Senator Al Franken is one of those heroes. It's important that we support those heroes.
Please watch their votes and remain informed before you vote.
It's always disappointing when folks support candidates and don't know how they voted.
FYI:
Today, I’m putting the “ask” up front: Please click here to help us reach our $200,000 goal before the end of the month!
Why? Because I want to spend the rest of this email dipping into the “Ask Al” mailbag to answer some questions from supporters. Let’s get right to it.
Q. (Chris B.) Why are you a Democrat?
Great question. My dad was a moderate Republican, and therefore so was I -- until I was about 12 or 13 years old. We’d watch the news together during the civil rights struggle. My dad, who had been alive during the Holocaust, would look at sheriffs turning dogs and firehoses on the demonstrators, and he would say to me and my brother, “That’s wrong. No Jew could be for that.”
Then, in 1964, Barry Goldwater, the standard-bearer of the Republican Party, voted against the Civil Rights Act, and that’s when my dad (who’d voted for Herbert Hoover twice and Nixon over Kennedy) switched parties. And the Frankens have been Democrats ever since.
Q. (Dennis D.) Are we still paying big bucks to the oil companies, and if so, why?
We are. Isn’t that ridiculous? Oil companies don’t need these subsidies, and I can think of about a million better uses for those taxpayer dollars, from paying down the debt to investing in early childhood education. That’s why I’m fighting to end these pointless subsidies.
Q. (Kelly B.) How can we get Congress working as a whole together more? Working more days? Besides you and Amy who else in Congress is trying to work with people across the aisle?
Even though we disagree on a lot, I’m always looking for ways to work with my Republican colleagues to make a difference in people’s lives. And you might be surprised by how often that happens.
I’ve worked with Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Marco Rubio (Florida) to make it easier for students and parents to understand and compare financial aid packages. I’ve worked with John Boozman (Arkansas) to improve access to health care for rural veterans. I’ve worked with Deb Fischer (Nebraska) on rural broadband. I’ve worked with Roger Wicker (Mississippi) on reining in the Wall Street credit agencies that helped wreck our economy.
And not only have I worked with Orrin Hatch (Utah) on recruiting and training more school principals, he helped me write a country song (not kidding).
These are all pretty conservative Republicans, and I’m probably getting them in trouble by saying nice things about them, but while we disagree on a lot, I do think we can make progress if we work at it.
Q. (Peter J.) You have come across Karl Rove’s cell phone. It is within your ability to permanently change the ringtone in such a way that it cannot be silenced, not even when it is turned off. What’s Karl’s new ringtone?
Probably the country song I worked on with Orrin Hatch.
Q. (Dave O.) As a generally conservative person (albeit one who voted for both you and HHH), and in light of recent revelations on the NSA’s monitoring of US citizens, what can we do as Americans to both be secure, yet maintain our constitutional rights and freedoms?
Thanks for your support Dave, great question. Two words: More transparency. The government has to strike a balance between the priorities you mentioned -- protecting privacy and protecting our national security. But, when Americans lack the most basic information about our domestic surveillance programs, they have no way of knowing whether we're getting that balance right. That needs to change.
Q. (Peter A.) In Season 1 Episode 2 of Battlestar Galactica, a Cylon sabotaged the ship by blowing up the water tanks, venting half the fleet's water into space. Why did the ship have almost all its water in a few huge tanks dangerously close to the hull instead of decentralized throughout the ship?
I think we’re just about out of time. Thanks for sending in so many great questions!
Al
P.S.: Oh, okay, since you made it all the way to the end, one more plug: We’re $51,466 away from reaching our $200,000 goal -- please click here to chip in a few dollars!
Paid for and authorized by Al Franken for Senate 2014
P.O. Box 583144 | Minneapolis,
MN 55458-3144
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