Al Franken in 2014 MN Senate debate

On Budget & Economy: Economy is "top down" and "rigged" in favor of the wealthy

Economy: Franken said the economy is "top down" and "rigged" in favor of the wealthy. He said he has been focusing on getting young people trained to fill available jobs. He said students should be able to refinance their student loans and called for an increase to the minimum wage.

McFadden said that under Obama and Franken, the U.S. has had the slowest rebound from a recession in its history and the federal debt has soared. He said he has a plan to get the economy back on track, consisting of three "E's"--energy and mining, education and effective government.

On Homeland Security: Worked since 2009 on fighting ISIS recruitment in Minn

Franken counters that he's been on top of the issue for years: "In 2009, we knew that Shabab in Somalia was beginning to recruit from our communities. The first days I was in office I went to the FBI and got a briefing," he said during a debate last week "I have worked with law enforcement. I pressed the secretary of Homeland Security. I pressed the director of the FBI in [Senate Judiciary Committee] hearings on this recruitment."

It is estimated that anywhere between 20 and 40 Minnesotans recruited from the state's sizable Somalian emigre population have left the U.S. and joined the Al Shabab terror network since 2008, and another 10 or 12 have joined ISIS.

On Technology: Apply oil subsidies to upgrade transportation infrastructure

Transportation: Franken said he would free up money to upgrade transportation infrastructure by ending subsidies for oil and gas companies and reducing spending on upgrading our nuclear weapons arsenal.

McFadden said the money would have to come from general revenues as part of an overhaul of the tax code.

On Energy & Oil: Delay Keystone pipeline; but if built, use American steel

Franken acknowledged that he voted "to not circumvent the regulatory process," but said he also voted for a proposal that would ensure that the Keystone pipeline, if it's built, would be done with American steel, seizing on a comment by McFadden over the summer that he would opt for Chinese steel if that saved taxpayer money.

Said Franken: "Those are Minnesota jobs. I fight for Minnesota jobs. Maybe that's the difference between me and Mr. McFadden. Maybe he sees profits over people."

On Environment: Ok the PolyMet copper mine only after 9-year review

McFadden called the project a prime example of government overreach and accused Franken of having been "Washington-ized" for believing 9 years of study was reasonable. "The fact that this has taken nine years and over $200 million in regulatory review is not acceptable," McFadden said. "It is crazy."

On War & Peace: Supported airstrikes in Syria to fight ISIS

Franken countered that he pressed the FBI and US Justice Department to focus more resources to crack down on terrorist recruitment. Franken said McFadden last year ducked a question on what action to take after Syrian President Bashar Assad was believed to have used chemical weapons on his own people. "He refused to answer because it was a tough call," Franken said. "It is easy to score political points from the bleachers. This is a serious job. You've got to make real choices in real time."

On Environment: Prevent invasive species Asian carp in Great Lakes

Senator Franken supports immediate action to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes, including the possibility of closing the locks in Chicago that could allow passage of the Asian carp into Lake Michigan. He is a cosponsor of the Stop Asian Carp Act (S. 471), which would direct the Army Corps of Engineers to take immediate action to prevent the potential entry of Asian carp into the Great Lakes. He also supports robust funding for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Asian carp management initiative to support strong actions to keep the Asian carp out of Lake Superior.

On Foreign Policy: OpEd: Campaign website devoid of views on foreign policy

When we live in a world where a handful of terrorists could soon send a note with some authenticity to the White House saying, "Surrender today or we will nuke New York," or some other city, shouldn't somebody who wants to be a U.S. senator be thoroughly screened about their views on foreign policy?

Check out the campaign web sites of Franken and McFadden. Look under issues. Neither one has a word to say about foreign policy. Not one.

One would think a gratuitous sentence or two describing their visions for America's role in the world would be merited.

On Corporations: Block merger of biggest & 2nd biggest cable providers

After a failed attempt to block the Comcast-NBC-Universal merger, Franken has emerged as the leading congressional opponent of Comcast's $45 billion bid to take over Time-Warner Cable, a merger that would unite the nation's two biggest cable companies. He was the only lawmaker to explicitly say he wanted the merger blocked.

"We've got the biggest cable provider and biggest Internet provider, in Comcast, buying the 2nd-biggest cable provider and 3rd-largest Internet provider, and I'm very worried that will create a company that's too big," Franken said. "They're going to use their position to leverage higher cable prices and to dictate a lot of things that will make for fewer choices, and their service will be even worse."

On Immigration: Apologize for stripping citizenship for marrying foreigners

In 1907, during the rush of European immigration to the US, Congress stripped citizenship from any American woman who married a foreigner. The little-known Expatriation Act stayed on the books until 1940.

Franken would like the Senate to offer, through legislation, its sympathy and regret for passing a law "antithetical to the core principle that all persons, regardless of gender, race, religion, or ethnicity, are created equal."

Franken's office first learned of this blemish in US history from a constituent who was seeking posthumous citizenship for his grandmother. She lost hers when she married a Swedish man in 1914. Franken couldn't accomplish that, so is seeking an official apology as the next best thing.

The Senate doesn't make a habit of seeking absolution, but this would not be the first time it's formally recognized mistakes from America's past.

On Corporations: Oppo AdWatch: Franken limits free speech issue advocacy

The ad criticizes Franken for calling on the IRS to impose new rules that could limit certain political activity by "social welfare" non-profit groups. The ad features clips of a Civil Rights-era march, Suffragettes and an antiwar protest. It derides efforts by the IRS and Senate Democrats to impose new rules on these nonprofits, citing complaints by the ACLU. "Tell Sen. Franken to stop attacking free speech," the narrator says.

"This is ridiculous--Sen. Franken is one of the most vigorous defenders of free speech in the Senate," said a Franken spokeswoman. But the homepage of Franken's campaign website asks people to sign a petition endorsing a constitutional amendment that would upend the 2010 Supreme Court ruling that gave corporations more leeway to influence elections.

On Welfare & Poverty: Pay in full for school lunches instead of partly subsidizing

Franken on Monday ate lunch with the kindergartners at Meadow Lake Elementary School in Brooklyn Park, to bring attention to the significance of subsidized lunches. Nearly 8 in 10 students at Meadow Lake come from lower-income families who qualify for free or reduced lunches. "Kids who haven't eaten at lunch don't do as well in school. This is wrong," Franken said.

Under the current rules, children from families with incomes below $30,615 for a family of 4 are eligible for free meals; those with incomes below $43,568 for a family of 4 are eligible for reduced-price meals.

Franken is re-introducing legislation, the Expand School Meals Act, to pay the rest of the cost for those students who only qualify for the reduced-price meals. The senator introduced the legislation in 2009 and 2010, but it went nowhere.

On Homeland Security: Let companies reveal how much data NSA has gathered

Documents leaked by now infamous contract employee Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA has been collecting the phone & web records of millions of Americans using secret court orders. "Americans still have no way of knowing whether the government is striking the right balance between privacy & security--or whether their privacy is being violated," Franken said. "There needs to be more transparency."

Google offered support for Franken's legislation, which would lift gag orders on companies & allow them to report information about data requests they get from the government. [An opponent] said that disclosing the requests would give terrorists an advantage; they'd gravitate to companies that receive no requests.