Free Republic

With only one congressman and two senators, Vermont’s congressional delegation may be small. But that isn’t stopping Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) from doling out big dollars–$236,830, to be exact–to members of their staffs...

Sen. Joe Lieberman was treated like an outcast back in 2008 when he broke from the Senate Democratic Caucus and openly opposed Barack Obama’s bid for the White House. Asked last week if he’d back Obama in 2012, the Connecticut independent said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do.” This time around, there may be more Liebermans. A number of moderate Democrats like Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar and liberals like Sen. Bernie Sanders are declining to give their unqualified support for the president, saying they’re either too focused on their own races or are calling on the White House...

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) spoke to a crowd gathered in Washington, D.C., outside of the Capitol and said, "We need some of you probably getting arrested for doing things you shouldn't be doing" to save Medicaid. Also, Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont), who is a self-avowed socialist, told MRCTV he was at the rally to 'save' Medicaid and that Republicans care more about representing the 'wealthiest people in the country', large campaign contributors and 'hedge fund people' than working and low-income families.

Capitol Hill opponents of the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline are attacking the State Department’s finding that the proposed project will cause minimal environmental harm if managed properly.The State Department’s conclusion in an environmental analysis released Friday is a crucial step toward final federal approval of the 1,700-mile pipeline, which would bring crude from Alberta’s oil sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries.But the finding isn’t sitting well with Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), who called the analysis flawed, alleging the State Department failed to “adequately asses the real environmental impact.” The pipeline would run through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska and...

“Well, at this point I have not,” Sanders said. “But I am now giving thought to doing it. You know, I think you know the names out there as well as I do. And I think the American people have got to be engaged. It’s not just me or anybody else here in Washington. There are a lot of smart honest progressive people who I think can be good presidents.”Sanders said such a challenge was necessary since in his estimation, the president had begun to take his position as the party leader for granted. And I think one of the...

With all of the spotlights on the high-stakes debt maneuverings by President Obama and Speaker John Boehner the last few days, few people noticed what Vermont's Sen. Bernie Sanders said: "I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition." This is political treason 469 days before a presidential election. Now, comes a new ABC News/Washington Post poll with a whole harvest of revelations, among them, strong indications that Obama's liberal base is starting to crumble. Among the nuggets: Despite those hundreds of billions of blown stimulus dollars and almost as many upturn promises from...

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said in a radio interview that he's thinking about trying to encourage somebody to run against President Obama in a primary election, claiming the president has drifted toward Republican positions because "no one will stand up to him." Republicans hardly feel that Obama is on their side. House Speaker John Boehner, after splitting off from White House-led debt talks, said Sunday that they are almost "from two different planets." But Sanders, an Independent, said Friday that the president is not living up to his campaign commitments on issues like Social Security -- reflecting a concern among...

The first top-to-bottom audit of the Federal Reserve uncovered eye-popping new details about how the U.S. provided a whopping $16 trillion in secret loans to bail out American and foreign banks and businesses during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. An amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders to the Wall Street reform law passed one year ago this week directed the Government Accountability Office to conduct the study. "As a result of this audit, we now know that the Federal Reserve provided more than $16 trillion in total financial assistance to some of the largest financial institutions and corporations...

MONTPELIER, Vt.—Vermont's independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders says he's telling the White House more than 100,000 people want at least half of any federal deficit reduction package to rely on revenue from the wealthiest Americans and the most profitable corporations.

Apparently Democrats need a break from themselves every once in a while. The California Democratic Party announced Friday that U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, will be the keynote speaker for its annual state convention April 29 to May 1 in Sacramento. Sanders may be an independent, but he's not of the moderate variety that term tends to conjure. He sits to the left of the Democratic Party and was dubbed "The Socialist Senator" in a 2007 New York Times Magazine profile. The state party said this marks the first time it has tapped an independent for its prime...

