Al Franken's Blog, page 56

Us against 107 lobbyists

A Comcast acquisition of Time Warner Cable — the first and second largest cable providers in the country—is a terrible, awful, really bad idea for consumers.

So why are there people who support it? Well, because Comcast alone has more than one hundred lobbyists in D.C., convincing people this super-bad idea isn’t really so bad.

They may have a small army of lobbyists – but I’ve got all of you. And with your help, we’re going to get 100,000 signers on our petition opposing this deal by midnight tonight.

Add your name to the petition. Support me in opposing a Comcast/Time Warner Cable deal right now.

Stopping big corporations from doing whatever they want isn’t easy, not with their lobbyists and bottomless PACs — a lesson we learned when Comcast managed to buy NBC despite our hard work to fight back.

But we have to try. And we have to start by organizing, and declaring in one loud voice that this acquisition is bad for consumers and shouldn’t be allowed to take place.

Add your voice right now — sign our petition to get us one step closer to 100,000 signers.

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Fox 9: 10 hotdish recipes from Minnesota’s congressional delegation

Minnesota’s congressional delegation got a taste of home on Wednesday as they put their best food forward for Sen. Al Franken’s annual hotdish competition — even taking a sweet jab at the polar vortex.

“It’s a great day when the Minnesota delegation is able to put our differences aside and enjoy some great hotdishes,” said Sen. Franken. “I want to thank all my colleagues for participating in today’s competition, and a huge congratulations to Tim for his winning Turkey Trot Tater Tot Hotdish. It was delicious.”

Franken started hosting the hotdish competition four years ago as a way for members of the Minnesota delegation to come together to celebrate a culinary tradition.

THE WINNER

Once more, Rep. Tim Walz took home the top prize after a blind taste test for his “Turkey Trot Tater-Tot Hotdish,” a new twist on an old classic that swaps out the traditional beef in favor of leaner poultry.

RECIPE: Turkey Trot Tater-Tot Hotdish

“Thank you to Senator Franken and his staff for putting this annual, bipartisan event on and for allowing us all to share our hotdish recipes. I’m honored that our Turkey Trot Tater Tot Hotdish won this year, making southern Minnesota back-to-back hotdish champions. The good folks in Worthington who celebrate King Turkey Days should know that, at least for today, turkey reigns supreme in Washington as well,” said winner Rep. Tim Walz.

Walz also took home the top prize last year with his “Hermann the German Hotdish.”

FROZEN HOTDISH?

Sen. Amy Klobuchar wanted to serve up a tribute to the brutally cold Minnesota winter, so she decided to take the heat out of her hot dish in favor of a chilly treat.

“This Minnesota winter has been so cold that even my hotdish couldn’t escape the freezing temperatures,” Klobuchar said. “The dish has a virtual polar vortex of flavor that sent a shiver down the spine of the competition and gave the judges goosebumps. While it ultimately got iced out of first place, I want to wish a very warm congratulations to Rep. Walz for his delicious (and hot!) dish.”

RECIPE: ‘It’s So Cold My Hotdish Froze’ Dessert

Klobuchar’s cold dessert dish tied for first runner up.

OTHER RECIPES

Sen. Al Franken’s “Grandma Phoebe’s Sunday Supper” hotdish
Rep. Michele Bachman’s “Polar Vortex-Mex Hotdish”
Rep. Keith Ellison’s “Pride of the 5th” hotdish
Rep. John Kline’s “Morning ‘Hot Chow’ Hotdish”
Rep. Betty McCollum’s “Minnesota Wild Rice and Chicken Hotdish”
Rep. Rick Nolan’s “Ranger’s Hunting Camp Hotdish”
Rep. Erik Paulsen’s “Grandma’s Minnesota Nice Mock Lasagna”
Rep. Collin Peterson’s “Hunter’s Hotdish”

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Dinner with Elizabeth Warren

If you’ve never been to the Humphrey-Mondale Dinner in Minnesota, it’s like Oscar night for Minnesota Democrats. We all get together to celebrate the victories we’ve won and renew our support for the values that unite us.

And while you won’t see tuxedos or paparazzi, we do have one big progressive celebrity coming this year: Senator Elizabeth Warren is giving the keynote address!

Senator Warren is an outspoken voice for consumers, equality, and hard-working middle class families in her home state of Massachusetts and throughout the country. And she’s standing with our campaign because she knows we’ve got a tough race on our hands this year.

