Bernie Sanders was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006 after serving 16 years in the House of Representatives. He is the longest serving independent member of Congress in American history. Born in Brooklyn, Bernie was the younger of two sons in a modest-income family. After graduation from the University of Chicago in 1964, he moved to the Green Mountain State. Early in his career, Sanders was director of the American People’s Historical Society. Elected Mayor of Burlington by 12 votes in 1981, he served four terms. Before his 1990 election as Vermont’s at-large member in Congress, Sanders lectured at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and at Hamilton College in upstate New York.

The Almanac of American Politics has called Sanders a “practical’ and “successful legislator.” He has focused on the shrinking middle class and widening income gap in America that is greater than at any time since the Great Depression. Other priorities include reversing global warming, universal health care, fair trade policies, supporting veterans and preserving family farms. He serves on five Senate committees: Budget; Veterans; Energy; Environment; and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Born: Sept. 8, 1941, New York, N.Y.

Blog Entries by Sen. Bernie Sanders

Where Was the Fed?

1 Comments | Posted December 4, 2009 | 11:48 AM (EST)


The American people overwhelmingly voted last year for a change in our national priorities to put the interests of ordinary people ahead of the greed of Wall Street and the wealthy few. What the American people did not bargain for was another four years for one of the
Read Post

Health Care for All Americans

49 Comments | Posted November 13, 2009 | 09:33 AM (EST)


In my view, the real solution to the problem of how to reform health care in this country is a Medicare-for-all, single-payer system. We are going to try to at least give states the option to go forward and move toward a single-payer system. Whether it’s Vermont or somewhere...
Read Post

Too Big To Fail - Too Big To Exist

187 Comments | Posted November 6, 2009 | 09:41 AM (EST)


Senator Sanders Unfiltered is a weekly web program produced by Brave New Films.

Stay up-to-date with "Unfiltered" on Facebook. Follow Bernie on Twitter.

More than a year has gone by since Congress passed the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street. The Federal Reserve...

Read Post

The Environment and the Economy

98 Comments | Posted October 30, 2009 | 05:24 PM (EST)


Senator Sanders Unfiltered is a weekly web program produced by Brave New Films. Stay up-to-date with "Unfiltered" on Facebook.

Follow Bernie on Twitter.

Good environmental policy is good economic policy. We are not only helping to save the planet in terms...

Read Post

Health Care Reform

121 Comments | Posted October 23, 2009 | 09:46 PM (EST)


Senator Sanders Unfiltered is a weekly web program produced by Brave New Films.

Stay up-to-date with "Unfiltered" on Facebook. Follow Bernie on Twitter.

One of the reasons that I am a strong proponent of a single-payer, Medicare-for-all proposal is that it is much...

Read Post

The Dow and the Down and Out

143 Comments | Posted October 16, 2009 | 09:29 AM (EST)


Track Bernie on Twitter and the "Senator Sanders Unfiltered" weekly webisode on Facebook.

While markets surged past 10,000, the official unemployment rate stood near 10 percent. The United States is in a unique historical position. People on top are doing extraordinarily well, but in the real...

Read Post

War and Peace

65 Comments | Posted October 9, 2009 | 01:54 PM (EST)


Senator Sanders Unfiltered is a weekly web program produced by Brave New Films.

Stay up-to-date with "Unfiltered" on Facebook. Follow Bernie on Twitter.

President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the non-Western...

Read Post

Michael Moore & Me

503 Comments | Posted October 1, 2009 | 09:47 PM (EST)


This week's Senator Sanders Unfiltered features a question from filmmaker Michael Moore. Submit your own video question for next week's show here. "Unfiltered" is produced by Brave New Films.

Stay up-to-date with "Unfiltered" on Facebook. Follow Bernie on Twitter.

Capitalism does...

Read Post

Who Owns Congress?

190 Comments | Posted September 25, 2009 | 01:37 PM (EST)


Over a year ago, we suffered the most significant financial collapse since the Great Depression, and the result of that is massive unemployment and underemployment. People lost their savings. People lost their homes. Now, despite the greed and illegal behavior of Wall Street, there is a massive effort to...

