Senator Sanders

Robin Hood in Reverse Sen. Bernie Sanders told MSNBC’s Ed Schultz on Tuesday that he would oppose a deal that would permanently extend tax breaks for big corporations without extending benefits for working families. “This is just another example of the Republicans having their priorities exactly wrong,” Sanders said. “We take from the poor and we give to the rich – that is the Republican philosophy.” VIDEO

Agenda for America Americans must choose between policies that brought a 40-year decline of the middle class and a progressive economic agenda that creates jobs, raises wages, protects the environment and provides health care for all, Sen. Sanders wrote for Daily Kos. Sanders “is giving everyone a pretty good idea of what his major campaign issues would be if he does seek the White House,” according to a Brattleboro Reformer editorial. Wonkette called the plan "so crazy it just might work." LINK, LINK, LINK

Treasury Nominee More than 100,000 progressive voters are urging the Senate to reject President Barack Obama's choice of Antonio Weiss, a former Wall Street banker, to fill a key Treasury Department post. Sen. Sanders said he will vote against Weiss, The Boston Globe, The Huffington Post and Politico reported. Bloomberg said Weiss won the backing of Sen. Orrin Hatch, the Republican who will chair the Senate Finance Committee. LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK 

Senate Approves Ambassadors The Senate approved President Oabam's nominees to be U.S. ambassador to Argentina and Hungary. Sen. Sanders voted for both, National Review Online reported.  LINK  

Postal Service Cuts A bipartisan group of senators joined Sen. Sanders in calling for a delay in next year's scheduled closings of 82 Postal Service mail processing centers, the News Tribune of Jefferson City, Missouri, and Wheeler News Service of Wisconsin reported. LINK, LINK  

FairPoint Investigation Some 100 emergency 911 calls did not go through during a six-hour outage of FairPoint Communications services in Vermont last Friday, VTDigger said. More than 1,700 union members are on strike against FairPoint. “The best way for FairPoint to improve its customer service right now is to agree to a contract that is fair to the workers so they can return to their jobs and provide quality service for Vermonters,” said Sen. Sanders. He suggested the issues are related to a 42-day strike by FairPoint workers and urged the company to return to the bargaining table and work out a deal, the Bennington Banner reported. LINK  

White House ’16, Poll Sen. Sanders garnered 5 percent of support in a national poll of potential Democratic presidential candidates, CNN, Talking Points Memo, National Journal, and local CBS affiliates across the country reported. VIDEO, VIDEO, LINK, LINK, LINK, VIDEO, VIDEO, VIDEO

White House ’16, Dean on Sanders Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean was interviewed on MSNBC about Sen. Sanders. “I'll tell you one thing about an insurgency from him, he's going to put some issues on the table that have to be talked about by everybody, and it's mostly going to be the issue of the 90 percent of the public is not getting ahead of the expense, I mean, because of the 10 percent who are. And that's a big issue, and that's going to be a major issue in the race. I think it's great if he gets in. He also runs clean campaigns. He's a relentless campaigner. I don't think I've seen a negative ad that he's run.” VIDEO

White House ’16, Dean on Clinton Asked by Lawrence O’Donnell about a Clinton-Sanders debate, Dean said, “it would actually be very, very interesting because they're both very, very bright. Bernie's been on the same message for 35 years. But in a sense, that time has come for that message. So, I think it would be a fun primary. I don't, I think Hillary would win, but I think it would be a fun primary, and I think it would be an important primary because of the issues that he's going to raise are really important.” VIDEO

White House ’16, Pundits Anne Gearan of The Washington Post said Sanders could represent "the antiwar left still bitter with (Hillary) Clinton over the war in Iraq." Democratic advisor Doug Schoen told Fox News "politics abhors a vacuum" and “right now we're seeing if Elizabeth Warren, Jim Webb [or] Bernie Sanders becomes a credible candidate." Columnist John Podhoretz in the New York Post said neither Sanders nor Webb “is a remotely serious rival” to Clinton., LINK, LINK, VIDEO

White House ’16, Gifts A Bernie Sanders wall clock, skateboard and pillow are among presidential paraphernalia for sale, according to National Journal. LINK 

World

Iran Bombs ISIS in Iraq Iranian officials have reportedly sent in F-4 Phantom fighter jets to bomb ISIS targets in Iraq’s Diyala province, according to a U.S. defense official. The strikes weren’t coordinated with the U.S. effort to quash the Islamist militants, The Guardian reported. LINK

Iraqi Kurds In a far-reaching deal that helps reunite Iraq in the face of a bitter war with Islamic extremists, the central government agreed on Tuesday to a long-term pact with the autonomous Kurdish region to share the country’s oil wealth and military resources, The New York Times reported. LINK

Lebanon Detains Islamis State Leader's Family Lebanese authorities detained a woman and young boy believed to be the wife and son of the reclusive Islamic State group leader, senior Lebanese officials told The Associated Press. LINK

National

Republicans Divided Congressional Republicans, who remain deeply divided over how to respond to President Obama’s overhaul of the nation’s immigration system. The latest evidence came Tuesday as House Speaker John A. Boehner unveiled plans to avoid another government shutdown while also allowing furious Republicans a chance to publicly repudiate Obama for acting on his own, The Washington Post reported. LINK

Defense Nominee President Obama has settled on Ashton B. Carter to be the next defense secretary, senior administration officials said on Tuesday, but is not prepared to announce the move because the White House has not completed its vetting of him, The New York Times reported. LINK

Renewed Push for Military Sexual Assaults Bill Several senators on Tuesday pushed for Congress to take a second look at strengthening protections for victims of sexual assault in the military, saying previous reforms had not reversed the rising rates of assaults, The New York Times reported. LINK

McConnell: Revisit Health Policy Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who will lead the chamber starting in January, told Reuters that if the Supreme Court strikes down a subsidy provision of the Affordable Care Act next year, the Senate could revisit "very large comprehensive" health care reform under his new majority. LINK

Vermont

Single Payer Push Health reform advocates say November's election results should not stop the state from pursuing single-payer health care. Groups like the state's teachers union and state employees association laid out their arguments at a news conference Tuesday morning, WCAX-TV reported. LINK

Burlington Studies Fossil Fuel Divestment Burlington will study the possibility of divesting city funds, including pension investments, from major fossil fuel companies in an effort to respond to climate change, the Burlington Free Press reported. LINK

Heating Prices Down The price of heating fuel is dropping across New England, providing a reprieve to the part of the country that is the most dependent on home heating oil, The Associated Press said.  LINK

Leahy Food Grant A $100,000 federal grant is being used to promote efforts in Vermont to ensure food from local farms is served in the state's schools.  Sen. Patrick Leahy says a partnership of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont and Shelburne Farms received the grant Tuesday to support farm-to-school initiatives across the Green Mountain State, AP reported.