October 2015

CONCORD, N.H. – Surrounded by workers at a union hall, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Saturday welcomed support from organized labor and detailed proposals to create millions of jobs, raise pay and reform trade policies. “We have an economy that is rigged,” Sanders said at a news conference outside an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union hall. The senator spoke after he was introduced by Dennis Beaudoin, president of the IBEW Local 490, Janice Kelble of the American Postal Workers Union in New Hampshire and Chris Peck, vice president of the Service Employees International Union Local 560 in Hanover. The …

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DERRY, N.H. – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday expressed concern about President Barack Obama’s decision to dispatch U.S. special operations forces to Syria to help battle the Islamic State, a spokesman said. “Sen. Sanders expressed concern about the United States being drawn into the quagmire of the Syrian civil war which could lead to perpetual warfare in that region,” spokesman Michael Briggs said. “The senator believes that the crisis in Syria will be solved diplomatically, not militarily.” Sanders also expressed strong support for the effort by Secretary of State John Kerry to bring Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia and other …

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MANCHESTER, N.H. – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday issued the following statement on eliminating sentencing disparities between crack cocaine and for crimes involving powder cocaine: “Secretary Clinton is right. We must eliminate sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine. That is why I have repeatedly voted in favor of addressing this disparity. “When we talk about criminal justice reform, we also need to understand that millions of people have been arrested for using marijuana. We must recognize that blacks are four times more likely than whites to get arrested for marijuana possession, even though the same proportion of blacks …

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MANCHESTER, N.H. – Meeting at a seniors’ center here on Friday, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders called for strengthening Social Security, raising retirement benefits and bringing down skyrocketing prescription drug prices. Sanders told the gathering at the William B. Cashin Senior Activity Center that the most effective way to strengthen Social Security for the future is to make millionaires and billionaires pay the same share of their income as everyone else. Instead of capping income subject to the payroll tax at $118,500, as current law does, Sanders would make those earning $250,000 and up, the top 1.5 percent of wage earners, …

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WASHINGTON – Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., and Sen. Bernie Sanders met Thursday for about one hour at the vice president’s residence to discuss critical issues facing the country. Among the many issues they discussed was the need to address campaign finance reform so that the wealthy and powerful cannot wield undue influence in the political process. They also spoke about the need to extend public education in the United States through college so every young person in America, regardless of income, will be able to get a college education. “Under the leadership of President Obama and Vice President …

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BURLINGTON, Vt. – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday begins a two-day swing through New Hampshire. A meeting with senior citizens in Manchester kicks off the trip, which also includes stops in Nashua, Derry, Concord, Warner and Lebanon. The Democratic Party presidential candidate will discuss a wide range of issues, including income and wealth inequality and the disappearing middle class, getting big money out of politics, criminal justice reform, and his college affordability plan. Here is the itinerary: Friday, October 30 12:15 p.m. Meeting with Senior Citizens, William B. Cashin Senior Activity Center, 151 Douglas Street, Manchester 4:45 p.m.  Nashua …

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Yesterday, more than 75 labor, environmental, consumer, transparency, agriculture, and other U.S. groups and academics sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman calling on USTR to increase transparency in the Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) negotiations (also called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP). The letter notes that while the European Commission has published the “actual language and binding commitments” it has proposed for TTIP, the U.S. government has thus far failed to make any textual proposals or negotiating texts public. “If the EU is willing to publish its textual proposals, there is no reason why the U.S. cannot immediately release its …

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FAIRFAX, Va. – Citing a recent FBI report that someone in the United States is arrested every minute on marijuana charges, Sen. Bernie Sanders told a nationwide meeting of college students on Wednesday that he would take marijuana off the federal government’s list of outlawed drugs. Speaking from George Mason University to 250 online student meetings in all 50 states, Sanders said he favors removing marijuana from the list of controlled substances regulated by federal law. “In the United States we have 2.2 million people in jail today, more than any other country. And we’re spending about $80 billion a …

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In what has been criticized as an industry-dominated advisory system, those executives are among more than 500 people who are allowed to read and comment on the negotiating proposals that the United States presents to its trading partners. They can look at the material on a secure Web site, comment on trade policy proposals in regular meetings, and request one-on-one sessions with negotiators — favored access that gives them a direct pipeline into the talks.

The access isn’t exclusive to industry … But as the impact of globalization becomes more contentious during the slow economic recovery, more voices are demanding to get involved.

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BURLINGTON, Vt. – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday begins a two-day swing through New Hampshire. A meeting with senior citizens in Manchester kicks off the trip, which also includes stops in Nashua, Derry, Concord, Warner and Lebanon. The Democratic Party presidential candidate will discuss a wide range of issues, including income and wealth inequality and the disappearing middle class, getting big money out of politics, criminal justice reform, and his college affordability plan. Here is the itinerary: Friday, October 30 12:15 p.m. Meeting with Senior Citizens, William B. Cashin Senior Activity Center, 151 Douglas Street, Manchester 4:45 p.m.  Nashua …

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BURLINGTON, Vt. — As supporters from 250 colleges and universities across the country prepare to host campus town hall meetings on Wednesday, scholars from a variety of disciplines and universities, prominent journalists and union leaders issued a statement in support of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. The statement marks the launch of a new organizing initiative, Higher Ed for Bernie, which includes about 400 members. “Bernie Sanders is the only candidate seeking the nomination from either party who has a serious and concrete proposal and demonstrated a resolute commitment to higher education,” the statement reads. “That is why we …

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NEW YORK — Bernie Sanders supporters from 207 colleges and universities across the nation have organized campus town meetings in gymnasiums, dormitories, classrooms and cafeterias as part of a national organizing effort that will feature a live telecast from George Mason University with the senator and student activists from the greater Washington, D.C. area. The senator will speak to thousands of students across the country and in front of an audience of more than 1,500 at George Mason about issues important to young people including the high cost of college, climate change, campaign finance reform and the need for racial …

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I am proud to stand with Senator Bernie Sanders and hundreds of Verizon Workers at a Wireless retail store in Manhattan, as 39,000 CWA and IBEW members battle for their contract and the organizing and bargaining rights of Verizon Wireless workers.
The …