On Cenk Uygur's MSNBC show this evening, Bernie Sanders, the socialist senator from Vermont who caucuses with the Dems, claimed that rich Americans "have not contributed one nickel to deficit reduction." Cenk of course failed to challenge Sander's certifiably silly assertion. View video here.

A U.S. senator says he wants answers to why the Federal Reserve provided more than $26 billion in credit to an Arab intermediary for the Central Bank of Libya. Sen. Bernie Sanders , D-Vt., sent a letter to the Federal Reserve that also demands to know why the Libyan-owned bank and two of its branches in New York were exempted from sanctions that the U.S. slapped on other Libyan businesses to isolate Col. Muammar Qaddafi. "It is incomprehensible to me that while credit-worthy small businesses in Vermont and throughout the country could not receive affordable loans, the Federal Reserve was...

Bernie Sanders, the “independent” but self-described socialist senator from Vermont, told MSNBC yesterday he has a novel idea for reforming health care — get rid of all the private health insurance companies: "I hope to be able to get waivers from Congress and the White House to allow us to do so. At the end of the day, if you are going to provide health care to all of our people in a cost effective way, you have to get rid of the health insurance companies, not profiteering and bureaucracy,” he said.

This afternoon Sanders sent out a fundraising appeal, seeking to raise money to fight Republicans and other “right-wing reactionaries” responsible for the climate that led to the shooting.

There has been no shortage of individuals and institutions that have sought to capitalize on the shootings in Tucson. Add Vermont senator Bernie Sanders to that list.This afternoon Sanders sent out a fundraising appeal, seeking to raise money to fight Republicans and other “right-wing reactionaries” responsible for the climate that led to the shooting.He writes: Given the recent tragedy in Arizona, as well as the start of the new Congress, I wanted to take this opportunity to share a few words with political friends in Vermont and throughout the country.  I also want to thank the very many supporters who...

WASHINGTON -- Passing the tax compromise between President Obama and congressional Republicans would be a notable achievement -- but mainly a negative one. It would avoid a contraction of the economy in January, when tax rates are scheduled to broadly rise. Deficit hawks are unhappy with another round of borrowed stimulus. But the first step in the recovery of economic health is the avoidance of self-inflicted wounds. On this commitment, at least, bipartisanship has returned. Yet the deal also sparked an ideological argument on the nature of economic fairness. To some on the left, the refusal to raise taxes on...

_resident Obama's $858 billion tax package won a huge bipartisan majority in the Senate Monday evening, setting it up for a contentious debate in the House. In a 83-15 vote, the Senate quashed a filibuster by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Va.). Fifteen lawmakers voted against it, including five Republicans: Sens. Tom Coburn (Okla.), Jim DeMint (S.C.), Jeff Sessions (Ala.), John Ensign (Nev.) and George Voinovich (Ohio). Nine Democrats and one independent voted against the bill: Sens. Jeff Bingaman (N.M.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Russ Feingold (Wis.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Kay Hagan (N.C.), Frank Lautenberg (N.J.), Pat Leahy (Vt.), Carl Levin (Mich.), Mark...

Bruce McQuain — a blogger at the libertarian site Q&O and a good friend of The Heartland Institute — offers his take on the filibuster of the extension of the Bush-era tax rates by self-proclaimed socialist, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I) of Vermont. Though Sanders spoke for many hours non-stop — and he deserves credit, at least, for trying to conduct a "real" filibuster, as opposed to the phony ones we get today — his day-long political theater can be boiled down to the 2-minute found here. To quote Sanders again, he says “the rich” are “crybabies” who are “making out...

Here is video of the closing moments of Independent (Socialist) Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 8 1/2 hour filibuster-type speech today in the U.S. Senate. Sanders railed against the extension of the Bush Tax Cut Rates for all Americans. Sanders acknowledged in his closing comments that it is unclear whether he will be able to get enough votes to stop passage of the agreement that will be voted on this coming Monday. Sanders began his filibuster speech at 10:25 AM ET, and finished at 6:59 PM ET (12/10/10).

