Todays news from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.): Senate Set to Pass Bill Extending Jobless Aid: The Senate is expected to easily approve legislation Monday restoring unemployment benefits to nearly three million people, throwing the bill to a divided House. Seven House Republicans from high-unemployment regions or swing districts plan to send House Speaker John Boehner a letter to urge him to take up the Senate bill or a similar measure. Other House Republicans are pressing to attach to the Senate bill what they call job-creation measures: building the transcontinental Keystone XL pipeline; consolidating job training programs; or raising employer-mandated health care coverage to employees who work 40 hours a week, rather than 30, as written in President Obama’s health care law. The ‘Corporate 5’: The Supreme Court by a vote of 5-4 struck down aggregate limits on how much individuals can give directly to federal candidates and political party committees. The decision continues the money equals speech theme championed in the Corporate Five’s 2010 decision in Citizens United, which opened the door for corporate money to flood into Super PACs ... Progressive champion Sanders blasted the latest ruling. “Freedom of speech, in my view, does not mean the freedom to buy the United States government,” according to Daily Kos. Cities Fighting Income Inequality: The Seattle City Council is debating a plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour — forging ahead on its plan to tackle income inequality as efforts in the nation’s capital have languished. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has run into obstacles at the state level to tax the rich more to pay for programs aimed at the poor. Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles are also considering proposals to tackle inequality, such as bolstering programs for public education, transportation, affordable housing and wages. This patchwork effort comes as the fortunes of the haves have diverged even more from those of the have-nots across the country. The top 1 percent of households has captured about 95 percent of the income gains eked out during the tepid recovery from the Great Recession, The New York Times reported. Continue reading todays news: sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/newswatch/040714
Posted on: Mon, 07 Apr 2014 13:23:38 +0000
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