Sunday, December 14, 2014
The Senate passed the measure, which funds much of the government through next September, by a vote of 56 to 40. Sanders joined 21 Democrats and 18 Republicans in opposing it. Vermont's third delegate, Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.), also voted against the bill when it passed the House Thursday night.
Like many liberals, Sanders and Welch took issue with two policy riders attached to the spending bill that would roll back regulations governing Wall Street banks and dramatically increase the amount of money donors can give to political parties. In a statement released ahead of Saturday's vote, Sanders also faulted the legislation for failing to invest in infrastructure improvements and environmental programs.
“At a time when the middle class continues to disappear, and the gap between the very rich and everyone else grows wider, this bill comes nowhere close to reflecting the needs and priorities of America’s working families," he said.
Tags: Senator , Cromnibus , Patrick Leahy , Bernie Sanders , Peter Welch , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only
Friday, December 12, 2014
The legislation, which will fund the government through next September, narrowly survived a procedural vote Thursday afternoon as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) spoke out against it. After President Obama joined House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in personally lobbying for the bill, it passed by a vote of 219 to 206 — just hours before a midnight deadline to avert a government shutdown.
The Senate is expected to vote on the measure Friday or Saturday.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told national news outlets Thursday that he, too, would oppose the bill. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) helped negotiate portions of it as the most senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. In a floor speech Thursday, Leahy called it "a balanced, bipartisan bill."
Tags: Senator , Peter Welch , Bernie Sanders , Patrick Leahy , Cromnibus , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only
Thursday, December 4, 2014
At least, that's the message of a video clip posted to Congressman Peter Welch’s (D-Vt.) Facebook page Thursday.
On Thanksgiving, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) shared his turkey brine recipe with the public, noting that “the real secret is 16 ounces of pure maple syrup."
Tags: politics , Peter Welch , U.S. House of Representatives , Image , Web Only
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Now, according to Politico, Shumlin is expected to hand over the DGA reins to a new chairman: Montana Gov. Steve Bullock.
Bullock, a freshman governor whose own reelection bid is slated for 2016, would succeed [Shumlin] in the position, POLITICO has learned. A source familiar with DGA leadership discussions added that Bullock is likely to step down from the post after a year to focus on his reelection.According to Politico, Bullock may be succeeded in the heavy election year of 2016 by Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy.
The DGA is convening in early December to vote on its new leadership slate. A Bullock aide confirmed that the governor is asking colleagues to back his bid at that meeting.
Tags: Peter Shumlin , Democratic Governors Association , Steve Bullock , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Sanders, who typically vacillates between stiffness and anger, ably parried with faux-conservative host Stephen Colbert over socialism, Denmark and even Sanders' status in Vermont's congressional delegation.
"First of all, as a 73-year-old man, how does it feel to be the junior senator?," Colbert asked. "Do you ever shake your fist at Pat Leahy? Say, 'Get out of town, old man!'"
"No, he's doing just fine," Sanders said with a laugh. "He and I are pretty good friends."
"But compared to you, he's like Rush Limbaugh. He is so right-wing," Colbert said. "He's a Democrat. You're a socialist. That's the bogeyman of Washington. Do you frighten people when you walk around the Capitol? Are they afraid you're going to take their tractor and give it to the whole village?"
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Presidential Campaign , Stephen Colbert , Image , Recommended Reading , Video , Web Only
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Following last week's Democratic rout, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is set to lose his ceremonial position as Senate president pro tempore and his chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
According to Politico, those might not be the only changes afoot.
Under normal circumstances, Leahy would become ranking member of the Judiciary Committee when the new Senate is sworn in next January. But Politico, citing "four sources familiar with his discussions with Senate Democrats," says Leahy is considering trading up to become ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee instead:
With Democrats now returning to the minority and the GOP vowing to restore the beleaguered appropriations process, Leahy may view the post as more influential in the next Congress.Though Leahy is the senior-most member of the Senate — and of the Appropriations, Judiciary and Agriculture committees — Democrats elect leadership positions by secret ballot. To take the gavel at Appropriations, he would have to displace its current chairwoman, Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.). And, according to Politico, "Some Democratic insiders predict Mikulski would defeat Leahy in a one-on-one race."
Tags: Patrick Leahy , politics , Image , Web Only
Monday, November 10, 2014
Since the midterm election, national journos have lost no time in turning their sights — and their speculation — to the contenders for the 2016 presidential election. And though Vermont’s Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) hasn’t said whether he’ll run, it’s looking likely: High-profile Democratic strategist Tad Devine will jump aboard Sanders' campaign, according to the Washington Post.
Tuesday’s Washington Post features an interview with Devine, a prominent Democratic Party consultant who’s worked on the Al Gore, John Kerry and Michael Dukakis campaigns and who has also worked on Sanders' campaigns.
“If he runs, I’m going to help him,” Devine said in an interview. “He is not only a longtime client but a friend. I believe he could deliver an enormously powerful message that the country is waiting to hear right now and do it in a way that succeeds.”Devine pointed to Sanders’ grassroots popularity and his high profile in the national media as strengths going into a 2016 campaign.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Presidential Campaign , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only
Friday, October 31, 2014
As Mark Leibovich put it in his excellent 2007 profile of the recently sworn-in senator:
Sanders crinkles his face whenever a conversation veers too long from this kind of “important stuff” and into the “silly stuff,” like clothes and style. “I do not like personality profiles,” Sanders told me during our first conversation.So props to Mark Halperin and John Heilemann — the first-rate political journalists who brought you Game Change — for revealing another side of Sanders on their new Bloomberg TV show, "With All Due Respect."
Which side, exactly, did they reveal?
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Monster , Bloomberg , Presidential Campaign , Image , Recommended Reading , Video , Web Only
Thursday, October 23, 2014
And Sanders didn’t even mention Shaheen’s name.
The subject came up 40 minutes into the Vermonter’s stump speech, as he hailed the progress he believes women have made in American politics.
“In this state alone right now, you have a woman governor, you have two women United States senators and your two congressional seats are held by women,” he said, adding parenthetically, “And by the way, I hope very much you’ll return one of these women to the United States Senate, who’s doing a very good job.”
The rest of Sanders’ speech appeared focused on getting out the vote in another race: the 2016 presidential election.
His visit to Hanover marked his seventh day in New Hampshire this year — and his fourth this month alone. On Tuesday, he visited Keene State College and, later Thursday, he was scheduled to appear at Plymouth State University.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Presidential Campaign , New Hampshire , Presidential Campaign , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only
Friday, October 10, 2014
He was in a low-ceilinged room Thursday evening in Champlain College’s Hauke Family Campus Center along with 30 or so politicians, family members, college students and elementary school kids. Cameras flashed.
This was no town hall meeting or (not-yet-a) presidential campaign stop for the two-term senator, however. It was a chess match against Vermont’s lone national chess master, David Carter, and Sanders’ pawns were being knocked off like his political challengers in the Green Mountain State.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Presidential Campaign , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only