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VM) is using a true speaking filibuster to prevent vote that stops a tax raise.

Moments ago, Sen. Bernie Sanders, the self-described socialist from Vermont, stopped by the Senate press gallery unannounced to deliver red-faced invective trashing the proposed tax deal between the White House and the GOP, apparently doubling down on his earlier threat to filibuster the plan. He said he is willing to do “anything and everything” to defeat the current proposal — which he called a “moral outrage” — and prevent a tax-rate extension for upper-income earners, by filibuster if necessary. Sanders said he was going to find “a handful of Republicans” willing to reject the current deal (he didn’t say whom...

From Connie Hair's article at Human Events published today about plans by Democrats to hijack 401Ks to bail out union pensions:Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was the only other senator at the hearing with Harkin. His particular brand of gutter class warfare was on full display as the self-described socialist made the absurd claim that wealthy job creators oppose the Social Security system because it "works." "So, the reason that there is so much opposition to Social Security for some of these billionaire guys is because Social Security has worked. It has done exactly what it was supposed to do. It...

Senator claims GOP follows Beck and Limbaugh, not science, on climate By Ben Geman - 06/17/10 01:57 PM ET Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Thursday that strong global warming legislation lacks 60 votes and claimed Republicans are paying attention to conservative media pundits rather than climate science. "It is absolutely incredible and very, very sad — and I say this not from a political point of view — that a lot of very bright Republicans no longer pay attention to science and are much more interested in the rhetoric of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck," he said. Sanders spoke with...

Michael Savage DESTROYS Bernie Sanders (S-VT) for comparing warming skeptics to holocaust deniers and challenges him to come on his show and debate the validity of global warming. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84xKx9dUVaM

WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama should seize a "golden opportunity" to rewrite the rules on Wall Street by replacing Ben Bernanke at the head of the Federal Reserve, a US senator said Friday. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, one of Bernanke's chief critics, said "a new Obama appointee could transform the Fed into an instrument for the middle class of this country rather than high-rolling Wall Street executives." "The defeat of Ben Bernanke would give President Obama a golden opportunity to nominate someone who will move the Fed in a new direction and put an end to the Fed?s relationship...

Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont and self-described socialist, is normally opposed to what he calls "unfettered free trade." Yet Sanders is all for letting U.S. firms import prescription drugs such as the cholesterol-lowering statin Lipitor from countries where it sells at much lower prices. "In Canada, it costs $33; France, $53; Germany, $48; Netherlands, $63; Spain, $32; the United Kingdom, $40; U.S.A., $125 — four times as much as it costs in Canada. Now, you explain that to me," says Sanders.

Dec 22: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) says insurance and drug lobbyists won the health care debate and that Congress will need to revisit the plan, as it is not sustainable. Video MSNBC/Sanders InterviewClick on Bernie Sanders

Politics: Sen. Mary Landrieu was the new "Louisiana Purchase." Sen. Ben Nelson got the federal government to pick up his state's future Medicaid tab. Maybe we should just put Senate votes up on eBay. Nelson, the 60th vote in the middle-of-the-night Senate party line vote on health care reform, will go down in American political history as the inventor of the permanent earmark. His seemingly principled stand against including federal funding for abortion evaporated like the morning dew as he decided to take what was behind door No. 1. The deal for Nelson includes special Medicaid funding for Nebraska, along...

At least common thieves don't destroy an entire health care system and socialize the American economy when they commit their felonies. Too bad we can't say the same for our illustrious Democratic senators who sold out the nation. In exchange for criminally unconstitutional favors for their respective states, they voted to pass the Senate health care bill just 38 hours after it had been made available to the public for review. Everyone knows about Sen. Mary Landrieu's negotiating $300 million for her state in non-guaranteed Medicaid payouts. She was even cocky about her institutionalized larceny. Sen. Bernie Sanders finagled $10...

