Opinion

BURLINGTON, Vt., Feb. 16 – With unusually cold winter weather gripping much of the nation, the Vermont congressional delegation wants the Obama administration to clamp limits on propane exports to bring down skyrocketing prices for the home heating fuel.

Calling for “urgent and decisive action,” U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) asked Department of Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker to use her emergency powers to temporarily halt exports of propane. In , the lawmakers sought the export curbs at a time when domestic prices of propane nationwide are 60 percent greater this winter than one year ago.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 – A group of senators today urged President Barack Obama to spare Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in the budget blueprint that he will submit to Congress on March 4. 

A  written by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and signed by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and 14 other senators praised the president for improving the economy and creating jobs while reducing the deficit. In making the case against cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, however, the senators expressed concerns about retirement insecurity, growing income inequality and rising poverty.

Brattleboro Citizens’ Breakfast is hosting a Selectboard Candidates Forum on Friday, February 21, 2014 at 8:00am at the Gibson-Aiken Center, 207 Main Street.

The forum is not a Selectboard meeting and is not intended for the purpose of taking action on any Town of Brattleboro Selectboard business. While individual candidates may express their opinions on Town business, the purpose of the forum is to elicit candidates’ views.

Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100

Spending levels at 16 intelligence agencies are currently treated as classified information

WASHINGTON DC (February 12th, 2014)— Led by Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) and Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), a bipartisan group of 62 House lawmakers sent a letter today to President Obama calling on him to disclose in his fiscal year 2015 budget the top line spending levels at the 16 federal agencies known to conduct intelligence activities. The President is expected to deliver his budget to Congress on March 4.

According to the lawmakers, “The current practice of providing no specificity whatsoever regarding the overall budget requests for each intelligence agency falls woefully short of basic accountability requirements… As you develop your fiscal year 2015 budget, we strongly urge you to take a simple step toward much needed transparency by including the total amount requested for each of the sixteen intelligence agencies. We believe the top line number for each agency should be made public, with no risk to national security, for comparative purposes across all federal government agencies.”

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today praised President Barack Obama for signing an executive order raising the minimum wage for workers employed by federal contractors.

“President Obama is taking a very important first step by giving a raise to hundreds of thousands of low-wage workers for federal contractors,” said Sanders, who was invited to this afternoon’s White House signing ceremony. “The president’s action adds momentum to the push in Congress to raise the minimum wage for every worker in this country to at least $10.10 an hour,” Sanders added.

Sanders last Sept. 25 sent Obama a letter, signed by 14 other senators, urging the president to issue an executive order setting a minimum wage at $10.10 an hour for federal contractors.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who serves on the Senate energy and environment committees, issued the following statement today after The Solar Foundation reported that Vermont employs more workers in solar power jobs per capita than any other state:

“We have a bold vision in Vermont for an energy transformation phasing fossil fuels out as quickly as possible in favor of clean, renewable energy. Solar energy is a central part of that vision. A dramatic expansion of solar power is a clean and economical way to help break our dependence on foreign oil, reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, and create good-paying manufacturing and installation jobs in Vermont and across the United States.”

Early/absentee ballots for Annual Town and Town School District election to be held on March 4, are now available in the Brattleboro town clerk’s office. Anyone wishing to vote prior to March 4, may apply for an early/absentee ballot until 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 3.

Early/absentee ballots may be voted in person in the clerk’s office, mailed to the voter by the clerk’s office, picked up by the voter or delivered to the voter’s residence by two justices of the peace. All voted ballots must be received by the clerk before the polls close on election day in order to be counted. Early/absentee ballots remain sealed until election day. Absentee ballot envelopes are opened at the polling place and ballots are processed through vote tabulators in the same manner as those voted in person that day. For more information or to request an early/absentee ballot call 251-8157.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) congratulated Vermonters who are among the world’s top athletes competing in the Winter Olympics that formally open today in Sochi, Russia.

“Vermont has a long tradition of excellence in winter sports that we owe partly to our state’s cold climate and mountainous terrain, but also to an outdoor spirit that dates back generations. I would like to acknowledge these athletes individually and wish them the best of luck in pursuing the gold,” Sanders said in the statement printed in today’s Congressional Record.

WASHNGTON, Feb. 4 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today issued the following statement after the Senate voted 68-32 to pass and send to President Barack Obama a new five-year farm bill:

“This was a difficult vote on a bill which has some positive provisions but also some very negative ones.

“This bill will bring greater stability to Vermont dairy farmers by helping them to manage risks and produce products more efficiently. It also is good news that a successful MILC program will stay in place until new insurance provisions for dairy farmers are implemented.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 – Leaders of more than 20 veterans’ service organizations today joined Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at a news conference to support the most comprehensive legislation for veterans in decades.

The bill (S. 1982) is backed by the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and many other organizations.

BURLINGTON, Vt., Jan. 31 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will hold a town meeting tomorrow on privacy rights and the National Security Agency’s increasing violations of our constitutional rights. Two of the nation’s preeminent authorities on civil liberties — Georgetown Law School Professor David Cole, and Heidi Boghosian, executive director of the National Lawyers Guild — will join Sanders and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) at Montpelier City Hall to address government surveillance and corporate attacks on our privacy rights.

Who: Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Peter Welch and two of the nation’s preeminent authorities on civil liberties: Georgetown Law School Professor David Cole, and Heidi Boghosian, executive director of the National Lawyers Guild

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to provide a stronger role for states in the process of decommissioning nuclear power plants like Vermont Yankee.

Entergy, the Louisiana utility that owns Vermont Yankee, plans to shut down the reactor by the end of this year but it could take decades to deal with nuclear waste at the Vernon, Vt., site and other matters related to decommissioning the plant.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement tonight after President Barack Obama delivered his fifth State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress:

“I welcome President Obama’s focus on reducing inequality and helping working families in America. The American economy is not sustainable when so few have so much and so many have so little. It’s a moral issue and it’s an economic issue.

“The American people, no matter what part of the country they are from or what political party they support, want us to put millions of people back to work. They want to deal with income and wealth inequality. They want us to raise the minimum wage.

in case you missed it (icymi), fyi:

Three lawmakers (via vtdigger; 1/27/2014):