Want to be our guest? Just click here to make a contribution, and you’ll be automatically entered for a chance to win a trip to the Humphrey-Mondale Dinner on March 29th!

This prize is about way more than tickets to a dinner. You’d get to meet Elizabeth Warren, take pictures with her (and me!), and hang out with Minnesota’s most passionate Democrats on our big night.

And, as always, we’d pick up the tab for your airfare and accommodations. You can even bring a guest of your choosing.

Click here to contribute, and you’ll be automatically entered for a chance to win!

I always look forward to seeing old friends and new supporters at the Humphrey-Mondale Dinner — and I’m particularly excited about seeing Elizabeth Warren rally us this year.

Hope I see you there, too!

Al

P.S.: This is a really awesome prize — and you can be automatically entered to win it if you click here to make a contribution right now.

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CBS This Morning: Sen. Al Franken – Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger “would be bad for consumers”

Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee that will hold hearings on the proposed merger by Comcast and Time Warner Cable. Franken discusses the problems with the proposed merger and online privacy.

Read the full article >>

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CBS This Morning: Sen. Al Franken – Comcast-Time Warner merger “would be bad for consumers”

Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee that will hold hearings on the proposed merger by Comcast and Time Warner Cable. Franken discusses the problems with the proposed merger and online privacy.

Read the full article >>

The post CBS This Morning: Sen. Al Franken – Comcast-Time Warner merger “would be bad for consumers” appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.

Sun Current: Schools grapple with mental health issues

Mental illness impacts the lives of at least one in four adults and one in 10 children across the United States, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Legislators and school officials are hoping to address mental health issues when they first appear by providing access to key resources within school facilities.

U.S. Sen. Al Franken hosted a roundtable discussion with parents, mental health advocates, school administrators and counselors on improving access to mental health resources in schools on Feb. 20 at Central Middle School in Eden Prairie.

“The biggest issue is access to mental health treatment for kids,” Franken said. “Providing this service in schools not only makes it easier on parents, but it means a lot to teachers and to the whole school. This helps every kid.”

Franken authored the Mental Health in Schools Act to help ensure that schools provide access to critical mental health treatment for kids who need these services. Several provisions similar to Franken’s bill were included in the budget legislation recently passed by Congress. The budget contains $40 million for competitive grants for schools to collaborate with community-based mental health providers and other community organizations to expand access to early intervention and mental health treatment for students.

Eden Prairie Schools partners with the Washburn Center for Children, a children’s mental health care center in Minneapolis, to provide therapy at school facilities throughout the school day. In addition to the district’s own team of special education teachers and school counselors, Washburn Therapist Cindy Markison visits with students at Central Middle School and often follows up with students at Eden Prairie High School. The district also has five therapists working at the six elementary schools.

“One of the great models is the one that you have here in Eden Prairie,” Franken said. “What a difference it has made for the lives of both parents and kids. If a kid has a mental health issue, they can look to counselors and have access to community health services.”

Working with students to provide help with mental health issues at a young age is crucial to diminishing negative impacts on society as an adult, according to school counselor and former police officer Randy Thompson.

“The best place for there to be eyes on mental health is the schools,” Thompson said. “I got that perspective from both positions. If we don’t deal with these problems when they’re young, the community has to deal with it later.”

“Half of adults with mental illnesses had symptoms by age 14,” added Sue Abderholden, the executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Minnesota. “If we wait until they’re age 26, we’ve waited too long.”

A new outlook on life

When Kirsten Steckman’s son was diagnosed with Aspberger’s syndrome, she knew it would be a struggle, but didn’t expect a life-or-death situation.

And if it wasn’t for the mental health services offered at Eden Prairie Schools through Washburn, he might not be here today, she shared during the discussion.

“From the first meeting (with Cindy) he dug his heels and wasn’t going to talk, but eventually formed a strong relationship,” Steckman said. “Later, he wanted to take his life. Cindy came over and helped us figure it out.”

After going to day treatment and therapy, her son was back on track. He graduated from Eden Prairie High School, with Cindy in attendance.

“I don’t think he would be here today if it wasn’t for that resource,” Steckman said. “Now he has future dreams.”

Steckman was one of three Eden Prairie parents to share their stories of raising children with mental illnesses and the success of the program available through the school.

Emily Prin has had her own terminal illness to deal with while caring for a son who was diagnosed with ADHD.

“When I was diagnosed with a terminal illness, he was 9 years old and I couldn’t hide what was going on,” Prin said. “I had to deal with that (terminal illness) and working full-time. He imploded.”