Bernie Sanders Payoff (bribe) cost $50 for every other man, woman, AND child. Why are 49 state taxpayers paying for this bribe. "A few days ago, Sen. Bernie Sanders was not on board with the emerging Senate bill saying, "I have real concerns." But Sanders sounded more upbeat about the prospects of supporting the bill this morning after he crowed about landing additional Medicaid funding for six years and $10 billion for community health centers."

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said late Wednesday that he cannot support the Democrats' healthcare reform legislation in its current form. Earlier on Wednesday, Sanders described himself as "undecided" on the bill. Asked by Fox Business Network's Neil Cavuto asked Sanders if he could support the compromise bill. The senator replied "I’m struggling with this. As of this point I am not voting for the bill. And here’s why." Sanders, who favors a single-payer healthcare system, said that he has informed the White House and Democratic leadership of his position.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday withdrew his single-payer healthcare amendment after Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) initiated a procedural maneuver to shipwreck the measure. Coburn earlier in the day forced the Senate clerk to read aloud Sanders’s 767-page amendment to the Senate healthcare bill in an effort to halt the healthcare debate.

Here is a FUn contest. Guess the time that the Senate clerk finishes reading Bernie Sanders' entire 767 page single payer amendment to the health care bill. Whoever guesses closest to the actual time of completion wins. My own guess is 2:35 A.M. tomorrow morning. What are your guesses as to the time of completion?

Sen. Tom Coburn has just demanded that the Senate clerk read the single-payer amendment offered by Sen. Bernie Sanders -- and it's 767 pages. Typically, Senators offering amendments will ask for unanimous consent to avoid reading the entire meausure, but all it takes is one Senator to object to demand its reading, and Coburn objected to Sanders attempt to dispense with the reading of the amendment. To give you a sense of how this could delay things, it took the Senate clerk 18 minutes to get through the first 6 pages of the amendment, which were the table of contents....

Here is a YouTube video of what Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Robert Casey (D, MoveOn.org, PA) just voted to continue funding with taxpayer dollars. Here are the U.S. Senators who voted to continue to fund Barack Obama's friends in ACORN (a "nay" vote is a vote against defunding ACORN). See also this video. Note in the video that, per ACORN's employees, the fake pimp doesn't have to file W-2 reports for his (imaginary) prostitutes because they are under sixteen.U.S. Senators who voted to continue to spend taxpayer money to fund ACORNBurris (D-IL) Casey (D-PA), also accepted the endorsement of an...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT): "The middle class in this country is collapsing. We've got 17-percent of our population who don't have jobs; people have lost their homes, people have lost their savings."

Oversight: As the Senate votes to de-fund Acorn, add pimping, tax evasion and human trafficking to voter fraud paid for with taxpayer dollars and you have an organized criminal enterprise. It's time to investigate.After Acorn workers were caught on tape in three cities allegedly abetting what they believed was a fraudulent-mortgage and sex-trafficking scheme, the Senate has voted overwhelmingly to strip the group of funding in the Transportation/Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill. The amendment, offered by Nebraska Republican Sen. Mike Johanns, passed by an 83-to-7 margin and marked the third time this year that Republicans have tried to block...

It's not enough that much of the mainstream media cheered on Barack Obama to the presidency in 2008 or browbeat former President George W. Bush on Iraq and Afghanistan to force Republicans from control of Congress. No, it's time for a "progressive television network" and for left-wingers to support radio hosts that are sympathetic to liberal causes according to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. You may have thought there already was a "progressive" cable network in MSNBC and left-wingers sort of had an opportunity to support Air America, but that didn't quite pan out as anticipated - though it's still hanging...

DR. DEAN: Well, a Democratic socialist--all right, we're talking about words here. And Bernie can call himself anything he wants. He is basically a liberal Democrat, and he is a Democrat that--he runs as an Independent because he doesn't like the structure and the money that gets involved. And he actually has, I think, some good points about campaign finance reform. The bottom line is that Bernie Sanders votes with the Democrats 98 percent of the time. And that is a candidate that we think...

