releases: https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/newswatch/121514
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/newswatch/121514 | News December 15 | 2014-12-15 | 2014 | 2014-12 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | www.sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News December 15 Monday, December 15, 2014 Senator Sanders Senate Passes $1.1 Trillion Bill The Senate late Saturday night passed a $1.1 trillion spending bill by a 56-40 vote that crisscrossed party lines. Sen. Bernie Sanders said the bill lacks need regulation for big banks and ignores the needs of the middle class, WCAX-TV reported on Sunday. VIDEO Sanders Votes No In a rare split within Vermont's congressional delegation, Sen. Patrick Leahy voted in favor of the bill that Sen. Sanders called "totally crazy." Sanders joined 21 Democrats and 18 Republicans in opposing it. Rep. Peter Welch also voted against the bill when it passed the House Thursday night. Sanders and Welch took issue with two policy riders attached to the spending bill that would roll back regulations governing Wall Street banks and dramatically increase the amount of money donors can give to political parties. In a statement released ahead of Saturday's vote, Sanders also faulted the legislation for failing to invest in infrastructure improvements and environmental programs, Seven Days reported. LINK Party Splits Sen. Sanders and all of the Senate’s other potential presidential candidates from both parties voted against the bill, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Radio News nd Daytona Beach (Florida) News-Journal reported on Monday. “There was commonality among 2016 candidates. They didn't like this bill. Isn't that representative of the Democrats also having a problem with their... Warren wing?” Candy Crowley asked Sen. Chuck Schumer on CNN. “I think that the differences between -- among Democrats are small compared to the huge chasm of Republicans,” Schumer said. LINK, LINK, LINK An American Agenda “We need to put the unemployed back to work, to raise wages and make certain that all Americans have the health care and education they need for healthy and productive lives,” Sen. Sanders wrote in a column published Monday in the Des Moines Register. LINK Bernie’s Bigger Platform Sen. Sanders has long voiced frustration over income inequality and tax cuts for the wealthy. Next Congress, he’ll have a bigger platform for airing those criticisms. The Senate Democratic Steering Committee on Friday tapped Sanders, a Vermont independent, to become the top-ranking minority member of the Senate Budget Committee, the Burlington Free Press reported in the cover story of Monday’s newspaper. Sanders’ elevation to the ranking position on the Budget Committee also was noted in the Rutland Herald and Times Argus. LINK, LINK, LINK Senate Progressives “The power of (Elizabeth) Warren and likeminded senators seems only to be growing. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made her a member of leadership. In the next Senate, the top Democrat on the Banking Committee will be liberal leader Sen. Sherrod Brown. The top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee will be Bernie Sanders,” The Washington Post reported. LINK World Sydney Cafe Siege An armed gunman is holding some 30 hostages in a cafe in central Sydney. Five captives fled from the café where two people were seen holding up a flag containing an Islamic declaration of faith. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the incident was politically motivated but he avoided pointing blame at any group, CBS News reported. LINK National In Final Spending Bill, Salty Food and Belching Cows Are Winners Health insurance companies preserved their tax breaks. Farmers and ranchers were spared having to report on pollution from manure. Tourist destinations like Las Vegas benefited from a travel promotion program. Also buried in the giant spending bill that cleared the Senate on Saturday and is headed to President Obama for his signature were provisions that prohibit the federal government from requiring less salt in school lunches and allow schools to obtain exemptions from whole-grain requirements for pasta and tortillas, The New York Times reported. LINK Protest Leaders Vow to Keep Pressing for Change Organizers and participants in nationwide weekend protests of police treatment of minorities say the movement is evolving to include more lobbying for legislative and political change. Demonstrations drew thousands, and at times tens of thousands, of participants in New York, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, the San Francisco Bay Area and San Antonio, among other cities, on Saturday, The Wall Street Journal reported. LINK Vermont Ashe: Slow Down on Single Payer Gov. Peter Shumlin will unveil his single-payer financing proposal later this month, but a powerful state senator says the Legislature might want to spend less time this year talking about how Vermont pays for health insurance, and focus instead on making sure everyone is getting it. Few people in the Legislature will have more influence over the health care debate in than Sen. Tim Ashe. The Chittenden County Democrat not only chairs the committee that handles tax matters for the Senate, he’s also the Senate President’s most trusted advisor on health care reform matters, Vermont Public Radio reported. LINK | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |