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Tag: Al Franken

Bipartisan bill aims to amend estate tax code to conserve America’s...

U.S. Sen. Mark Udall has proposed a change to the estate tax code to keep more farms and ranches intact.

Udall, Franken gang up to keep potatoes in school lunches

Today, Senator Mark Udall's amendment to prevent limits on the amount of starchy vegetables that schools can serve passed the Senate as part of a larger bill.

Franken introduces bill to beef up protections for seniors

Sen. Al Franken introduced a bill Friday that would offer seniors who receive long-term care at home the same protections from abuse as those afforded to seniors living in nursing homes.

Franken leads charge to reform No Child Left Behind

Arguing the current standard for student assessment is a “perversity” that leads to a “race to the middle,” Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) successfully introduced an amendment that would better gauge student learning and knowledge. The proposal is part of the ongoing Senate debate over how to move the nation’s major education law of the land beyond No Child Left Behind.

Comcast/NBC-Universal merger greased by tens of millions in contributions and lobbyist...

The 2011 merger of Comcast and NBC-Universal created one of the largest media conglomerates in American history, which critics warn could limit the variety of voices heard by the public and threaten the internet’s role as a forum for free exchange of information.

Sen. Al Franken calls for explicit ban on LGBT discrimination in...

U.S. Sen. Al Franken called for an “explicit ban” on discrimination against LGBT students in a civil rights hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday.

VIDEO: Franken grills Focus on the Family head during DOMA repeal...

At a hearing on the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, Sen. Al Franken took issue with the testimony of Tom Minnery, the head of Focus on the Family’s political arm, CitizenLink. After Minnery cited a government study he said showed that the children of married gay and lesbian couples fared worse than married opposite-sex couples, Franken flatly stated that Minnery was wrong and called into question any further testimony from Minnery.

Udall joins Senate group seeking to guard net neutrality from budget...

No one loved the internet rules written by the Federal Communications Commission last year that sought to safeguard the free-flowing egalitarian quality of the internet, where communication-industry giants don't get to decide which information streams to users and at what speed. One side thought the rules were overreaching socialism and the other thought they were riven with the kind of loopholes corporate interests could wiggle through when it came time to assert control. In the spring, Republicans in the House opposed to the rules voted to strip the FCC of the cash it would need to enforce the rules. On Wednesday, a small band of senators, including Colorado's Mark Udall, sent a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Ranking Member Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) objecting to the House action and asking the committee to strip out the budget amendment that would hold back the FCC funds.

Franken: Rand Paul’s stance on senior hunger reaches ‘absurdity’

Senators discussed the “human toll and budget consequences” of senior hunger at the Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging Tuesday. Arguing for increased funding for the Older Americans Act of 1965, Sen. Al Franken and committee chair Bernie Sanders said that the act saves money. “It allows seniors to stay in their homes, who wouldn’t otherwise be able to stay in their homes,” Franken said. Sen. Rand Paul countered that “only in Washington, D.C., can you spend two billion dollars and claim that you’re saving money.” His solution: Letting charities deal with senior citizens.

Exclusive Interview: Sen. Franken talks tax hikes and education access

In his keynote speech Saturday morning at the Netroots Nation conference in Minneapolis, Sen. Al Franken noted the growing income disparity between the middle class and the rich, a trend that began in the late-1970s. The Independent sat down with Sen. Franken to get some thoughts on that disparity and how the American middle class might once again benefit from economic growth.
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