On FOX News' "Your World" this afternoon Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) says health insurance companies should be "afraid" that they will go out of business if a government-run health care program passes.

President Obama has indicated he wants a health-care bill on his desk sometime around October...the evidence is overwhelming that we must end the private insurance company domination of health care in our country and move toward a publicly funded, single-payer, Medicare-for-all approach.

Saturday night’s Real Time With Bill Maher was an all-leftist panel of 5: Bill Maher, Keith Olbermann, Kerry Washington (Actor/Activist), Andrew Ross Sorkin (columnist for the NYT) and Senator Bernie Sanders. Sanders is labeled as an “Independent “ but his loyalty was no secret when Howard Dean stated on MTP's May 22, 2005 show that "Bernie Sanders votes with the Democrats 98 percent of the time."

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has agreed to change the wording on the plaque accompanying a portrait of President George W. Bush in response to a complaint by Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.). Sanders objected to the sign's language because he believed it suggested a linkage between the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and the subsequent U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. The plaque reads: “Expecting that the success of his presidency would hinge, as it had when he was governor, on his negotiating skills and ability to solve problems, Bush found his two terms in office were instead marked...

Obama campaigning for Vermont senator (open Socialist) Bernie Sanders:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIlIpOkRh2A

Obama: "We need to 'change' America" Obama promising (irresponsible/dangerous) defense cuts, strategy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl32Y7wDVDs Obama displaying his (lacking) patriotism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arsoMPghb9I Obama campaigning for Vermont senator (open Socialist) Bernie Sanders:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIlIpOkRh2A

Reflections As we move into a new year, I want to take this opportunity to review with Vermonters the ups and downs of this past congressional session, what my office has sought to accomplish and my thoughts about the future. On a personal note, I want to thank the people of our great state for allowing me to represent them in the U.S. Senate and to wish everyone a very happy holiday season and a wonderful new year. At a time when the middle class is shrinking and so many working people are struggling to pay their bills, keep their...

MONTPELIER, Vermont: Condemning the Fox News Channel as a warmonger that is agitating for a U.S. attack on Iran, documentary filmmaker Robert Greenwald and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders announced an "online viral video campaign" Wednesday calling on television news organizations "not to follow Fox down the road to war again." Greenwald, the director behind "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" and "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price," has compiled a new three-minute video that mashes clips from Fox's coverage of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and its aftermath with recent coverage of possible U.S. military action against Iran. The...

MONTPELIER, Vt. - Condemning the Fox News Channel as a warmonger that's agitating for a U.S. attack on Iran, documentary filmmaker Robert Greenwald and independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders announced an "online viral video campaign" Wednesday calling on television news organizations "not to follow Fox down the road to war again." Greenwald, the director behind "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" and "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price," has compiled a new three-minute video that mashes clips from Fox's coverage of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and its aftermath with recent coverage of possible U.S. military action against Iran....

Amid the furious debate over Iraq and the speculation that George Bush may be a lame duck after next Tuesday's mid-term elections, an extraordinary political milestone is approaching: a cantankerous 65-year-old called Bernie looks set to become the first socialist senator in US history. Bernie Sanders is so far ahead in the contest for Vermont's vacant seat for the US Senate that it seems only sudden illness or accident could derail his rendezvous with destiny, after eight terms as the state's only congressman. His success flies in the face of all the conventional wisdom about American politics. He is an...

Boxer, the Democratic junior senator from California, came to Vermont to stump for candidate Sanders, as well as for congressional candidate Peter Welch. "This is the most important election," said Boxer. "Because we have to decide as a nation if we want a congress that will fulfill it's constitutional responsibilities, which are to check and balance an executive. That's what our founders understood... remember it was King George, and now we have another one."