Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) called on Tuesday for an investigation into oil price manipulation. He also proposed a 30-day deadline for federal regulators to use emergency powers to curb excessive speculation in crude oil markets.

“We must do everything that we can to make sure that oil and gasoline prices are transparent and free from fraud, manipulation, abuse and excessive speculation,” said Sanders, a member of the Senate energy committee.

Over the past five months, the national average price for a gallon of gasoline has gone up by more than 41 cents. The price hikes come at a time when U.S. oil inventories reached a three-decade high while demand for gasoline is lower than four years ago when prices averaged less than $2.30 a gallon.

Sanders spoke about rapidly rising gas prices during a Senate floor speech on two amendments he proposed to the farm bill.

“The skyrocketing cost of gasoline and oil is causing tremendous hardship to the American consumer, small businesses, truckers, airlines and fuel dealers. In fact, as we struggle to claw our way out of this terrible recession, high oil and gas prices are enormously detrimental to the entire economic recovery process,” Sanders said.

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Washington State:

Thousands of people marched about 2 1/2 miles from the Central District toward Seattle's downtown Jackson Federal Building on Wednesday after a May Day rally supporting immigrant rights and labor.

Many carried signs, with messages such as "We are America," and "There are no illegal humans." One sign suggested forgetting about marijuana and instead asking the United States to "Legalize my mom," a reference to Washington's recent legalization of marijuana.

The crowd chanted "Si se peude," Spanish for "Yes, we can," and a rallying cry for the United Farm Workers. Many wore bright purple, red or orange shirts, identifying them with their unions.

Also in Seattle, a May Day protester says a motorcycle cop ran over his bicycle. Also a look at May Day in Olympia, Washington.

It's May Day in Berlin! Hundreds of thousands of people were on the streets of Berlin all day on Wednesday, celebrating May Day. There were no cars, no traffic, no people at work, only people dancing, kissing, drinking and enjoying life. At least until the May Day march entered the banking district...

Clashes took place in Berlin during May Day protests. Part of the demonstrators broke the glass of Sparkasse Bank in central Berlin. Earlier on masked youth through bottles and other objects towards police vans and police officers. As a result the police came closer to the protest and accompanied them until the march ended.

Vermont:

Over 1500 people from across the state of Vermont came together on this day in historic show of unity, to say that the people of Vermont want a state that "PUT PEOPLE FIRST."

Dozens of organizations and communities united to hold the annual May Day march and a day of action in front of the State House.

Some of the sights and sounds of May Day 2013 at Union Square Park in NYC, just a fun day in the sun celebrating workers, unions...

Turkey: Clashes have erupted in Istanbul as 20,000 police attempted to cordon off Taksim Square.

Protesters are attempting to defy a government ban on May Day celebrations in the square.

Having allowed labour day gatherings for the last three years, the Turkish authorities did not grant permission due to safety concerns. The central square is undergoing major renovation. All transport to the area was canceled.

Amsterdam: May Day protesters march through the center of Amsterdam.

More video and updates on May Day 2013 to come...

We should thank our lucky stars that we have Bernie Sanders in the Senate. The Senate on Friday evening voted to block cuts in benefits for Social Security and disabled veterans.

The amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) put the Senate on record against changing how cost-of-living increases are calculated in a way that would result in significant cuts.

“The time has come for the Senate to send a very loud and clear message to the American people: We will not balance the budget on the backs of disabled veterans who have lost their arms, their legs and their eyesight defending our country. We will not balance the budget on the backs of the men and women who have already sacrificed for us in Iraq and Afghanistan, nor on the widows who have lost their husbands in Iraq and Afghanistan defending our country,” Sanders said.

The amendment opposed switching from the current method of measuring inflation to a so-called chained consumer price index. President Barack Obama favors a chained CPI as part of what the White House calls a “grand bargain” that Obama hopes to reach with congressional Republicans.

The proposed change would affect more than 3.2 million disabled veterans receiving disability compensation benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans who started receiving VA disability benefits at age 30 would have their benefits reduced by $1,425 at age 45, $2,341 at age 55 and $3,231 at age 65. Benefits for more than 350,000 surviving spouses and children who have lost a loved one in battle also would be cut. Dependency Indemnity Compensation benefits already average less than $17,000 a year.

More than 55 million retirees, widows, orphans and disabled Americans receiving Social Security also would be affected by the switch to a chained CPI. That figure includes 9 million veterans with an average yearly benefit of about $15,500. A veteran with average earnings retiring at age 65 would get nearly a $600 benefit cut at age 75 and a $1,000 cut at age 85. By age 95, when Social Security benefits are probably needed the most, that veteran would face a cut of $1,400 – a reduction of 9.2 percent.

