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News Dec. 30

Senator Sanders

TV Coverage Areas to Shrink In less than two months, television broadcasters will go all-digital, permanently shutting off the traditional analog signals they've relied on for more than half a century. Stations are not required to replicate existing analog coverage areas with digital broadcasts. In a report released last week, the FCC said 11 percent of the nation's 1,749 full-power stations will have a signal that reaches at least 2 percent fewer viewers than their current analog signals. Sen. Bernard Sanders introduced legislation this month asking Congress to give consumers an additional allowance to help offset the cost of a new antenna, should they need one.  "It would be traumatic and outrageous to create a transition program and the result of that being millions of low-income citizens losing what they have today," Sanders said. "There should be money in the stimulus package for it," according to the Washington Post. LINK

DTV Coupon Shortage A government-funded program to provide Americans with coupons to buy DTV converter boxes will likely run out of money too soon.  The idea of a waiting list for a coupon is not sitting well with many members of Congress, who say they worry most about low-income elderly people who will be left without working televisions. "Given the fact that the government made the decision to make this transition it's really unfair to stick all of the burden on people who simply want to watch their TV," said Sen. Bernie Sanders.  Sanders is also asking Congress to help out the countless number of people who will not be able to get a digital signal because they will be out of range. He introduced a bill that would require cable and satellite companies to offer broadcast channels free, or for a minimal fee, reported WCAX News. LINK and VIDEO

Sanders Op-Ed “Will a new president and a new and more Democratic Congress finally respond to the needs of the middle class and working families of our country, or will Wall Street, insurance and drug companies, the military-industrial-complex, the oil and coal companies, big media, and the other powerful special interests continue to hold sway?” wrote Sen. Bernie Sanders in an article on BuzzFlash.org and The Hill Blog. “Now, in this moment of great national crisis, a new president is assuming office who is not only extremely intelligent but also has, I believe, a deep historical understanding that will help him see where we need to go in the future.” LINK and LINK

Sanders’ Presser Sen. Bernie Sanders will hold a news conference at 10:30 a.m. this morning on the expected priorities of the new Congress in his Burlington office according to The Associated Press Daybook.

International

Day #4 of Israel-Gaza Conflict Israel launched air strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza for a fourth consecutive day on Tuesday as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called the bombardment “the first of several stages,” suggesting that the conflict was far from resolution.  Israeli aircraft bombed a government compound, buildings linked to the Islamic University and the home of a top Hamas commander in a continued onslaught on Tuesday that left Gaza without electric power, according to residents of the beleaguered enclave, according to The New York Times. LINK

Somali Leadership Vacuum Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, the cantankerous president of beleaguered Somalia, resigned Monday. For weeks, Western diplomats, Somali elders and United Nations officials have been crossing their fingers that Mr. Yusuf, widely blamed for trying to block a peace deal with Somalia’s increasingly powerful Islamist insurgents, would step aside.  Mr. Yusuf, one of Somalia’s first warlords, never seemed able to shake his warlord ways.  But the scramble to succeed Mr. Yusuf could set off an ugly clan-based political melee, reported The New York Times..   LINK

National

$5b for Auto Financing Company The Treasury Department injected $5 billion into GMAC, the automobile financing company, as part of a deal announced Monday night that will let GMAC convert itself into a bank holding company to reduce its borrowing costs and thus borrow money at low rates from the Federal Reserve.  GMAC used to be the financing subsidiary of General Motors and is now owned jointly by G.M. and Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity firm that owns Chrysler.  A Treasury official said on Monday night that the deal had already closed and that GMAC already had the money, reported The New York Times. LINK

Schools in Toxic Areas Schools opened consistently in areas where air pollution was extremely high according to a new report. USA TODAY spent eight months examining the impact of industrial pollution on schools across the nation and used a government computer simulation to identify schools in potential toxic hot spots, a task the EPA has never undertaken.  The newspaper identified 435 schools in locations where the air outside appeared more dangerous than at an Ohio elementary school that was shut down three years ago after officials found the air there saturated with carcinogens 50 times higher than what the state considers acceptable. At least 43 of the 435 schools — or about 10% — opened in the past decade. LINK

Vermont

Vermont’s Economic Year This year the nation's economic woes seeped into Vermont.  The plunging value of the stock market has hammered Vermonters' retirement savings and pushed consumer confidence to 40-year lows.  Vermont's unemployment rate jumped to 5.7 percent in November -- reaching the highest level in 15 years. In November 2007, the state's jobless rate was 3.8 percent (compared to 6.7 percent nationally). The tally of unemployed Vermonters last month was 20,200. One year earlier, 13,300 people were jobless, according to the state Department of Labor..  A long list of companies announced job cuts this year, helping boost the jobless rate, reported The Burlington Free Press. LINK

Aid for Springfield The state of Vermont has approved a $165,000 grant to help stabilize the fire-damaged Ellis Block in Springfield.  The money will go the Town of Springfield to be used on the building, which was severely damaged in a July 8 fire.  The money, from $8 million in federal community development block grants that the state gets annually, will pay for removal of damaged building contents, demolition of roofing and structural preparation and reconstruction, reported The Associated Press. LINK

Mortgage Scams in Vt. Vermont banking regulators have noticed a disturbing and unwelcome new arrival in the state — companies that appear to be offering assistance to those facing mortgage problems but in fact only want to get some money from those suffering through tough times.  "This is a predatory practice. These are people who are desperate and looking for some help," said Thomas Candon, deputy commissioner of the Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration according to the Vermont Press Bureau.  LINK