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COLEMAN FOR U.S. SENATE PRESS RELEASE: “TRAILING IN THE POLLS, FRANKEN LAUNCHES ATTACK-O-RAMA”

By Michael B. Brodkorb | July 21, 2008

St. Paul – As Al Franken seeks to revive his faltering campaign with a new round of attacks on Senator Norm Coleman this week, the Coleman for Senate campaign today issued the following statement highlighting Franken’s attacks and providing Minnesotans an accurate review of the record of Norm Coleman and Al Franken when it comes to working families.

“It is clear that Al Franken’s campaign is in trouble as Minnesotans increasingly reject his 30-year record of vulgar jokes, failure to pay taxes, partisan personal attacks and belittling the needs of working families,” said Cullen Sheehan, campaign manager.  “In response, Al Franken has now gone into full-on attack mode – beginning with his new attack ad that relies on half-truths and distortion about both Franken’s record, as well as Senator Coleman. Franken’s unbridled support for higher state gas taxes, his criticism of tax rebates for working families in the economic stimulus package and his failure to pay his own worker’s compensation  premiums show his disregard for the middle class. Norm Coleman’s long record of supporting working families on issues like tax relief, energy independence, increasing Pell Grant funding, increasing the minimum wage and helping Minnesotans keep their homes during the housing crunch shows a clear difference from Franken’s out-of-touch philosophy.”

Al Franken: Wrong for Minnesota’s Middle Class:

Franken Supports Higher Gas Taxes:

Franken:  “And I think certainly in this state we need to increase the gas tax. We haven’t had an increase in the gas tax in 20 years. And I’m in favor of at least a five to ten cent tax increase. And the fluctuation of gas prices is that everyday anyway. I don’t think people would notice it so much.” (TwinWest Chamber Candidate Forum, October 5, 2007)

Reporter: “So, you’re taking it off the table, is it off the table forever if you’re elected for six years, twelve years? You’re no longer ever going to support a gas tax? Or, if the price of gas drops –” Franken: “If the price of gas drops precipitously, I would put it, it’ll jump right back on the table as something that I would consider.” (Al Franken, Capitol Press Conference, July 2, 2008)

Franken Opposed The Much Needed Tax Rebate Designed To Help The Middle Class:

“The Democrat [Franken], who is vying for his party’s June endorsement, also said that he was ‘not thrilled’ with this year’s economic stimulus package, which offered taxpayers’ refunds and is not sure how he would have voted on it were he in the Senate.  (Rachel Stassen-Berger, “Franken’s Campaign Tour to Focus on Middle Class,” Pioneer Press, April 14, 2008)

Franken Didn’t Pay Worker’s Compensation or Disability Insurance:

“DFL Senate candidate Al Franken owes a $25,000 penalty to the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board for failing to carry workers’ compensation insurance for employees of his namesake corporation from 2002 to 2005, state officials said. New York officials have made numerous attempts to contact Franken about the matter since April 2005 but have gotten no reply.”  (Kevin Duchschere, “Franken faces penalties for lack of workers’ insurance,” Star Tribune, March 5, 2008)

“Franken has been tidying up a little mess of his own. Word came Tuesday that he has paid an additional $832 in penalties to New York state for failing to provide disability benefits for employees of his private corporation. Earlier, Franken was found to owe a $25,000 penalty for failing to provide workers’ compensation to employees of Alan Franken Inc. for two years. On Tuesday, Minnesota Republican Party officials released documents showing Franken quietly paid the additional $832 in fines related to disability coverage earlier this month.”     (Patricia Lopez, “At rally, Franken outlines objectives,” Star Tribune, March 26, 2008)

Franken Referred to Rural Hospital, Additional Middle-Class Issues as “Small-Bore Stuff”:“As Franken in his stops Monday…the Coleman campaign put out a list of some of the Republican senator’s accomplishments for northern Minnesota

·     Coleman pushed the Veterans Administration to establish an outpatient clinic in Bemidji to expand outreach and accessibility to northern Minnesota veterans.

·     He worked to delay State Department rules to require a passport for travel across the northern border, mitigating a backlog of requests for passports, and pushing the State Department to develop less expensive passport cards.

·     Coleman fought to restore $2 million cut from Chippewa National Forest and Superior National Forest budgets, under funding implementation of their forest management plans, an effort crucial to the economies of northern communities.

·     Worked to bring clean coal technology to the Iron Range with funding for Mesaba Energy, a clean-coal power plant proposed on the Range

·     Sought a waiver from federal rules siting rural hospitals to allow a critical access hospital at Walker.

‘That’s great,’ Franken said of the latter. ‘This is very small-bore stuff he’s talking about, his accomplishments.’”  (Brad Swenson, “Campaign 2008: Franken defines his agenda, Bemidji Pioneer, June 11th, 2008)

Senator Norm Coleman: Working for Minnesota Families

Strong supporter of providing AMT relief for middle class families, including his recent work to get AMT relief included in the Democrat Tax Extender package pending in the Senate;

·     Voted for the 2003 tax cuts that included middle-class tax relief and an increase in the child tax credit and supports making them permanent to put more money where it belongs – in the pockets of American taxpayers;

·     Voted for the economic stimulus package to give hardworking American families rebate checks;

·         Supports critical housing relief to address the current housing situation negatively impacting families across the country;

·         Strong supporter of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to provide critical assistance for families to meet the expensive demand of heating their home

·         Long-time supporter of increasing the minimum wage, Norm voted 10 times to raise the minimum wage, which was successfully passed;

·         Working to enact real reforms to our health care system to ensure that all Americans have access to quality, affordable healthcare;

·         Working to make higher education more affordable, including working with his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to increase college Pell Grant funding, supporting the College Cost Reduction and Access Act which included a bipartisan initiative authored by Norm, and authoring bipartisan legislation aimed at addressing the high cost of college textbooks;

·         Continuing to be a leader on reducing our dependence on foreign oil to reduce the high cost of gas and oil, including supporting expanded drilling and domestic production, and expanding renewable energy sources.

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