{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/newswatch/122314", "News December 23", "2014-12-23", "2014", "2014-12", "Independent", "House", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "News December 23\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tTuesday, December 23, 2014\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tSenator Sanders\r\nSanders Has \u2018Big Ideas\u2019 Sen. Bernie Sanders \u201chas some big ideas about how to rein in big banks, cut defense spending, strengthen Social Security and Medicare, and address income and wealth inequality in the United States,\u201d according to WBUR-FM in Boston. Sanders discussed those topics during a wide-ranging interview Monday. LINK\r\nStrengthen Social Security In the final days of the 2014 Congress, Sen. Sanders promised to push for new legislation to break up the big banks and expand Social Security, Thom Hartmann said Monday on The Thom Hartmann Program. LINK\r\n$1 Million for Vermont Veterans\u2019 Home The state-run Vermont Veterans' Home in Bennington is in line for a nearly $1 million federal matching grant. Sen. Sanders, who chairs the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, announced the Department of Veterans Affairs has put the Bennington facility on a priority list for construction grants in 2015, The Associated Press and WVNY-TV reported. LINK, VIDEO\r\nWorld\r\nN. Korea Web Goes Down While perhaps a coincidence, the failure, which lasted about 10 hours, began after President Obama said the U.S. would respond to an act of \u201ccybervandalism\u201d against Sony Pictures, The New York Times reported. LINK\r\nNational\r\nMcConnel Going on Offense Sen. Mitch McConnell, the incoming majority leader, knows his real problem is not corralling mavericks in his party like Senator Ted Cruz. It is persuading other Senate Republicans conditioned to voting no that it is time to vote yes. \u201cOne of my challenges is to try to convince some of my members that passing an appropriations bill is a good thing, not a bad thing,\u201d McConnell said during an interview with The New York Times. LINK\r\nFairPoint Contract Up in New Hampshire New Hampshire's Executive Council today will consider a $13 million state contract with FairPoint Communications as the company's Northern New England workers continue to strike. If the contract is approved, FairPoint would provide telephone and Internet services for the state through 2020. Four other companies also bid on the contract, AP reported. LINK\r\nGas Prices Gasoline prices have fallen a record 88 straight days to an average of $2.36 a gallon nationally, according to gasbuddy.com. The price in Burlington, Vermont, was 56-cents-a-gallon above the national average, according to the price-tracking website. At $2.92 a gallon, gasbuddy.com ranked Burlington as the fourth most expensive place in the country to buy gas. The only cities where gas cost more were Rochester, New York, Anchorage, Alaska, and Honolulu, Hawaii. LINK\r\nVermont\r\nProgressives Sour on Shumlin The political ascendance of Peter Shumlin has come thanks in part to support from the Progressive Party. But the Democratic governor\u2019s decision to shelve single-payer health care last week could shatter that alliance, Vermont Public Radio reported. LINK\r\nRepublicans Seek Shumlin Probe House Republican leaders are drafting a letter requesting a federal inspector general\u2019s office review of the Shumlin administration\u2019s use of federal money in its various health care reform efforts. House Minority Leader Don Turner, of Milton, said he is working on the letter that he hopes will induce officials to review expenses related to the state\u2019s work on Vermont Health Connect and a single-payer health care proposal, the Vermont Press Bureau reported. LINK\r\nDairy Program Approximately 65 percent of the state\u2019s dairy farmers have enrolled in a federal insurance program that protects them against dramatic price fluctuations. Friday was the deadline for farmers to enroll in the Dairy Margin Protection Program, which is part of the 2014 U.S. Farm Bill signed into law in February and offers dairy farmers insurance to protect against narrowing profit margins, the Rutland Herald reported. LINK", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/newswatch/122314"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9091868996620178, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}