Al spent this past weekend campaigning with Congressman Keith Ellison around Minneapolis. Their weekend included the Urban League Family Day parade, visits to local shopping malls to talk to members of the Somali community and a news conference where Al unveiled proposals to address the housing crisis.

The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder covered the news conference, where Veronica Ezeka of North Minneapolis told her story of falling behind in mortgage payments as she struggled to balance mortgage payments with raising five kids and caring for her elderly father. After living in her North Minnepolis home for almost 15 years, her home was set for foreclosure this week.

From the Spokesman-Recorder’s story:

Ezeka and Jackson are just two more names on a growing list of working- and middle-class homeowners hit hard by the current housing crisis.

Franken pointed out, “Not only people losing their homes are affected ? the rising tide of foreclosures is driving down the value of virtually every home in Minnesota. This doesn’t [just] affect Jim and Veronica or just North Minneapolis. It is affecting every area of the state and everyone who owns a house, not just the people whose homes are foreclosed.”

…

“Minnesota is in the midst of a housing emergency,” said Franken as he briefly unveiled a housing plan that includes a 120-day moratorium on foreclosures, providing more funding to distressed cities and localities for redeveloping abandoned and foreclosed homes, and cracking down on predatory lenders. “What we are seeing is a downward spiral that I want to stop,” he said.

Al and Congressman Ellison told reporters they were eager to work together in Congress to push forward with legislation to address the housing crisis and work with President Obama.

“He [Obama] is going to need as many Democratic U.S. senators as possible to make sure that his agenda gets through,” candidate Franken said of Obama’s potential presidency. “I know that Keith has worked hard to get bills passed for addressing and alleviating the housing crisis. When I get to Washington, I look forward to standing beside Keith as we take the next step.”

…

Having two Senate Democrats in Congress will be helpful to push forward needed housing and anti-predatory mortgage lending legislation, said Ellison. “We need both houses [of Congress] working together and an administration working for us. Al isn’t just another Democrat, but a dynamic, energetic, charismatic voice that can help rally the public will to real solutions.”

The Star Tribune wrote a piece on Saturday outlining Al’s proposals, and you can check that out here.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 7th, 2008 at 1:23 pm and is filed under From the Trail, News Clips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.