Read Post

Is the Recession Over?

133 Comments | Posted September 18, 2009 | 01:43 PM (EST)


Senator Sanders Unfiltered is my new weekly online show, produced by Brave New Films. Stay up-to-date with the show's Twitter feed, join my Facebook page, or subscribe to my YouTube page. Submit your own video question for next week's show here.


Just...

Read Post

Economic Crisis: One Year Later

189 Comments | Posted September 11, 2009 | 05:32 PM (EST)


I hope you'll watch and participate in my new show, Senator Sanders Unfiltered, produced by Brave New Films. Follow my show on Twitter at SandersShow, join my Facebook page, or subscribe to my YouTube page.

Americans have suffered for a year through the worst economic...

Read Post

A National Dialogue on Afghanistan (Video)

71 Comments | Posted September 3, 2009 | 02:55 PM (EST)


I hope you'll watch and participate in my new show, Senator Sanders Unfiltered, produced by Brave New Films. Follow my show on Twitter at SandersShow, join my Facebook page, or subscribe to my YouTube page.

This week's question via TwitVid comes from...

Read Post

Farewell Senator (VIDEO)

38 Comments | Posted August 27, 2009 | 08:18 PM (EST)


I hope you'll join me for my new show, Senator Sanders Unfiltered, produced by Brave New Films. Follow my show on Twitter at SandersShow, join my Facebook page, or subscribe to my YouTube page.

Ted Kennedy will go down in history as one of the...

Read Post

Health Care Reform 101

40 Comments | Posted August 21, 2009 | 11:33 AM (EST)


At town hall meetings I've hosted in Vermont we proved something that makes us proud. We live in a state where people can have different points of view, yet we can listen to each other and treat each other with respect

In Vermont, there are many others like...

Read Post

Strong Turnout, No Shouting at Vermont Town Meetings on Health Care (VIDEO)

223 Comments | Posted August 16, 2009 | 04:19 PM (EST)


Hundreds of Vermonters -- overwhelmingly in favor of health care reform -- Saturday packed spirited but civil town meetings hosted by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at a public park in Arlington, Vermont and at a church in Rutland. Both sessions were a stark contrast to raucous town-hall-style meetings in...

Read Post

Health Care Town Meetings

432 Comments | Posted August 14, 2009 | 09:11 AM (EST)


For much of America, the all-American values depicted in Norman Rockwell's classic illustrations are idealistic. For those of us from Vermont, they're realistic. That's what we do. When Norman Rockwell lived and worked in Vermont, the people he painted were from here. That town meeting depicted in the painting...

Read Post

Senator Sanders Unfiltered: My New Online Show from Brave New Films

98 Comments | Posted August 10, 2009 | 03:22 PM (EST)


I hope you'll join me for my new show, Senator Sanders Unfiltered, produced by Brave New Films. Follow my show on Twitter at SandersShow, join my Facebook page, or subscribe to my YouTube page.

When I first entered Congress almost 20 years ago, there was...

Read Post

We Need an Energy Revolution

72 Comments | Posted July 23, 2009 | 11:56 AM (EST)


The United States today spends some $400 billion a year importing oil from countries like Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Mexico, Russia, and Venezuela. Think for a moment what an incredible impact that same $400 billion a year could have on our country if that money were invested here and not abroad,...

Read Post

The Health Care Crisis: Letters from Vermont and America

340 Comments | Posted July 8, 2009 | 11:37 AM (EST)


I sent an email to my Senate mailing list requesting support for a single-payer Medicare-for-All system, and for personal stories describing the problems people are having with their health care coverage. Within a few weeks, some 40,000 people signed the single-payer petition and more than 4,000 sent in their...

Read Post

We Must Stop the Rampant Fraud in the Health Care Industry

451 Comments | Posted June 29, 2009 | 03:14 PM (EST)


As a member of the Senate health committee, one of two Senate panels dealing with health care reform, it has become apparent to me that real health care reform must address the billions of dollars in fraud and abuse that comes from the major corporations in the health care industry.

...
Read Post