Todays news from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.): House to Vote on Budget: The House of Representatives votes today on a bipartisan budget agreement that would avoid another budget showdown until 2015. “We have protected again Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid,” Sanders told Ed Shultz in a radio interview on Wednesday. Sanders welcomed the decision to reject proposed cuts in the retirement and health care programs, The Washington Post online and Congressional Quarterly. VA Backlog: The Veterans Affairs Department’s top benefits official predicted Wednesday at a Senate hearing chaired by Sen. Sanders that a backlog of almost 400,000 benefits claims is on course to be eliminated in 2015, Military Times reported. Sanders pointed to instances of high error rates, The Washington Examiner reported. “Reducing the backlog at the expense of accuracy is not acceptable,” Sanders said. Health Care: Former Secretary of State Colin Powell strongly endorsed universal health care, according to a Think Progress report which noted that Sen. Sanders introduced a bill Monday that would require states to implement a single-payer system to cover every American, McKnights Long-Term Care News reported. Citizens United: A group in Maine opposed to unlimited third-party spending in elections plans to urge the Legislature to call for a rare national constitutional convention to overturn the Supreme Courts 2010 Citizens United ruling. The effort could galvanize support for a constitutional amendment. Sen. Sanders and Rep. Ted Deutch have proposed such an amendment to overturn the ruling, the Bangor Daily News reported. Continue reading here: sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/newswatch/121213
Posted on: Thu, 12 Dec 2013 14:13:30 +0000