> News > Local News

Email: "Franken on the farm bill, Coleman and Ventura"
*To:		<--TO Email REQUIRED!
*From:		<--FROM Email REQUIRED!

MORTON — Al Franken walked into a restaurant at Jackpot Junction Casino and Hotel in Morton on Saturday afternoon and restaurant guest Jay Mahoney said Franken’s name out loud in greeting.

Mahoney of Olivia wished Franken good luck in the U.S. Senate race against incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.

Franken said later he’s been getting good responses from the public during his campaign.

Franken was at Jackpot on Saturday to attend the DFL fund-raising event for Senate District 21.

He’s gotten monetary support from people in all 87 counties in Minnesota, Franken said.

Turnout in cities such as Crookston, Fergus Falls, Wadena, Esko and other communities has been good.

“I feel like I’m someone very well-versed in public policy,” Franken said of being more than a personality from talk radio and as a former writer and actor with Saturday Night Live.

And when people from rural areas like Redwood Falls and District 21 meet him they learn he’s personable and knowledgeable, Franken said.

Rural Minnesota is now riding highs for corn, beans and other crops, but legislators in Washington, D.C., have not yet passed a farm bill.

Franken said today’s prices are impacted by several factors, including the demand for crops used in renewable energy. Other areas that raise crops have experienced drought, he said.

“The world demand for feed for livestock is up because of the middle class emerging in China,” Franken said.

Drought will pass in some areas, but demands from the middle class in China won’t, he said.

But prices rise and fall in cycles, and “that’s why we have the farm bill, that’s why we have the safety net,” Franken said.

Franken sees the 2002 bill as a foundation for what should happen this year with a farm bill. Country of origin features, changes to promote more local food to local markets and renewable energy incentives must be part of a new farm bill, Franken said.

Analysts have said the Franken-Coleman race could be the nastiest or one of the more personal attack-laden ones in the country this year.

“Certainly (Coleman has) been personal,” Franken said.

For him, it’s about addressing Coleman’s record in Washington, D.C., Franken said.

Coleman failed in his role as the chairman of the subcommittee investigating the alleged corruption in contracts to rebuild infrastructure in Iraq, Franken said.

Coleman also supports maintaining a tax cut for the top 1 percent income earners and “staying the course on the economy and staying the course on Iraq,” Franken said.

Franken dismissed speculation that former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura would enter the U.S. Senate race.

Ventura has recently published another book and has been on various talk shows promoting the book.

Ventura has commented on his chances of winning if he ran for president but has said he won’t run for president. Ventura has also said he didn’t like the state’s two choices for U.S. Senate.

“I don’t think he is and also, I think he said no,” Franken said of Ventura.

Ventura’s comments are tied to promoting his new book, Franken said.

 

Subscribe to Marshall Independent

Share: