Bernie Buzz: A Focus on Income Inequality

January 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment

 

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The Bernie Buzz
TAKE THE QUIZ: Was it Pope Francis, President Obama, Sen. Sanders or Sam Polk?
State of the Union
President Obama used his Tuesday night address to a joint session of Congress to say he is signing an executive order that will set the minimum wage for federal contractor workers at $10.10 an hour. Bernie applauded the move. In a Sept. 25 letter to the White House, Bernie and 14 other senators had called on Obama to do just that. Obama’s move also lent momentum to legislation that would raise the minimum pay for all workers to $10.10 from the current $7.25 an hour. The move to help low-wage workers was the substantive centerpiece of a nationally-televised speech that put a spotlight on income inequality in America. It’s an issue that too many for too long had all but ignored, but that’s changing now. World leaders from the president to the pope speaking out on what Bernie has called a national disgrace.
Video WHO SAID WHAT?
Read READ BERNIE’S LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT
Online Town Meeting on NSA
ONLINE TOWN MEETING ON NSA
The National Security Agency’s surveillance of millions of Americans’ telephone and email records will be the topic of a town meeting this weekend in Montpelier, Vt. Can’t be there in person? Watch it live online at 1 pm ET Saturday on Bernie’s Senate website. Bernie invited two national authorities on civil liberties — Georgetown Law Professor David Cole and the National Lawyers Guild’s Heidi Boghosian — to speak on government surveillance and corporate attacks on privacy rights. As Bernie has said, “The threat of terrorist attacks against the United States is real and the U.S. government must be vigorous in protecting the American people from possible attacks. I believe, however, that we can accomplish that goal without undermining the constitutional and privacy rights which make us a free society.”
Read SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS NOW
Veterans Legislation
VETERANS LEGISLATION
Bernie has introduced the most comprehensive legislation for veterans to come before the Senate in decades. The Senate is expected to take up the measure soon to restore pensions for military retirees and expand health care, dental care and education benefits. As chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Bernie put together a bill that has garnered support from virtually every major veterans group in the country. The legislation, he said, will “deliver on the promises that we have made to our service members.”
Read READ MORE ABOUT THE BILL
Read READ THE LETTERS OF SUPPORT
MUST READS
News
Koch World: 2014
Politico
News
Oxfam: 85 Richest People as Wealthy as Poorest Half of the World
The Guardian
News
U.N. Says Lag in Confronting Climate Woes Will Be Costly
The New York Times
COMING EVENTS
Meeting
Feb. 1: Bernie will host a town meeting at 1 p.m. ET on NSA surveillance
Radio
Listen to “Brunch with Bernie” Fridays at 3 p.m. ET
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Filed Under: Al Franken Senator Minn., California Democrats, Planet Earth, Social Security

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