Sen Franken's Speech On The Economy: Simply put, if we don't face facts, we can't do our jobs.

[kpete]

Run time: 00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55WANTsTFy0   Posted on YouTube: July 16, 2010 By YouTube Member: SenatorFranken Views on YouTube: 311   Posted on DU: July 17, 2010 By DU Member: kpete Views on DU: 2878

 
http://franken.senate.gov/?p=news&id=931

[CrownPrinceBandar]

1. Wow..........

We need more folks like Al.

[oldhippydude]

2. I listened to the whole thing..

i did not realize Franken was so eloquent.. can understand why a Conservative may have problems..the senator uses to many words with more than one sylable..:kick:

[bbgrunt]

3. A thoroughly good and courageous man. Go Al!

[lobodons]

4. I just looked up "Senator" in the dictionary

and there was a picture of Sen. Al Franken!! What a true model of a perfect Senator.

(I too just listened to the whole thing.)

[Rhiannon12866]

5. K&R for Senator Franken...

Brilliant, well spoken... and entertaining. :patriot:

[ProgressOnTheMove]

6. Franken a senator of great substance,a comedian they said well no-ones laughing now doing fine work.

No-one can ever say Air America failed if brought this man the Senate, Air America lives on.

[Joanne98]

7. AWESOME

[Ramulux]

8. I love this

Anyone who claims we dont have any real representatives in the senate need simply watch this video. The dude is an inspiration.

[blackbart99]

9. I think I'll give another $100.00 to his reelection fund. n/t

[Enthusiast]

10. I love Senator Franken.

An authentic statesman.

[Stumbler]

11. Wow

I may be disappointed with the President and Congress in general, but I can say with complete sincerity that I'm proud of my Senator. Al, you kick ass!

[DLine]

12. Can't believe I watched the whole thing.

But I sure am glad I did. Very well spoken by Sen. Franken.

[golddigger]

13. Franken brought tears to my eyes.

[mother earth]

14. I want Franken & Grayson to run for president. Thank God there

are still men like these, love Sanders & Howard Dean too, Franken is absolutely outstanding, this is heart and soul representation...we still have a precious few looking out for we the people.

Bravo!

K & R.

[on point]

17. Second that! I would also add Sheldon Whitehouse to the mix!

[valerief]

22. +1 trillion

[mother earth]

32. Amen, on point:

This government of ours, founded in a revolution pledging the lives and fortune and sacred honor of those early patriots; this government of ours, which has raised for more than two centuries the promise of freedom in human hearts; this government that lifts its lamp aloft to brighten the darkness of chaos and despair in far distant corners of the globe; this government, whose finely tuned balance, crafted by the Founders, has seen us through Civil War and World War, through westward expansion and Great Depression, through the light bulb and the Model T and the Boeing 747 and the iPod; this government of ours, formed by Washington and Madison, Jefferson and Adams, and led by each of them, and later led by Abraham Lincoln and by Harry Truman and by Theodore Roosevelt and by Franklin Roosevelt and by John Fitzgerald Kennedy; this American Government of ours should never be on its knees before corporate power, no matter how strong. It should never be in the thrall of corporate wealth, no matter how vast.

This American Government of ours should never give the American citizen reason to question whose interests are being served. Never.

In this complex world of ours, government must protect us in remote and specialized precincts of the economy. In those remote precincts, few people are watching, but big money is made. We must be able to trust our government, both in plain view in front of us, and in corners far from sight, to be serving always the public interest, not doing the secret bidding of special interests, of corporate interests because that is where the big money is at stake.

Have we now learned, have we now finally learned, with the financial meltdown and the gulf disaster, the terrible price of all those quietly cut corners? Have we now learned what price must be paid when the stealthy tentacles of corporate influence are allowed to reach into and capture our agencies of government? I pray let us have learned this. Let us have learned that lesson. I sincerely pray we have learned our lesson and that this will never happen again. But let's not just pray.

He concludes with a solution: Clean it up.

In this troubled world, God works through our human hands, grows a more perfect union through our human hearts, creates a beloved community through our human thoughts and ideas. So it is not enough to pray. We must act. We must act in defense of the integrity of this great government of ours, which has brought such light to the world, such freedom and equality to our country.

We cannot allow this government that is a model around the world, that inspires people to risk their lives and fortunes to come to our shores--we cannot allow any element of this government to become the tool of corporate power, the avenue of corporate influence, the puppet of corporate tentacles.

