FRANKEN AND WALZ BRING “FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS, FOR A CHANGE” TOUR TO ROCHESTER, OWATONNA, FARIBAULT, MANKATO

Franken Calls For Fundamental Change In Washington, Details Bold Economic Agenda For Minnesota’s Middle Class Families

10-Day Statewide Tour To Drive Unprecedented GOTV Operation

SAINT PAUL [10/30/08] - DFL U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken and Congressman Tim Walz today rallied supporters in Rochester, Owatonna, Faribault and Mankato on the “For The Middle Class, For A Change” Tour. Sen. Amy Klobuchar joined Franken and Walz for a rally at MSU Mankato.

Franken focused on his bold economic agenda for Minnesota’s middle class families - including his plans to do bring back oversight on Wall Street and address the housing crisis; cut taxes for middle-class families; make health care and college more affordable; protect Social Security; end giveaways to special interests like big drug and oil companies; repeal tax breaks for companies that ship American jobs overseas; create jobs by investing in infrastructure and renewable energy; and make credit available to small businesses.

Al Franken:

“Folks are frustrated, they’re anxious, and, frankly, they’re outraged - and they have a right to be all three. Washington just isn’t working for Minnesota’s middle class families. And if we want change, we’re going to have to work for it. I want to go to Washington and work with President Barack Obama and Senator Amy Klobuchar to stand up for Minnesota’s middle class families. And I’m calling on everyone who’s ready for change to stand with me in this campaign.”

Congressman Tim Walz:

“We’ve got five days to go until we elect Al Franken to the US Senate, put Barack Obama in the White House and get our country back on track. Together, we’re going to rebuild our economy, cut taxes for Minnesota’s middle class families, and move our country towards energy independence.”

At each of today’s stops, Franken urged supporters to take action as part of the DFL’s statewide grassroots Get-Out-The-Vote campaign. 77,000 volunteers will make 1.5 million phone calls and 2.8 million door knocks before Election Day - an operation with a magnitude this state has never seen before.

Today the “For The Middle Class, For A Change” Tour barnstormed across the state, mobilizing supporters in Rochester, Owatonna, Faribault and Mankato.

Tomorrow “For The Middle Class, For A Change” Tour travels to Hibbing, Virginia, Gilbert and Duluth.

Al Franken’s Plan To Rebuild The Middle-Class Economy:
Al Franken believes that we need fundamental change from the policies that have put our economic security at risk. But the best way to emerge from the current economic downturn is by creating and protecting middle-class jobs here in Minnesota.

A Lifeline For Minnesota Small Businesses
Minnesota’s small businesses, which create 4 out of every 5 jobs in our state, are paying the price for the mess on Wall Street. They are finding it harder and harder to obtain the credit they need to cover start-up costs, expand their operations, or hire new employees. To help them, Al Franken will work to unfreeze the credit market.

• Expand the Small Business Administration’s loan guarantee program by $1 billion, and make another $4 billion available for direct loans to small businesses.
• Simplify the loan approval process and eliminate fees for lenders and borrowers, and expand the network of lenders to increase liquidity and help small businesses get better loan rates.

Create Jobs By Investing In Infrastructure
According to the Department of Transportation, each $1 billion invested in transportation development creates over 47,500 jobs and over $1.3 billion in worker income - and up to $6 billion in additional gross domestic product. Right now, there are projects ready to be started - and Minnesotans ready to do this important work.

• Create nearly 150,000 jobs by investing $2 billion to pay for deferred infrastructure repair projects and another $1 billion for capital costs of facilities and equipment needed to improve multi-modal transportation options like the Midwest Regional Rail initiative.

An Apollo Program To Create Green Jobs
Our energy crisis could be a huge opportunity for Minnesota. With an Apollo program for renewable energy and energy efficiency, we can end our dependence on foreign oil, make our nation more secure, improve our environment - and create “green” jobs by making Minnesota the epicenter and the engine of a new energy economy.

• Invest in research and development into new and existing renewable energy technologies: wind, solar, biofuels, carbon sequestration, and more.
• Support Chairman Oberstar’s work to make increased availability and use of rail - light rail, commuter rail, inter-city passenger rail - a reality.
• Work with our entrepreneurs here in Minnesota to support energy-efficient technologies like windows and other “green building” initiatives.

End tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas
We’ve lost over 600,000 jobs in America just this year. Now Minnesota’s unemployment rate is the highest it’s been in 22 years, with 170,000 people unable to find work. Part of the problem is that we’ve seen our tax code changed to encourage companies to ship American jobs overseas. Al Franken will work to reverse that.

• Strip companies of the nearly $40 billion in tax breaks they got to ship American jobs overseas, and use that money to promote domestic manufacturing.
• Support worker re-training programs that help those whose jobs have been lost.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 30th, 2008 at 14:36 and is filed under From the Trail, Press Releases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.