Prin referred to the accessibility of mental health resources offered at the school district as “a rock and resource” that provided the means to help her son all the way to high school.

“The school and staff got us through a tough time,” Prin said.

Having a therapist available at school offered a sense of security for JoAnna DeSouza’s son, who has autism.

“When he got to junior high, he became obsessed with being autistic,” DeSouza said. “He hit those awkward years and he was aching to be accepted.”

Cindy’s help and that sense of security helped him get through these issues in addition to thoughts of suicide, according to DeSouza.

Looking to the future

Many school districts across Hennepin County have implemented mental health programs similar to those at Eden Prairie Schools, and the accessibility to mental health services at schools is growing.

Programs like these are funded through Local Collaborative Time Study (LCTS) grants from the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

“We went from having this program in 75 schools to 110 schools,” said Bill Wyss with the Minnesota Department of Human Services Children’s Mental Health Division. “That’s almost half of the schools in Hennepin County. The relationships between the providers and the schools has been phenomenal.”

During the past four years, through participation in the LCTS program, Eden Prairie Schools have generated an average of $330,730 per year. These dollars are added to “the pot” of dollars generated by the other members of the collaborative: Richfield Schools, Bloomington Schools and Bloomington Public Health. The money is then re-distributed to the communities and districts through grants, according to Mary Waters-Cryer, director of Related Services for Eden Prairie Schools.

Other Eden Prairie School District grants funded for 2014 through LCTS include The School Social Worker Project, which identifies students at risk for Mental Health Issues in grades K-1 and provides social-emotional learning skills, and the FamiLink family resource center located in the basement of the Eden Prairie Center.

“With this most recent grant, we are expanding mental health services to Eden Prairie High School and early childhood,” Waters-Cryer said. “So, we will have therapists at all grade levels.”

Through programs like these, schools are able to go beyond traditional education to address mental health issues that so many students struggle with.

“We care about the kids, not just test scores and learning, but the whole self,” said School Counselor Pat Sexton.

Read the full article >>

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Franken taps public anger in stand against Comcast-Time Warner deal

Too big. Too powerful. Out of touch. Sen. Al Franken took to CNN recently to rail on an American institution. But it wasn’t Congress. It was cable TV.

“We need more competition, not less,” said Franken, who began raising questions about cable giant Comcast’s plan to buy its largest competitor, Time Warner, hours after the deal was announced. “This is going exactly in the wrong direction. Consumers, I am very concerned, are going to pay higher bills and get even worse service and less choice.”

If the $45 billion merger goes through, it would create the country’s largest cable company, reaching nearly one in three households. The company would also have a major position in broadband internet and TV production. The deal, however, needs federal approval, and Franken has established himself quickly as one of this deal’s critics.

For Franken, a former TV comedy writer, opposing this deal is good policy and perhaps even better politics. The Minnesota Democrat even took the unusual step of emailing his re-election campaign’s very large list of supporters to raise concerns about a Comcast-Time Warner merger.

Franken called the mailing an antidote to Comcast’s enormous clout in Washington, where the head of the Federal Communications Commission is a former cable industry lobbyist. “Comcast has sort of tried to put their tentacles into the regulatory agencies, and I want to make sure they’re hearing from the public,” said Franken.

But there’s something else going on, says University of Minnesota political scientist Larry Jacobs. Franken, he said, “is engaging in kind of stealth campaigning by taking on the Comcast merger.”

Franken won election in 2008 by the narrowest of margins and has spent much of the last five years in the Senate trying to overhaul his image from partisan funnyman to serious, policy oriented lawmaker, said Jacobs.

Republicans were outraged after Franken was declared the victor after a lengthy recount.

Comcast, however, could help Franken connect with GOP voters in the upcoming election.

Cable Giant Comcast To Acquire Time Warner Cable Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Issues such as cable TV competition and privacy enjoy broad public support and provide a way for Franken to show independent and Republican voters that he’s working for them, Jacobs added.

Republican politicians, who often criticize Franken’s positions and statements, have stayed quiet on the Comcast issue.

That might be because Comcast and Time Warner Cable are among the most hated companies in the country and many people are likely to be happy to see politicians beat up on them up a little.

Time Warner and Comcast rank last and next to last in the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which tracks what Americans think of companies and brands.

“As consumers, we don’t mind paying a fairly steep price for something if we feel like we’re really getting an enormous value for that particular cost. But when you pay a high price and on top of it you perceive that there’s lots of problems,” said David VanAmburg, the index’s managing director. “That’s sort of a deadly combination to an industry.”

