Norm Coleman: Bringing Corporate Special Interests Together

03/28/2008

DFL, Labor and Community Leaders Across State Hold Coleman Accountable for Putting Special Interests Ahead of Minnesotans


St. Paul, MN (March 26, 2008) As Senator Norm Coleman today officially began his campaign for reelection, DFL, labor and community leaders held Senator Norm Coleman accountable at events in Rochester and Duluth for his record of putting corporate special interests ahead of middle-class Minnesotans — working families, homeowners, students, and veterans.

“Minnesotans are struggling with the realities of the Bush-Coleman economy,” said Laura Askelin, president of the Southeastern Minnesota Area Labor Council. “We can’t continue on this path of putting the needs of a few over the needs of many, and unfortunately, Coleman is only concerned with the needs of a few corporate special interests.”

“The fact of the matter is that whoever is at the helm of this country now, whether it’s President Bush or Norm Coleman, what they are doing isn’t working for working people,” said Al Netland, president of the Duluth AFL-CIO Central Labor Body. “Norm Coleman has spent the last five years protecting special corporate interests at the expense of Minnesotans. We need honest leadership to move our country forward, and Norm Coleman represents nothing but the same.”

“Norm Coleman supported the war in Iraq, but at the same time, voted ‘no’ when it came to increasing funding for veterans health care, even when it was paid for by ending tax breaks for the super-rich and corporations,” said Vicky Bass, pre-med student at the College of St. Scholastica. “It’s time to clean house, and Coleman has got to be the first to go.”

“Norm Coleman stands up for corporate special interests; he stands up for the powerful, wealthy and well-connected; but he doesn’t stand up for Minnesotans,” said Minnesota DFL Chair Brian Melendez. “But here in the real world, it’s another tough day for working and middle-class families who have to fight harder and harder every day to keep up because of Norm Coleman and his failure to stand up for regular Minnesotans.”

Norm Coleman and His Misplaced Priorities:

Coleman Takes Big Money from Special Interests. Coleman took $206,100 from the oil and gas industry, $327,621 from the pharmaceutical industry, and $500,908 from the banking and credit industries. [Center for Responsive Politics, Accessed 3/26/08; 3/26/08; 3/26/08, 3/26/08]

Coleman Supports Making Bush’s Tax Cuts Permanent. Coleman supports making Bush’s tax cuts permanent. According to his campaign website, “As your U.S. Senator, Norm Coleman will fight to make permanent these tax cuts that have been so successful in helping our families and growing our economy.” Coleman’s campaign website also touted how Bush’s economic policies “have had an incredible effect, producing 44 straight months of job growth, more than 7.8 million new jobs since August, 2003 and today’s historically low unemployment rate of 4.5%.” [Coleman for Senate Website, accessed 3/26/08]

MINNESOTA FACT: Wealthiest 1% of Minnesotans Will Receive 31% of the Bush Tax Cuts. According to Citizens for Tax Justice, from 2001-2010, the wealthiest 1% of Minnesotans, who had an average income of $1.16 million in 2006, will receive 31.1% of the Bush tax cuts. Meanwhile, the poorest 60% will get only 19.7% of the tax cuts. Their annual tax cut over the 10 years will average only $459, while the average tax cut for the wealthy is more than $42,000 a year. [Citizens for Tax Justice, 10/10/06]

Coleman Helped Protect $5 Billion Big Oil Tax Windfall. Tax loopholes that save the oil industry $5 billion were removed from the original Senate version of the GOP tax reconciliation bill in February 2006, but after heavy lobbying by the industry, Congressional negotiators reinserted them into the final bill. The $5 billion tax break for big-oil could have been used instead to partially offset the increase in middle-class taxes. Coleman voted for the final tax bill with the big oil tax breaks. [Republican Policy Committee, 2/7/06; Washington Post, 4/26/06; Joint Tax Committee, 5/9/06; Vote #118, 5/11/06]

Coleman Voted For Medicare Prescription Drug Bill Heavily Tilted Towards Drug Companies. In 2003, Coleman voted for HR 1, a Medicare reform plan that is larded with perks for private companies that increase the cost of Medicare and hurt seniors. The legislation made it illegal for Medicare bargain over price with drug companies, which will add an additional $139 billion to corporate profits. The bill also blocked the re-importation of cheaper drugs from Canada. [Vote #459, 11/25/03; In These Times, 1/5/04; New York Times, 2/3/04; The Hill, 11/19/03]

Star Tribune Slammed Coleman for Supporting Bankruptcy Bill. In March 2005, Coleman voted for final passage of the Bankruptcy Reform bill. The Star Tribune editorial board described the 2005 bankruptcy bill as “a lopsided bill that places the interests of lenders above those of consumers ... this bill isn't about striking a reasonable balance between borrowers and lenders. It's about giving the industry new tools to collect from the vulnerable consumers…” [Vote #44, 3/10/05; Star Tribune, 3/9/05]

Coleman Protected Tax Breaks at the Expense of Veterans Funding. Coleman has voted at least six times to protect tax breaks for corporations and millionaires at the expense of increased funding for veterans. [Vote #63, 3/16/06; Vote #41, 3/14/06; Spokesman-Review, 3/15/06; Vote #15, 2/13/06; Dodd Floor Speech, 2/13/06; Vote #114, 4/28/05; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 5/6/05; Vote #40, 3/10/04; Tulsa World, 3/14/04; Vote #74, 3/21/03]

Senator Coleman Voted Against Help for Homeowners Facing Foreclosure. Norm Coleman voted against allowing a vote on the Foreclosure Prevention Act on February 28. According to CNN, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid … said it would benefit 700,000 families, put 80,000 vacant and foreclosed homes to productive use and create 30,000 jobs and $10 billion in economic activity. [Vote #35, 2/28/08; CNN, 2/28/08]

Coleman Cast Crucial Vote For the Largest Student Loan Cuts in History. Coleman voted for the final version of the 2005 budget reconciliation bill, which passed 50-50 with the Vice President casting the tie-breaking vote. The package cut $12.7 million from college loans, the largest cuts to the student loan program in its history. [Vote #363, 12/21/05; AP, 12/19/05; Washington Post, 12/19/05]

Coleman Voted Against Renewable Energy Alternatives, Green Jobs. In April 2004, Coleman voted against a motion to limit debate on an amendment requiring that gasoline sold or introduced into the United States contain renewable fuel in specific amounts, beginning with 3.1 billion gallons in 2005 and increasing each year to 5 billion gallons in 2012. In 2006, Coleman voted against an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2007 Budget Resolution that would have raised the discretionary spending limit by $4 billion to allow for $3.5 billion in authorized energy programs, $500 million for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the extension of the renewable-energy- production tax credit and the clean renewable energy bonds program. [Vote #73, 4/29/04; Vote #42, 3/14/06; E&E News, 3/14/06]