#senator sanders

[hezigler]

I asked Bernie Sanders about a Gaza Ceasefire |

Hasan Minhaj

Hasan Minhaj's latestest interview with Bernie Sanders

[originalleftist]

Senator Sanders on aid to Israel.

"this is an unprecedented humanitarian crisis."

"So the issue for us here in America is what do we do? Well, for a start, we must be as loud and clear as we can be that the Netanyahu government will not continue to get the support of the United States of America. Not one nickel more for this horrific and inhumane war. Do Israelis have the right to defend themselves against a terrorist group like Hamas? Yes, they do. But they do not have the right to go to war against the entire Palestinian people and kill large numbers of innocent women and children. Now last week, I and a few of my Senate colleagues forced the very first vote since this war began on holding Israel and Netanyahu accountable. And we did it through a provision in the Foreign Assistance Act called Section 502b. And what that provision did was demand a report from the State Department information us as to exactly what Israel is doing with the large number of weapons that we provide them and whether their military actions are in violation of human rights, international law, and in fact, American law. Now, on that vote, we only received 11 support, 11 supporters, got 11 votes on that resolution. But I can tell you absolutely without equivocation that the tide is turning in our direction."..."And what we did last week, let me be very clear about it, is a start, not an end. We're just beginning to do what has to be done. We are going to continue to work on this issue until we win. And winning means that we make it clear to Netanyahu that this terrible war has got to end, that there needs to be a two state solution in the area."

"Please do everything you can to contact your members of the House and Senate. Let them know that you will not accept the status quo. You will not accept the horrible things that are now taking place in Gaza. U.S. policy on this issue has got to change. We cannot be complicit in the terrible, terrible situation in Gaza where so many innocent people are dying or starving. So there's a lot in front of us. Let's do it. And thank you very much for your efforts."

[reasonsforhope]

Less than three months after U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin and her colleagues launched an investigation into the four major American manufacturers of inhalers, three of the companies have relented, making commitments to cap costs for their inhalers at $35 for patients who now pay much more.

25 million Americans have asthma and 16 million Americans have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), meaning over 40 million Americans rely on inhalers to breathe.

Inhalers have been available since the 1950s, and most of the drugs they use have been on the market for more than 25 years.

According to a statement from the Wisconsin Senator’s office, inhaler manufacturers sell the exact same products at a much lower costs in other countries. One of AstraZeneca’s inhalers, Breztri Aerosphere, costs $645 in the U.S.—but just $49 in the UK. Inhalers made by Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, and Teva have similar disparities.

Baldwin and her Democratic colleagues—New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luján, Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders—pressured the companies to lower their prices by writing letters to GSK, Boehringer Ingelheim, Teva, and AstraZeneca requesting a variety of documents that show why such higher prices are charged in America compared to Europe.

As a ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Baldwin recently announced that as a result of the letters they had secured commitments from three of the four to lower the out-of-pocket costs of inhalers to a fixed $35.00 rate.

“For the millions of Americans who rely on inhalers to breathe, this news is a major step in the right direction as we work to lower costs and hold big drug companies accountable,” said Senator Baldwin.

A full list of the inhalers and associated drugs can be viewed here.

It’s the second time in the last year that pharmaceutical companies were forced to provide reasonable prices—after the cost of insulin was similarly capped successfully at $35 per month thanks to Congressional actions led by the White House.

-via Good News Network, March 25, 2024

[thoughtportal]

This is a crucial bill. Even if the research finds that everything we know about long COVID is wrong, this work has ramifications for Lyme, POTS, ME/CFS, and other postviral diseases, which have long been ignored.

Please write to or call your senators.

[alwaysbewoke]

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

On Wednesday, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington) reintroduced a proposal to make higher education free at public schools for most Americans — and pay for it by taxing Wall Street.

The College for All Act of 2023 would massively change the higher education landscape in the U.S., taking a step toward Sanders’s long-standing goal of making public college free for all. It would make community college and public vocational schools tuition-free for all students, while making any public college and university free for students from single-parent households making less than $125,000 or couples making less than $250,000 — or, the vast majority of families in the U.S.

The bill would increase federal funding to make tuition free for most students at universities that serve non-white groups, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). It would also double the maximum award to Pell Grant recipients at public or nonprofit private colleges from $7,395 to $14,790.

If passed, the lawmakers say their bill would be the biggest expansion of access to higher education since 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Higher Education Act, a bill that would massively increase access to college in the ensuing decades. The proposal would not only increase college access, but also help to tackle the student debt crisis.

“Today, this country tells young people to get the best education they can, and then saddles them for decades with crushing student loan debt. To my mind, that does not make any sense whatsoever,” Sanders said. “In the 21st century, a free public education system that goes from kindergarten through high school is no longer good enough. The time is long overdue to make public colleges and universities tuition-free and debt-free for working families.”

Debt activists expressed support for the bill. “This is the only real solution to the student debt crisis: eliminate tuition and debt by fully funding public colleges and universities,” the Debt Collective wrote on Wednesday. “It’s time for your member of Congress to put up or shut up. Solve the root cause and eliminate tuition and debt.”

These initiatives would be paid for by several new taxes on Wall Street, found in a separate bill reintroduced by Sanders and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California) on Wednesday. The Tax on Wall Street Speculation would enact a 0.5% tax on stock trades, a 0.1% tax on bonds and a 0.005% tax on trades on derivatives and other types of assets.

The tax would primarily affect the most frequent, and often the wealthiest, traders and would be less than a typical fee for pension management for working class investors, the lawmakers say. It would raise up to $220 billion in the first year of enactment, and over $2.4 trillion over a decade. The proposal has the support of dozens of progressive organizations as well as a large swath of economists.

“Let us never forget: Back in 2008, middle class taxpayers bailed out Wall Street speculators whose greed, recklessness and illegal behavior caused millions of Americans to lose their jobs, homes, life savings, and ability to send their kids to college,” said Sanders. “Now that giant financial institutions are back to making record-breaking profits while millions of Americans struggle to pay rent and feed their families, it is Wall Street’s turn to rebuild the middle class by paying a modest financial transactions tax.”

[justjanusthings]

[rebel-girl-queen-of-my-world]

From @theimeu:

BREAKING: For the first time in US history there will be a vote in Congress to block weapons to Israel.

Sending Israel weapons is a violation of US law and opposed by a majority of Americans, who are sick of seeing their tax dollars fund Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians.

Thank you @sensanders, @senjeffmerkley, and @senpeterwelch for taking this historic step.

The weapons included in this $20 billion proposed transfer have been used in apparent war crimes in Gaza. For a detailed breakdown, swipe left.

[readyforevolution]

Bernie Sanders is calling on the U.S. and international community to restore their funding to Palestine’s primary aid agency after more than a dozen countries and the European Union announced that they were suspending funds over the past week.

[spennythespoon]

Georgia Senate race really be like

Edit 12/07/2022: Hell Yeah Warnock won

[vyorei]

It is an entirely reasonable request and genuinely should not be an issue unless one is attempting to conceal something untoward.

[agentfascinateur]

Apply the Leahy Act to Israel, say US senators

"The Leahy Law holds all countries to the same standard, yet it appears that the IDF, by far the largest recipient of US military assistance may be held to a different standard.”

[politijohn]

Source

A huge step to block US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen

[thekeypa]

Sen. Bernie Sanders forced a vote on the resolution, which would have opened the door for Congress to freeze U.S. aid to Israel. The eleven (and Sen. Rand Paul) Senators supported this resolution.

[lactosegremlin]

same.

[frnkiebby]

fucking cutie pie~🎃