ch: 2006

One Day Left: Help Get Out the Vote

From America Votes:

The America Votes coalition is organizing the most sophisticated, coordinated get out the vote operation in the history of the progressive movement. This year could be the turning point for progressives nationwide, and we need your help. Tens of thousands of volunteers must hit the streets to ensure that progressive voters are registered, educated, and motivated on Election Day 2006. We need you, your family, your friends, and your neighbors to help us get out the vote.

Get out the vote now.

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I, Al Franken, Want You to Help Tim Walz

Dear Fellow Minnesotan,

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for Election Day. That’s when we Democrats are going to take back our country from George W. Bush and his band of rubber-stamping, bribe-taking, page-abuse-not-being-terribly
-concerned-about Republicans.

Personally, I’m going to savor every single victory, but my favorite is going to be when Tim Walz takes back Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District Seat from Gil Gutknecht. Let me tell you a little about Tim and then a little about Gil.

A few months ago, I “opened” for Tim at a rally in Winona. We had about 900 people in the room, and I went for about half an hour. And let me tell you: I KILLED. In fact, I started to feel bad for Tim! How could he follow this? Well, he came out and blew me out of the water. He’s that good.

And he’s got the bio to match. A public school teacher, Command Sergeant Major (ret), and football coach, Tim shares the values that made Minnesota great, and I know he’ll do a great job representing Southern Minnesota in Washington.

CLICK HERE TO HELP TIM!

Here’s what you need to know about Gil Gutknecht. Gil gave a speech on the House floor supporting the President’s disastrous Iraq policy (he does this a lot, having voted with the President 93% of the time). He scolded Democrats, telling them, “Now is not the time to get wobbly.” Then Gil actually went to Iraq, and upon returning, immediately got wobbly. The situation, he said, is worse “than we were led to believe.” Oh yeah? By WHOM, Gil? The President, maybe? See, you didn’t think that through before you said it, did you?

In addition to being a rubber stamp for Bush, Gil is a member of the Class of 1994. You remember all those Republicans who stood on the steps of the Capitol to sign their Contract with America? Gil was one of them. They wrote, “We intend to act with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right. To restore accountability to Congress. To end its cycle of scandal and disgrace.”

And they didn’t even mean this ironically!

When they had that big photo op, they said, “If we break this contract, throw us out.” Perhaps Gil needs a little help with the “throw us out” part. What do you say we work together to do exactly that and put Tim Walz in Congress?

CLICK HERE TO HELP TIM!

We’re never going to get the country we want unless we go out there and bust our tails for it. Paul Wellstone said, “The future belongs to those who are passionate and work hard.” Join me in working hard for a guy we can all be passionate about: Tim Walz.

Yours,

Al Franken

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Reminder: Help MVP Give Away $5K

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Do This: 2006 National Grassroots Mobilization Training

Tomorrow, motivated progressives across the country will be organizing and learning in house parties. The Center for Progressive Leadership, in partnership with great groups like The Center for American Progress, Wellstone Action, MoveOn.org and MVP, is helping progressive activists acquire the skills and knowledge they need to change things in 2006 and beyond.

More from the Center for Progressive Leadership

Through an innovative combination of a video training, live conference call with a national expert, and small group interactive exercises, the house party trainings will provide participants with the tools for implementing successful grassroots mobilization, including:

-What grassroots organizing is and why it is important

-How we can effectively engage people to drive our efforts

-Effective tools for recruiting volunteers and talking to voters

-Connecting activists from different communities

-Ways to get involved and make a difference this fall

To find a House Party near you, surf-on over here.

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Do This: 100 Actions

The Democratic Party has put together a well-designed site of 100 actions you can take up to election day to help elect your favorite progressive candidates across the country. Check it out.

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Do This: Demand Action on Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment

This is unbelievable. The problem:

Possible cuts in funding for research into treatment of traumatic brain injuries are drawing sharp criticism from Veterans of Foreign Wars, the largest organization of combat veterans.

Jim Mueller, the VFW’s commander in chief, said a proposal before Congress for a 50 percent cut in funding “clearly indicates that the Congress is out of touch with the realities and consequences of war.”

“For our nation’s lawmakers to deny advanced research that our military has earned with their blood, and for those same lawmakers to espouse patriotism and ‘Support the Troops’ rhetoric from the podium this election year, is shameful, hypocritical, and ignorant,” he said. “This research center is an investment in the future potential of traumatically disabled soldiers. It is not an expense.”

You can read more about the cuts in an article earlier this month in USA Today.

What you can do:

Call your Congressman. Demand the cuts be restored.

Sign Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America’s petition.

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Reminder: Al in Denver, San Fransisco

Back in June, MVP Chairman Al Franken kicked off his Stand Up 4 Change Tour right here in Minneapolis, Minnesota to a packed house. The event raised tens of thousands for great Minnesota candidates like Patty Wetterling, