Bernie Sanders

Vermont's Senators split over the $700 bailout bill Wednesday, as Patrick Leahy (D-Middlesex) and Bernie Sanders (I-Burlington) cast opposite votes for the legislation, which ultimately passed by a resounding 49 votes.

Leahy, the Green Mountain State's senior senator, voted for the bailout bill, while Sanders, one of two Independents in the Senate, voted against it.

The bailout bill passed in the Senate tonight by 74 to 25. U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy voted in favor of it, while Bernie Sanders voted against.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders doubts that his proposal to impose a 10 percent tax on those making over $500k in order to pay for the Wall Street bailout will pass a vote in the Senate tonight.

But more entertaining is the video below from a few days ago, in which the self-described socialist calls Larry Kudlow of CNBC a socialist.

As the weather turns colder and summer turns into fall, Vermont received Wednesday more than $2.4 million in additional federal aid for home heating relief for the coming winter months.

President Bush Wednesday ordered Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt to release the remaining reserve funds from the Low Income Heating Energy Assistance Program-approximately $120 million-as requested by U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Middlesex) and supported by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Burlington) and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Hartland).

"Soaring home heating costs already are a clear and present threat facing thousands of Vermont households," Leahy said in a statement. "These funds were doing no good sitting in an agency's vault. Congress appropriated these funds for times like these."

In an effort to attract more supporters and funds, Independent gubernatorial candidate Anthony Pollina is giving supporters a chance to wine and dine with him and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Burlington) on a dinner cruise this weekend. But, there is a small price tag.

The Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, D.C., has released the results of a new study showing all three members of the Vermont congressional delegation fall below the income average of their respective houses of government, The Burlington Free Press reports.

More PolitickerVT.com coverage: Sanders hosts community meeting on Comcast complaints

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) will host a town meeting in Rutland Thursday night to address complaints his office has received about cable giant Comcast.

Sanders' office released a statement saying the senator has received around 300 complaints from residents around the state saying Comcast cut back on cable service without lowering rates.

Sanders has taken on Comcast in a number of venues recently. On an opinion piece posted on his website, Sanders called Comcast an "unregulated monopoly," and he recently penned a letter to company executives requesting fairer rates for customers and regular public meetings to discuss service changes.

"When people pay the same ammount of money to receive less service, that is a rate hike, plain and simple," Sanders said in his letter to Comcast.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at Rutland City Hall; a representative from Comcast is expected to attend. The meeting will be broadcast live on local cable access television and channeled out to other cities around the state. It will also be streamed online here.

Vermont's U.S. Senate delegation today joined several prominent colleagues in introducing legislation aimed at boosting Americans' access to primary healthcare, as well as expanding existing federal healthcare programs.  

The bill, called Access for All Americans Act, is co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama (D-Ill.), Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). The legislation seeks to provide all citizens with primary healthcare, tackle a shortage of primary care physicians by encouraging students to enter the healthcare field, and expand a Federally Qualified Health Centers program, which would boost services to low-income and uninsured citizens.  

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Burlington)U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Burlington) today released a new video criticizing President Bush following the recent announcement that the nation's deficit will reach $482 billion this year.

The Green Mountain State's junior U.S. senator called the news of the ballooning deficit "extremely disconcerting" and called for reform of the Bush tax cuts as well as spending for the War in Iraq.