I propose a simple device in this country of laws--not men, of rule of law--and that is to allow our top national law officer, the Attorney General of the United States, to step in and clean house whenever an agency or element of government is no longer credibly independent of the industries and businesses it is intended to regulate.

When a component of government is deemed no longer credibly independent of the corporations or industry it is supposed to regulate, I suggest that the Attorney General be allowed to come in and clean up, hire and fire and take personnel action to ensure the integrity of the personnel; to establish interim regulations and procedures to ensure the integrity of the process; to audit permits and contracts and ensure they were not affected by improper corporate influence, and if they were, to rescind them where they are not in the public interest due to that improper corporate influence; to establish an integrity plan for that component of government, all subject to appropriate judicial review where private rights are affected. Then the Attorney General can get back out, with his or her job done, sort of like an ethics trusteeship or receivership.

And reminds of the damage already done:

If the financial catastrophe and the gulf catastrophe and whatever other catastrophes lurk have any meaning at all, it is that business as usual is no longer enough to stem the tide of corporate influence--insidious, secret corporate influence--in agencies of the U.S. Government. It is an institutional problem--relentless, remorseless, constantly grasping and insinuating corporate influence. It will never go away. It will only worsen as corporations get bigger and richer and more global, and there has to be an institutional mechanism in place to resist it so that it no longer takes a catastrophe to call the failure of governance of an American regulator to proper attention
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/karoli/sheldon-whitehouse

[mother earth]

33. And a tip of the hat, to my progressive sister/brother, on point.

May we shine the light and love the patriot. :)

[uberblonde]

15. I love this man.

Al Franken for President!

[OnlinePoker]

16. What's the point if there's nobody there to listen to what he's saying?

The same thing happens in the Canadian parliament. Important matters are being discussed, but nobody is listening. He can be eloquent all he wants, be right all he wants, but he's wasted his breath. The 2600 people who have watched it on youtube and the few thousand more on CSpan are either Franken fans or political junkies. The message isn't going anywhere and this is a sad fact. DU is a small community in the grand scheme of things and few of the registered users will bother watching a 36 minute long video.

[valerief]

23. Exactly. It's not like the nightly Lohan nooz is going to cover it. nt

[DFW]

18. That was one of the best Senate floor speeches of the last 20 years.

He'll get a big contribution from me for his re-election campaign.

[Jefferson23]

19. It's worth your time to listen to the entire speech, he has all his facts

backed up with direct references. Would be great if there were a text available too.

Al Franken cover so much ground here, excellent work!!

[Botany]

20. This is why the republicans were and are so sacred of Al Franken

He is wicked smart

[Citizen Worker]

26. and don't think there aren't alot of democrats similarly scared of Senator Franken

because he represents what some elements of the dmeocratic party USED to be.

[valerief]

21. He covered so many important points in his speech. Too bad Americans can't hear it.

It wasn't a sound bite.

[ErikJ]

24. But Republicans WANT bad economy

Their only hope in 2010 and 2012 is if the economy is tanked even worse. So they willfully do the opposite of what Franken was asking for.

[ProSense]

25. Transcript

here

[sulphurdunn]

27. That address needs to be whittled down

to a 30 second soundbite so it can be shown on the TV and then rebutted with 30 second soundbites by talking heads with 30 second attention spans for ditto heads and teabaggers who think in parroted slogans. As it is it'll never get past C-SPAN. :smoke:

[ErikJ]

29. Graph Power

Use the 8 Graphs that he used in his speech. http://franken.senate.gov/?p=news&id=931 Worth a million words. Go to Conservative message boards and post the graphs. I love to go to these NeoCon "Hornets Nests" and stir up trouble this way. I leave them "speechless" after I barrage them with graphs. They will often have my posts DELETED out of desperation.

[sulphurdunn]

31. A most excellent idea. Thanks.

[Diane R]

28. I'll say it again: Franken for President 2016.

[Uncle Joe]

30. Outstanding!

Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[TatonkaJames]

34. Time for the Senator to SUE corporations

If the Supreme Jokesters evolved corporations into "people" then they now
are obligated like the rest of us to pay their share of taxes at the same
rate any individual does.
Ya see, sometimes these laws come back to haunt you. But, no doubt they will find
a way around them being people but not the "same" kind of people, hence, they will
not pay a dime.
Not until the revolution that is.

[cynthia]

35. Simply brilliant!

I am so proud of my senator. This is the kind of governance we need.