Al Franken's Blog, page 34

Politico: FCC chair proposes ‘bright-line’ net neutrality rules

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler confirmed Wednesday he’s seeking strong net neutrality rules that regulate broadband service like a utility, matching a vision laid out by President Barack Obama and setting up a high-stakes standoff with the telecom industry and congressional Republicans.

The move, which Wheeler announced in an online op-ed in Wired magazine, is expected to meet heavy resistance from the GOP Congress and Internet-service providers, which warn it will lead to burdensome regulation and hinder investment. AT&T has already said it will challenge such rules in court.

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NYTimes: S.&P. Settlement Leaves Future Unclear for Ratings

It cost $1.37 billion, but Standard & Poor’s has finally appeared to close the darkest chapter in its 150-year history as a rating agency.

Yet that payout announced on Tuesday, which will settle an array of government lawsuits that accused S.&P. of inflating the ratings of subprime mortgage investments, does not represent closure for the broader ratings business. An uncertain future still lies ahead for S.&P. as well as for its main rivals, Moody’s and Fitch.

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Tech Crunch: Senator Al Franken’s Concerns About Uber’s Privacy Policy Linger

U.S. Senator Al Franken today sent another letter to Uber’s Travis Kalanick, probing the embattled CEO to provide more information about the company’s privacy policies.

Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, first contacted Kalanick about the car service’s policies in November. The inquiry came after BuzzFeed reported that an Uber executive suggested the company would intimidate journalists by using personal information collected by the app against them. The senator’s initial inquiry was met with a vague response in December, which he has since characterized as “disappointing.”

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Salon: Al Franken’s massive new target: Why he’s taking on shady credit rating agencies

Last week, some familiar-sounding news rocked the financial world. The Securities and Exchange Commission, along with state attorneys general in New York and Massachusetts, fined the Standard & Poor’s credit rating agency a total of $77 million for rating certain securities deals leniently, in a hidden effort to obtain new business. The SEC banned Standard & Poor’s from rating certain bonds for one year, and filed administrative proceedings against the executive, Barbara Duka, who orchestrated the fraud. S&P may also soon settle a similar case with the Justice Department and a dozen states for as much as $1.5 billion, which equals about a year’s worth of operating profit, over how they fraudulently rated mortgage-backed securities during the housing bubble.

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Politico: The States of Our Union … Are Not All Strong

Last year, Politico Magazine heralded President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address with an appraisal of the state of the states of the union, which we found, contra that favorite presidential declaration, were not all “strong.” Despite the disgruntled response from those states that ended up at the bottom of the list (including a letter to the editor from the governor of Mississippi himself), we decided once again to run the latest data through our highly scientific, incontrovertible ranking process—inspired, after all, by a 1931 H.L. Mencken magazine series delicately called “The Worst American State.”

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The Hill: Franken blasts GOP’s ‘watered-down’ Internet proposal

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) is lashing out against a “watered-down” Republican proposal to enforce rules governing the Internet.

Franken on Thursday criticized the new Republican framework as the work of “big telecom companies and Internet service providers.”

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Duluth News Tribune: Franken seeks solutions to rural health challenges

Older adults living in rural Northeastern Minnesota face health care challenges from a lack of access to resources, shortage of medical staff and isolation in small towns, industry representatives told Sen. Al Franken on Saturday during a listening session in Duluth.

Those challenges — and possible solutions — were laid out at the meeting with Franken, D-Minn., co-chairman of the bipartisan Senate Rural Health Caucus, at the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission

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An Anniversary I Won’t Celebrate

I love anniversaries of many occasions. I love birthdays, which are perhaps the most fun kind of anniversary. And every year Franni and my wedding Anniversary is a really, really big deal. When you’ve been married for 39 years, it certainly oughta be.

But the 5th Anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United is coming up later this month. Corporations, special interest groups, and people like the Koch brothers are probably beside themselves with happiness and preparing their 5 year (wooden?) anniversary gifts (I believe silverware is the modern gift).