A chained CPI would cut Social Security benefits for average senior citizens who are 65 by more than $650 a year by the time they are 75 years old, and by more than $1,000 once they reach 85.

A Bennington, Vermont math and science teacher is home on administrative leave after being briefly hospitalized for a mental evaluation on the recommendation of police officers last week. Police became concerned after becoming aware of disturbing videos posted to Youtube and Facebook, and calls from concerned neighbors who witnessed the teacher carrying a rifle, a Bushmaster AR-15, to his car. There were also emails sent to some of the other school staff that caused alarm.

The Bushmaster is the same type of rifle that was used in the Newtown, Connecticut shootings, and other recent mass shootings.

The teacher, Steven Davis, willingly handed over his weapon to police along with two high-capacity magazines. During a search of his home, police seized another 500 rounds of ammunition.

Davis' online postings had included angry rants about his job. In one Youtube video, Davis said he had plans for retribution.

"This is all planned and very well thought out," Davis said in another video clip. "I've studied military tactics and this is the way to go. it's all going to hit so hard, so fast and shut that school system down til they get things straight."

Davis' wife said she was unaware that he owned the firearm. Police say that she left the home with the couple's small children, and obtained a restraining order against Davis.

In the most recent Youtube video, recorded from his hospital bed, Davis pleaded, "Is there any way to get a lawyer? For you guys to find me a lawyer right now?"

On Monday, Vermont Senator Sanders appeared on MSNBC's "Politics Nation" to talk with Rev. Al Sharpton about the ongoing budget negotiations.

"Not only is what they are proposing absurd, I think they are crazy politically." said Sanders. "I think when the people understand that they want to maintain tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, whose effective tax rate is very, very low and at the same time they want to balance the budget by cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, I think people all over this country are going to say, you guys are nuts, you're really out of touch with what ordinary americans are thinking and believing." he continued.

A White House spokesman responded to the GOP's fiscal cliff counteroffer late Monday, saying it "does not meet the test of balance." Erskine Bowles of the Simpson-Bowles deficit commission also criticized the offer.

Bill Moyers welcomes to his studio Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who’s been an independent in Congress for 21 years — longer than anyone in American history. Sanders talks about jobs, the state of our economy, health care, and the unprecedented impact of big money on the major political parties.

“What you are looking at is a nation with a grotesquely unequal distribution of wealth and income, tremendous economic power on Wall Street, and now added to all of that is big money interests, the billionaires and corporations now buying elections,” Sanders tells Bill. “I fear very much that if we don’t turn this around, we’re heading toward an oligarchic form of society.”

Full transcript from the show follows below the fold.

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From The Young Turks on August 3rd:

"A Vermont farmer who was arrested last month expressed his displeasure Thursday by driving a heavy tractor over seven police vehicles, authorities said. State police estimated the damage to the Orleans County Sheriff's Department vehicles at about $250,000. No one was hurt..."

Ana Kasparian, Cenk Uygur, and Ben Mankiewicz break it down.

Here's the link to the news article.

Nearly 40 protesters have been arrested in Vermont at the gates of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. Vermont lawmakers have tried to shutter the plant, but it is still in operation after its parent company, Entergy Corporation, won an extension from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and a subsequent court battle. The Vermont Yankee facility is one of the oldest in the country and has had a series of radioactive tritium leaks. On Sunday, anti-nuclear activists approached the Yankee plant with a 600-pound, handmade "Trojan Cow" filled with renewable energy devices. Organizers say they plan to launch a flotilla next month to raise awareness about the plant’s polluting of the Connecticut River.

[Via]

You may have given up or forgotten about it, but some states are already using the health reform law to test their own versions of government-run healthcare.

In 2014, under the federal health overhaul law, millions of Americans will be able to buy coverage through state-based insurance exchanges. In California, government-run public plans, like the Alameda Alliance for Health, will go head-to-head with private insurance companies to compete for all those new customers, and those who run the county plans believe they can offer a robust network of doctors and hospitals to bargain shoppers looking for low-cost coverage.

“I think when some people get to make a choice,” says [Alameda Alliance for Health CEO Ingrid] Lamirault, “having local offices they can walk into and get help with things and get their questions answered, and when they call customer service they get their calls answered in under two minutes. Those kinds of things are important to them.”

Montana is looking at opening up its Medicaid program to public employees and, eventually, to any citizens in the state, although it’s unclear whether the state will receive waiver authority to do so. Oregon is considering a similar approach just as Vermont moves forward on its own plan to go single-payer.

Maybe it's time to check in with your representatives to find out what they're doing to make healthcare affordable fore everyone, and if they aren't doing anything, shame them with these fine examples of progress.

[Washington Post, Image via Flickr]