be facing drastic changes next year, including closure or sale, as the state looks to save money. Taxpayers are underwriting about $1 million each year to operate the historic sites, including the Coolidge Homestead in Plymouth Notch and Mount Independence in Orwell. The sites cost the state about $1.4 million per year to operate.  The sites, as a whole, generate just $400,000 in revenue. The Bennington Battle Monument is the only one turning a profit, reports the Bennington Banner. LINK

Vt. Minimum Wage Rises Vermont will continue to have one of the country's highest minimum wages as it increases to $8.06 per hour on Jan. 1. Legislative fights over increasing the minimum wage were once an annual battle at the Vermont Statehouse, but several years ago lawmakers and Gov. James Douglas agreed to annual increases tied to the Consumer Price Index, reports the Vermont Press Bureau. LINK

New Corrections’ Chief Gov. Jim Douglas this morning announced the appointment of Andrew Pallito as the new Commissioner of Corrections.  As Pallito has been acting as Interim Commissioner, the new position is effective immediately.  Pallito has worked for the State of Vermont since 1992, reports The Associated Press. LINK