November 7, 2012

Senator Sanders

Sanders Wins Sen. Bernie Sanders was reelected to the U.S. Senate, The Associated Press, Burlington Free Press, WCAX-TV, WPTZ-TV, PBS, CNN, NBC, FOX News, CNBC, MSNBC, Univision, WVNY, National Public Radio reported. LINK, LINK,LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, VIDEO, VIDEO, VIDEO

A Vermont Victory "I have always believed that this small state, this state of Vermont, this state of three electoral votes, in many ways is going to lead our nation in a very different direction," Sanders said. "I'm going to take the message back to Washington that we're going to end the war against working families, we're going to end the war against women, we're going to stand up for social justice, for environmental sanity, and we in Vermont are going to lead this nation to make sure that all of our people have health care as a right," Sanders said, according to the Vermont Press Bureau. LINK

Sweeping Support Sanders' margin of victory was 71.2 percent. Unofficial tallies indicated that only two other incumbent U.S. senators received a greater share of the vote in their home states; John Barrasso  in Wyoming was re-elected with 75.9 percent of the vote and Kristin Gillibrand was supported by 72 percent of New York voters, according to AP.

Lame-Duck Congress "Deficit reduction and our large national debt is a serious issue, but we cannot and must not balance the budget on the backs of the elderly by cutting Social Security and Medicare or Medicaid, or cutting back programs that the most vulnerable people in this country need. There are ways to do deficit reduction by asking the wealthiest people and largest corporations to start paying their fair share of taxes. By ending these absurd tax havens in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, where Romney and his friends are able to stash their money; we're losing about $150 billion a year on that. And I think we've got to take a hard look at the Defense Department and other agencies of government where we're probably spending more than we should. Bottom line is, we can move toward serious deficit reduction in a way that does not attack the middle class and working families of this country, and that's the first battle that we're going to see," Sen. Sanders told Ed Schultz on Tuesday.

Dental Care Sen. Sanders is working to add language to the Older Americans Act that would provide grants to organizations that coordinate pro bono, medically necessary dental care, according to Dr.Bicuspid.com. LINK

World

Austerity in Greece The Greek government is expected to push a raft of politically toxic new austerity measures through Parliament today. The measures, which are required to unlock $40 billion in rescue financing, are extremely unpopular with Greek citizens, The New York Times reported. LINK

National

Obama Wins Second Term Barack Obama was elected to a second term Tuesday. The nation's first African American president scored a decisive victory by winning at least six of the election's seven major battlegrounds, The Washington Post reported. LINK

Senate Dems Hold Majority Democrats captured Republican Senate seats in Indiana and Massachusetts on Tuesday, averted what was once considered a likely defeat in Missouri and held control of the Senate, handing Republicans a string of stinging defeats for the second campaign season in a row. The final balance of power depended on the results of tight races in Montana and North Dakota, but it was clear that Democrats would maintain a majority and could even add to the 53 seats that they and their independent allies control, The New York Times reported.  Democrats also won in Virginia, Wisconsin and Connecticut. Republicans took Nevada and Arizona. LINK

House Stays Republican Republicans retained control of the House Tuesday night, confronting President Obama with a continuing partisan obstacle to his second-term agenda. The results left the chamber's balance of power intact despite a restive electorate. The House's dwindling band of conservative Democrats stood to shrink further, as Republicans defeated two Democratic incumbents in the south and picked up several open seats held by ``Blue Dog'' Democrats who had decided to retire. LINK

Gay Marriage Altering the course of U.S social policy, Maine and Maryland became the first states to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote, AP reported. LINK

Legal Pot Washington and Colorado set up a showdown with federal authorities by legalizing recreational use of marijuana, AP reported. LINK

College Education This year, for the first time, a third of the nation's 25- to 29-year-olds have earned at least a bachelor's degree and 90 percent were high school graduates according to the Pew Research Center, both records for the United States, The New York Times reported. LINK

Vermont 

Obama, Shumlin, Welch Win Vermonters gave President Obama an overwhelming endorsement, handing the state's three electoral votes to the Democrat's total, while Rep. Peter Welch and Gov. Peter Shumlin cruised to re-election. According to unofficial returns, Obama took 68 percent of the Vermont vote. Shumlin won with 58 percent and Welch claimed 72 percent of the total vote.

Hoffer Wins for Auditor Democrat/Progressive Doug Hoffer of Burlington eked out victory over Republican Vince Illuzzi of Derby in a race that pitted a state senator with a reputation as a rogue Republican, who had garnered support from well-connected Democrats and labor unions, against a policy analyst running with both Democratic and Progressive nominations, the Burlington Free Press reported. LINK

Pearce Wins for Treasurer Vermonters appeared poised to stick with Democrat Beth Pearce, who held the out-of-the-spotlight job for the past two years by virtue of being appointed to fill a vacancy. Pearce held an 11 percentage point lead over Republican Wendy Wilton, the Burlington Free Press reported. LINK