Airlines and social media companies — another Franken target — are the only other companies that come close to the cable industry in customer dissatisfaction.

While Comcast may not be beloved, it holds enormous sway over the entertainment industry through its control of NBC (a merger Franken also opposed) and the access other companies need to Comcast’s channels. The merger would make it even more dominant.

Franken felt strongly enough about the Comcast-Time Warner plan, though, that he made through a Washington snowstorm to banter with CNN host Jake Tapper in a rare national interview.

Franken told Tapper that he’s a Comcast subscriber but that he’d like to have more choices.

“Are you comfortable telling me how your service is?” Tapper asked?

“Only if you tell me how your Comscast service is,” Franken responded.

“I had Comcast, we got rid of it. I didn’t find the service satisfactory. How about you?” Tapper asked.

Franken laughed. “No comment,” he said.

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Star Tribune: Osseo veteran awarded France’s Legion of Honor

As three generations of his family looked on Sunday, Benny Arechiga, 92, of Osseo officially became a French hero.

Nearly 70 years after the young soldier manned a tank machine-gun and helped liberate France from Nazi Germany, he was appointed a knight of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest distinction.

“Mr. Arechiga you are part of the generation that literally saved the world. You helped liberate Europe and France from the grip of the Nazis,” U.S. Sen. Al Franken, DFL-Minn., said during the ceremony at the Coon Rapids VFW. “You liberated France from the greatest enemy they or we have ever faced. You are a hero to me.”

The celebration began when police from Osseo, Brooklyn Park, Anoka and Coon Rapids escorted Arechiga’s vehicle from his Osseo nursing home to the VFW. Arechiga, who has suffered a small stroke, was rolled in his wheelchair into a reception hall as the Coon Rapids High School marching band played and more than 100 friends and relatives, including 11 veterans, applauded.

“Grandpa left home in Fargo in 1942 when he was called to fight dictators and save the world from tyranny. He risked his life so that others might be free,” his grandson Michael Nordstrom told the packed hall.

The family only recently learned that Arechiga qualified for the Legion of Honor and began the process of applying on his behalf. The French government grants the award to a select group of U.S. veterans who can show they risked their lives during World War II, fighting in Normandy, Provence/southern France or northern France, the three main campaigns that led to the country’s liberation.

Arechiga drove a Sherman tank and was a machine-gunner who fought in the Battle of the Bulge in the U.S. Army’s 493rd Field Artillery Battalion under General George Patton in 1944, said his son Roger Arechiga, a retired U.S. marshal and Air Force veteran.

Arechiga’s family migrated from Texas when he was a boy, working in the sugar beet fields near Fargo, Roger Arechiga said. He said Arechiga and his three brothers all joined the Army during WWII and one brother was killed fighting in Italy.

When Arechiga was discharged in 1945, he returned home to his wife, Bernice, in Fargo and they had five children. He worked for the Milwaukee Railroad for a decade before moving his family to northeast Minneapolis to work as a loading dock hand for a trucking company, his son said. He also was a Teamsters Local 120 union representative.

Although Arechiga didn’t speak at the ceremony, sitting quietly on a stage between Franken and Larry Shellito, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, he was quoted in the award program.

“We came back from the war, went to work, paid our bills and made a go of it,” Arechiga said.

“He was part of the Greatest Generation,” Franken said. “What they did was come back and build this country after World War II.”

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Minnesota Poll: Among partisans, Franken remains a polarizing figure

WASHINGTON – More than half of Minnesotans say first-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Al Franken is doing a good job, according to a new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll.

The 55 percent approval rating for the satirist-turned-senator matches a high-water mark reached last June, but the latest results also show a growing dissatisfaction with his job performance.

Franken’s job disapproval rating has climbed to 34 percent, up from 29 percent last June.

The election that put Franken in office in 2008 was one of the tightest in the nation, with a victory margin of just several hundred votes over former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman.

Since then, Franken has cultivated a low profile on Capitol Hill, opting not to capitalize on his fame from his days as a “Saturday Night Live” star and liberal radio host.

“He’s already famous. He’s not in it for that,” said Jane Masterman, 49, a Woodbury Democrat who works as an administrative assistant for a Twin Cities nonprofit. “He’s committed. He works hard. He listens to the little guys.”

Not all Minnesotans agree, and some still harbor resentment from the 2008 election.