But let me tell you — that’s one anniversary I will never, ever celebrate.

Citizens United has taken a place among the worst decisions in the history of the Supreme Court. It created just the kind of opportunity special interest groups and shadowy billionaires had been hoping for – a legal way to funnel tens, even hundreds of millions of dollars into American elections. And in many cases, the actors are completely anonymous.

Consider the numbers. 2008 was the last presidential election year before Citizens United, and outside groups spent about $338 million. In 2012 — the first presidential election of the Citizens United era — outside groups spent a staggering $1.03 billion on elections, and nearly all of that increase came from so-called “independent expenditures.”

The Supreme Court based its decision on the idea that spending by outside groups, including corporations, will not and cannot give rise to corruption — or even to the appearance of corruption. The Court shred decades of established law with that conclusion. And follow-up cases like SpeechNow.org v. FEC and McCutcheon v. FEC have led us even further down the unlimited-corporate-spending rabbit hole.

It’s been five years. In those five years, we’ve seen our elections get nastier, and we’ve watched the American people slide from skepticism of Washington to outright contempt. And I think they have every right to be upset — corporations pour money into politics, and the policy discussion takes a decidedly pro-corporate tilt, while the voices of middle class families are drowned out. If that’s not corruption, or at least the appearance of corruption, then I don’t know what is.

As long as Citizens United remains on the books, any campaign finance reforms will be half-measures. We will be lopping off the leaves of the weed, while its roots sink deeper and deeper.

So how do we get rid of Citizens United? Glad you asked.

We can wait until the Supreme Court overturns the case themselves. Which isn’t likely to happen. So let’s forget that.
Congress can pass legislation or a constitutional amendment to overturn the effects of Citizens United. This is probably the best option, but it’s also going to take a long time to get through. We’re still working on it. But in the meantime –
YOU could remind Congress how hard we’re willing to work to overturn Citizens United. We’ve already got more than 631,600 signatures on our petition. If your name isn’t on there, here’s where you go to add it.

Citizens United has got to go, and we can’t rest until the job’s done. Until then, here’s to hoping that Citizens United doesn’t make it to its candy/iron anniversary.

– Al

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Franken Family Thanksgiving Recipes

Sara Cederberg, Digital Director

If you’re on our email list, you might already be furiously shopping for the ingredients of the Franken Family Thanksgiving recipes Franni shared with us this morning. Did you miss it? We’ve got you covered:

AUNTIE CARLA’S PUMPKIN CORNBREAD

It is impossible to just have one piece. Be sure to make it the night before so you can have some with your Thanksgiving morning coffee.

Ingredients

2 cups cornmeal

2 cups white flour

1 cup sugar

2 tbs. baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

2 1/4 cups pumpkin puree

1 cup milk

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

3. On the first speed of a hand or standing mixer, beat together the eggs, oil, pumpkin puree, and milk.

4. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry in three batches with a rubber spatula. The batter will be smooth, and is more fluffy than liquidy.

5. Pour the batter into a 9 by 13 baking pan (or two loaf pans), and place in the middle rack of the oven.

6. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick stuck in the middle of the cornbread comes out dry.

7. Let the cornbread cool for ten minutes, and then cut into pieces and serve.

THOMASIN’S ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1 in. cubed chunks

3 tbs. unsalted butter, cut into small chunks, plus more for greasing the pan

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 tbs. light brown sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Grease a cookie sheet, and scatter the squash chunks on it.

3. Evenly spread out the chunks of butter among the squash, and sprinkle the cinnamon and brown sugar evenly on the squash.

4. Roast in the oven for about 40 minutes, or until the squash is tender. You can poke the squash with a cake tester, a fork, or a small knife to test.

