Al and Franni took southern Minnesota by storm on Saturday for a “Rebuilding the Middle Class Economy” Tour that took them from Worthington to North Mankato to Preston. Al and Franni split up their route so that they could talk to folks all over southern Minnesota about Al’s plans to create jobs in Minnesota and help our middle class families in these tough economic times.

The Frankens visited a total of 10 cities yesterday to hold campaign meet & greets with local folks from Fairmont to Rochester, and they got a great reception from the people who had come out to hear what Al wants to do to help Minnesota families ­ from middle class tax cuts to new support for small businesses.

From the Owatonna People’s Press:

The VFW room was filled with working class men, women and families who stopped out Saturday afternoon to hear what U.S. Senate Democratic candidate Al Franken had to say.

…

Oscar Sletten said he came Saturday specifically because of labor issues. As a union member, Sletten said he is concerned with how things are going in the economy and why he and the middle class and labor set are struggling, when corporation heads can drive a company into the ground and still walk away millionaires.

…

Franken said he did not support the passed bailout plan, saying it did not address the major problems with the economy: The de-regulation of Wall Street and the Housing Crisis.

“It reminded me of the rush to war. It did not protect the taxpayers, and that is the first priority for me,” Franken said. “Whether for or against it, I think everyone agrees it’s not going to fix the problem.”

From the Mankato Free Press:

“We’re only 17 days away,” said Franken, who was welcomed with a second, but much heartier, applause. “And people have a choice to make.”

…

Championing himself as a defender of the middle class, Franken outlined his approach to the economic crisis, including support for middle-income tax credits and a freeze on home foreclosures.

“We need to get money to the middle class,” Franken said. “Every time our economy works, it works that way.”

Franken said 440,000 Minnesotans are without health insurance, 20,000 people will have their homes foreclosed this year and the state’s unemployment rate has hit a 22-year peak.

The longtime Minnesotan and St. Louis Park native said he wants to create jobs by expanding existing loan programs to small businesses and said he supports a $5,000 student tax credit to help families pay for college.

…

As another move to help the middle class, Franken also said he favors DFL presidential candidate Barack Obama’s plan to freeze foreclosures, a plan that Coleman and Barkley have both questioned in debates.

Or watch TV coverage from Mankato’s KEYC.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 19th, 2008 at 16:23 and is filed under From the Trail, News Clips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.