After kicking things off at a rally in St. Louis Park on Monday, Al traveled the state this week to present his economic proposals to help ease the burden on the middle-class and hear from Minnesotans about what they need from Washington.

At a stop in Rochester, local TV station KTTC estimated that about 100 people attended a rally where Al spoke about his proposals. In their story about the event, they also included this part of Al’s speech:

Al Franken says, “Buying a home or starting a small business; saving for a secure retirement. It’s harder to reach for your dreams when it takes both hands to hold everything together.”

From the Rochester Post-Bulletin, which also covered the event:

DFL Senate candidate Al Franken touted his plan for bringing tax relief to middle-class Minnesotans during a campaign stop in Rochester on Wednesday.

Franken, who has made middle-class tax relief a central element of his campaign for U.S. Senate, first unveiled his “kitchen table tax relief” package earlier this week. On Wednesday, Franken spelled out its key elements to a Rochester audience, including new tax credits to cover the cost of child care, expanded family leave options and a new way of saving for retirement.

Franken said that by most economic indicators — health care costs, gas prices, the number of home foreclosures — the American middle class is falling behind. He blamed President Bush and his GOP opponent, Sen. Norm Coleman, for supporting policies that have largely favored the wealthy, while leaving the middle class in an economic hole. He described his own plan as a kind of ladder that would help the middle class climb out of that hole.

In Cambridge, we heard from a retired local farmer about how the downturn in the economy is hurting Minnesota’s small farmers. From the Isanti County News (a photo from the event is on their website):

Franken takes note of local concerns

Traveling across the state this week, U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken paid a visit to Cambridge on Tuesday, July 22, to discuss his new proposals in offering solutions for Minnesota’s middle class. Challenging incumbent Norm Coleman in the November elections, Franken mostly listened and took notes before a small group of various backgrounds at the DFL Offices inside the old courthouse on 2nd Avenue SW. Sitting next to Franken is local resident Karen Strike – a retired dairy farmer with her husband – who said the small farmer is especially facing economic hardships and can never seem to get ahead in life.

In St. Cloud, local residents shared their concern that people do not have the opportunities that we used to have in America. From the St. Cloud Times:

A group of about a dozen anxious St. Cloud-area residents sympathetic to the DFLer’s candidacy to unseat U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., chatted with Franken in a downtown art gallery about gas prices, the lending crisis, spiraling health care costs and the perception that the American Dream is moving out of sight for more people.

“The opportunities are not there, for education, for retirement, for affording to start a new family,” said Gerri Gustafson, a retired teacher and St. Cloud resident.

…

The retirement plan would be funded by eliminating an existing income tax deduction for Individual Retirement Accounts for people who participate in the new program, which would be voluntary, Franken said.

“Tax deductions help people who make the most money, but they don’t help those who don’t make enough to pay income taxes to begin with,” he said. “I think Social Security will still be around years from now if we don’t privatize it, but we need something else to help people save for their retirement.”

This entry was posted on Friday, July 25th, 2008 at 1:19 pm and is filed under From the Trail, News Clips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.