FRANNI’S PAUL BUNYAN DOUBLE CRUST APPLE PIE

Ingredients

12 medium granny smith apples

1 cup sugar

3 heaping tablespoons flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

Dash of salt

3 tbs butter, softened

¼ cup lemon yogurt

1 tbs milk

1 10” deep dish pie plate

Preparation

1. Core and peel apples. Slice in ½ moons about 1/8” thick.

2. Place in extra large bowl, then, using thin slices, evenly distribute the butter within the apples.

3. Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl and add to apples, evenly coating all apple slices.

4. Roll out one crust and place in pie dish.

5. Combine milk and yogurt. Add to apples slices in bowl so all slices are evenly coated.

6. Spoon apple slices into pie plate in circular layers, building apples to a center mound.

7. Roll out second crust. Place on top of apples, molding crust to the mound.

8. Trim, crimp edges, and cut out vents using a knife or decorative cutter.

9. Lightly brush crust with milk or left over juice from apples.

10. Pie may boil over so place on a tin foil pizza pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour, occasionally checking crust. Serves 14 to 16.

AL’S WILD RICE STUFFING

It’s great alone, but Thomasin loves mixing it up with peas, mashed potatoes, and gravy.

Ingredients

1 lb. Wild rice (Mahnomen)

one stick butter

ten cloves of garlic

3 medium sized yellow onions

4 stalks of celery

2 lbs. White button mushrooms

salt to taste

Preparation

1. In a colander, rinse the wild rice.

2. Put the rice in a pot, and cover with 3 inches of water. Boil in a pot, uncovered, for about 20 to 25 minutes. If you’re using Mahnomen wild rice, it will cook more quickly than the paddy variety.

3. While the rice is boiling, slice (do not mince) the mushrooms, onions, garlic, and celery.

4. Melt the butter in a skillet, and sauté the onions, garlic, and celery until they begin to bleed a little liquid into the butter. Then add the mushrooms. The celery and onions should not be totally soft.

5. Once the rice has cooked, drain it and add to the sautéed vegetables.

6. Add salt to taste, and stuff into the turkey before roasting. The rest can be eaten as a side dish at dinner.

FRANKEN FAMILY POST-THANKSGIVING TURKEY SANDWICH

This is my favorite use of left over turkey.

Ingredients

2 slices of rye bread

1 tsp unsalted whipped butter

turkey breast

2 iceberg lettuce leaves

salt to taste

Preparation

1. Spread unsalted whipped butter on the rye bread.

2. Sprinkle on salt.

3. Place turkey and lettuce on top of one piece of bread, and place the other piece of bread on top.

4. Slice in half and enjoy!

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Did you see: “Sen. Franken Asks Uber’s CEO Tough Questions On User Privacy”

TechCrunch has the scoop on how Al is pressing Uber to provide more transparency on how they use the personal data of subscribers to the service.

Senator Al Franken, Chairman of the Subcommittee On Privacy, Technology, and the Law, has posted a public letter to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick in which he addresses many of the claims made over the past few days that the company has consistently compromised user privacy as a matter of course.

“I am especially troubled because there appears to be evidence of practices inconsistent with the policy [Uber spokesperson] Ms. Hourajian articulated. It has been reported that a tool known as ‘God view’ is ‘widely available to most Uber corporate employees’ and allows employees to track the location of Uber customers who have requested car service. In at least one incident, a corporate employee reportedly admitted to using the tool to track a journalist. The journalist’s permission had not been requested, and the circumstances of the tracking do not suggest any legitimate business purpose. Indeed, it appears that on prior occasions your company has condoned use of customers’ data for questionable purposes,” wrote Senator Franken.

Franken went on to ask eight questions, which will probably be answered on the Senate floor in the coming weeks. “Your policies suggest that customers’ personal information and usage information, including geolocation data, is maintained indefinitely — indeed even after an account is terminated. Why? What limits are you considering imposing? In particular, when an account is terminated, why isn’t this information deleted as soon as pending chmges or other transactional disputes are resolved?” he asked. “Where in your privacy policy do you address the ‘limited set of legitimate business uses’ that may justify employees’ access to riders’ and drivers’ data, including sensitive geolocation data?”

Read the full article >>

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