Al Franken's Blog, page 128

WXOW: Retaliation for reporting vet abuse investigated

HASTINGS, Minn. (AP) – Two top administrators at the Minnesota Veterans Home in Hastings are on paid leave pending the outcome of an investigation into reports of retaliation against patients who complained about care.

There are 170 veterans who live at the home and receive medical care and rehabilitation therapy.

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The Hill: 2010 Manufacturing Summit

Tuesday morning brought Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), newly appointed ambassador from Switzerland Manuel Sager and others to the 2010 Manufacturing Summit. This year, the summit talked about green collar jobs and apprenticeship.

Speakers, including Sen. Franken, spoke about the demand for green technology and how it is driving up the demand for skilled labor and industry. The new shift is a benefit, those who spoke at the summit believed.

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Fox 9: Veterans Home Investigated for Retaliation

HASTINGS, Minn. – A veterans home in Hastings is now under investigation for retaliating against its residents. The state of Minnesota is suspending the top administrator of the veterans home and two other people.

On Friday, Sen. Al Franken weighed in.

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Fox 9: Retaliation Alleged at Hastings Veterans Home

HASTINGS, Minn. – FOX 9 has learned the top administrator and the director of nursing at the Minnesota Veterans Home in Hastings are on paid administrative leave while the state Department of Veterans Affairs investigates allegations of retaliation against patients.

Problems at the Veterans Home in Hastings were first revealed this summer by a survey conducted by the Inspector General for Veterans Affairs. That investigation was initiated by a complaint to Senator Al Franken's office.

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The New Republic: Franken Sense

In July 2009, after a cliff-hanger of an election and an ugly court battle over the results, Al Franken finally arrived in the United States Senate. Eager to lay the groundwork for legislative accomplishments, the author of Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot looked for common ground with his new GOP colleagues. In the case of Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican, that common ground was music. In addition to his senatorial career, Hatch is a prolific songwriter—he has written odes to John McCain, America, Hanukkah, and Princess Diana, among other subjects—and so Franken approached him and asked to hear a few tunes. Hatch played a recording of a song called "Headed Home," which was written before his close friend Ted Kennedy died and had a metaphor about sailing into the ocean. "It was obvious what that was about, and I began to tear up a bit," Franken told me. Then Hatch played a sad song in which an American wife entreats her husband, a soldier in Kandahar, to "Come Home." "The waterworks started," Franken recalled. "I'm a crier."

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MinnPost: Sen. Al Franken's remarks at Mental Health Education Project's 10th-year celebration

Franni and I want to thank all of you for all you do to improve the lives of Minnesotans with substance abuse and mental health issues and the lives of their families.

The Mental Health Education Project has been building bridges in our communities for ten years, strengthening mental health and substance abuse services in our state. And the Barbara Schneider Foundation, under Mark [Anderson]'s leadership, has been a pioneer in educating law enforcement about mental health so they can respond appropriately and avoid tragedies like Barbara's death. The work you do saves lives. You are the real champions here, and I'm proud to be a strong voice for you in Washington.

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MN Daily: Franken, Ellison talk election results

After two consecutive "wave" elections handed Democrats the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House in 2006 and 2008, the wave crested and rolled back Nov. 2, 2010.

Republicans took the House by gaining 61 seats, including Minnesota's 8th District, which had belonged to Democrat Jim Oberstar for 36 years.

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MinnPost: Better to laugh than cry

Paul Wellstone used to (half) joke that he represented "the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party," by which I took him to mean he was one of those relatively rare liberals who wasn't embarrassed by his liberalism. (During the 1996 Wellstone-Boschwitz rematch campaign, Boschwitz hired an adman whose specialty was pinning the L-word on his Dem targets. The ads against Wellstone said things like "liberal, liberal, liberal" and "embarrassingly liberal."

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Fox 9: Franken: 'Election is Over, Time to Get to Work'

MINNEAPOLIS – Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) issued the following statement in reaction to last night's election results:

"The election is over. I look forward to working with Senator Amy Klobuchar and Minnesota's House delegation to work for the people of our great state.

"We have great challenges before us. First and foremost, building on the progress we've made since President Obama inherited an economy that was losing 750,000 jobs a month. Now our economy is creating jobs, though not at anywhere near the pace we need. And I know that families are still hurting.

"Our first priority must be strengthening our economy and putting people back to work, and doing that as we make investments in our future prosperity.

"That means improving our children's education. Minnesota has been slipping from its leadership position in comparison to other states and we must bring back the Minnesota Miracle. And I know that America has slipped badly in comparison to other nations. As a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to ensure that our kids will be able to compete in a global economy.

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Winona Daily News: Close election no joke: Franken urges Democrats to vote

U.S. Sen. Al Franken knows a thing or two about elections coming down to the wire, he told a crowd of DFL supporters Friday in Winona. "I'm the poster boy of close elections," he said, referring to the 2008 race he won by just more than 300 votes.

That knowledge had the freshman senator exhorting a group of enthusiastic backers to put in the extra effort before Tuesday's election.

"I want you on the phones, and I want you knocking on doors," he said. He told supporters jokingly to ignore their families for the next four days – at least the family members who could fend for themselves – and campaign for DFLers. "You don't want to wake up on Nov. 3 and think, If I'd only knocked on one more door …"

The urging drew applause and cheers from more than 120 people jammed into a side room and spilling into the hallway at Winona State University's Kryzsko Commons, the last of three stops at colleges Friday by Franken and U.S. Rep. Tim Walz.

They were joined in Winona by Rep. Gene Pelowski, Sen. Sharon Erickson Ropes, former gubernatorial candidate and Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak and Eric Dayton, son of DFL gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton.

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