The Soul of America

Thank you Vermont for electing a Senator like Senator Sanders!

It's disappointing that Americans don't have 99 other Senators like Senator Sanders.

January 17, 2013

We Must Address the Global Warming Crisis Many scientists believe that global warming is the greatest threat facing our planet, negatively impacting the lives of billions of people. Yet Congress is not acting and the media is largely ignoring it. Last year was the hottest on record in the United States. Worldwide, 2012 was among the 10 warmest years on record, the government reported Tuesday. In the U.S. and around the world, we are seeing an unprecedented level of extreme weather disturbances. In Congress, most Republicans believe that global warming is a “hoax,” and few are prepared to take action to cut greenhouse gas emissions. In terms of media, amazingly, all last year there was one six-second mention of global warming on NBC’s Meet the Press, according to Media Matters. ABC’s This Week had the most comprehensive coverage, relatively speaking, with about 5 minutes of global warming discussion. To Bernie, “the scientific data is clear that global warming is real and significantly caused by greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels.” In February, he will introduce the most sweeping global warming legislation in congressional history. “Every day that we delay in addressing this crisis is a day that further endangers our planet. We must act and act now,” Bernie said. Read more about the senator’s proposal » Read the Media Matters study » The Soul of America “Despite such terminology as ‘fiscal cliff’ and ‘debt ceiling,’ the great debate taking place in Washington now has relatively little to do with financial issues. It is all about ideology. It is all about economic winners and losers in American society. It is all about the power of Big Money. It is all about the soul of America,” Bernie wrote in a column for The Huffington Post. Read the column » Watch the Ed Schultz interview » Media Monopolies The Federal Communications Commission could vote any day now to let giant media conglomerates swallow up TV stations, radio stations and newspapers in America’s top-20 media markets. In a Boston Globe column, Bernie laid out the case for why more and more media consolidation hurts democracy. Read the column » Lessons from Europe Families in the United States have struggled to afford adequate child care, especially in households where primary caregivers work outside the home. Are there lessons we can learn from other countries? Bernie asked Heather Gautney, a research fellow in his Senate office and an assistant professor at Fordham University, to take a closer look. Read ‘Lessons from Europe’ »