Al Franken in 2008 MN Senate Debates

On Budget & Economy: Opposed $700B rescue package; it only helps Wall Street

Franken repeatedly returned to his theme of wanting to be a middle-class champion in Washington. He repeated that he would have voted against the $700 billion economic rescue package because he thinks it will hurt average taxpayers to help Wall Street. He said he likes Barack Obama’s proposal to place moratoriums on home foreclosures. Source: 2008 MN Senate Debate reported in Star Tribune Oct 17, 2008

On Education: $5,000 tax credit to help people pay for college

Franken called for a $5,000 tax credit to help people pay for college.

“Why not a $10,000 tax credit? Why not $20,000?” asked Barkley. “Who’s going to pay for this? We’re broke. I’m not going to pander to people.”

Franken responded that the money spent would be equal to just a few weeks of the Iraq war and could be financed by reducing tax breaks for millionaires.

Source: 2008 MN Senate Debate reported in Star Tribune Oct 17, 2008

On Energy & Oil: Tax credits for wind-power, not for oil companies

The candidates also agreed that the country must work toward energy independence, with Coleman citing wind-power tax credits and other initiatives he helped pass in Congress, and Franken and Barkley criticizing him for voting for a bill that included tax credits for oil companies.

Turning to Coleman, Franken said: “There was no reason to do that to get wind credits unless you had senators who took money from big oil companies.”

Source: 2008 MN Senate Debate reported in Star Tribune Oct 17, 2008

On War & Peace: Astounded anyone would still believe Iraq war is good idea

On the war, Franken said he was “astounded” that Coleman “still believes [going to war in Iraq] was a good idea.”

Coleman responded: “I will not tell the parents of any kid who has died in Iraq that their son died because of a mistake. I simply will not do that.” He said the surge in Iraq succeeded in allowing “the forces of moderation to triumph over extremism,” and that “failure isn’t an option” in the continued battle against terrorism.

Source: 2008 MN Senate Debate reported in Star Tribune Oct 17, 2008

On War & Peace: Build schools in Afghanistan to keep them from Al-Qaida

The candidates agreed that the United States must continue to fight the conditions in Afghanistan and elsewhere that breed terrorism. “You want to get it to the point where it’s tamped down, where it’s not always harming us,” Franken said. Barkley called for fighting it more by “building schools, not bombs,” to keep the country from turning toward Al-Qaida. Source: 2008 MN Senate Debate reported in Star Tribune Oct 17, 2008

The above quotations are from 2008 Minnesota Senate Debates: Coleman, Franken, & Barkley. Click here for other excerpts from 2008 Minnesota Senate Debates: Coleman, Franken, & Barkley. Click here for other excerpts by Al Franken. Click here for a profile of Al Franken.
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Page last updated: Dec 01, 2018