“I can’t stand him. He got into office with a fake election,” said Cheryl Kop, 62, a Moose Lake Republican and small-business owner. She considers him an out-of-touch liberal. “It’s just a joke this state elected him,” she said.

The poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research Inc., interviewed 800 Minnesota adults Feb. 10-12, by land line and cellphones, and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Franken’s job approval numbers are highest in the Democratic strongholds of Hennepin and Ramsey counties, where 68 percent approve of the work he has done in Congress.

“He’s not treated this comically in any way,” said Judy Parkin, 67, a St. Paul Democrat and social worker. “He has not been involved in the silliness of trying to shut down the government.”

In the metro suburbs, Franken’s approval stands at 58 percent. Outstate, however, his approval rating dips sharply to 42 percent.

Franken remains a polarizing figure, with job approval ratings of 97 percent from Democrats, but a 71 percent disapproval from Republicans. Both numbers have spiked since the last poll.

Independents are divided, but leaning against him, with 42 percent disapproving of the job he’s done and 38 percent approving.

Bill Conlin, 47, is a Shoreview independent who voted for Franken in 2008 and is among the 38 percent of independents approving of Franken’s work. “He’s done a good job of trying to get himself in a position where he knows the issues,” said Conlin, a business administrator.

Divergent paths

Franken was among the eight Democrats who captured Senate seats that had been in Republican hands when President Obama swept to election in 2008. Those senators are now defending themselves from attacks based on their support for the Affordable Care Act, Obama’s health care law.

Obama and Franken’s in-state political fortunes have diverged. Since a Minnesota Poll conducted in fall 2009, Franken’s job approval rating has shot up 14 percentage points to 55 percent, while Obama’s has fallen 7 points to 44 percent.

“Sen. Franken promised Minnesotans he would work hard for them every day, and that’s what he’s done,” said Franken campaign spokeswoman Alexandra Fetissoff. “Minnesotans know he’s kept his word and that he’s going to keep fighting on their behalf.”

Cambridge Democrat Christine Burlingame, 61, said Franken’s push to restore emergency federal unemployment benefits has impressed her. She can relate to the thousands of Minnesotans whose benefits expired at the end of 2013. Burlingame now works in credit collections, but went through a 27-month period when she couldn’t find a job.

“[Franken] just strikes me as being honest, and that can be a rare thing for politicians,” Burlingame said.

Nicole Monaghan, 44, a Carver Republican, considers Franken an opportunist.

“It’s all about Al, and isn’t always about the people,” said Monaghan, a homemaker and former social studies teacher.

Asked whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of him, 38 percent of poll respondents view him favorably, but 30 percent view him negatively. Nearly a third are neutral.

Charles Shreffler, 58, a Bloomington Republican, has followed Franken’s work on privacy issues.

“He’s been a good advocate for citizens,” said Shreffler, an attorney.

But Franken hasn’t done enough to win over Shreffler, whose vote will to go one of four Republicans vying for the GOP nomination to take on Franken. “The Republican candidate is going to be closer to my fundamental beliefs,” Shreffler said.

Conlin, the independent voter from Shoreview, said he faced a difficult choice between Franken and Coleman in 2008 and may encounter a similar dilemma this fall.

“I don’t know who the Republicans are running against [Franken],” Conlin said. “I’ll have to weigh my options. He’s not a slam dunk.”

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AdWeek: Franken Unsatisfied With Ford’s Data Collection Practices

As far as Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) is concerned, Ford’s in-car data collection practices don’t measure up.

Franken reached out to Ford last month, asking the carmaker to explain what data location information the company collects, how it obtains customers’ permission to collect data, and how it shares the data.

While Franken seemed OK with Ford’s description of its practices, he was unsatisfied that Ford relied on the fine print of its website and mobile app user agreements to obtain consumer consent to collect the data.

“No location data is wirelessly transmitted from the vehicle without customer consent. Location data is used only to support customer requests for services, and to troubleshoot and improve our products,” wrote Curt Magleby, Ford’s vp of government affairs, in a five-page response. Ford explained it receives customer consent through in-vehicle prompts, website user agreements, or mobile app user agreements.

But for Franken, that wasn’t enough.

“This is sensitive information, and notices to consumers about this sensitive data shouldn’t get lost in fine print,” Franken said in a statement.

Franken, the chairman of the subcommittee on privacy, technology and the law, intends to introduce next month a privacy location bill requiring clear consumer consent practices. He launched his probe into Ford following a report he requested from the GAO that concluded car makers and in-car navigation systems could do more to inform consumers about how they use and share data.

 

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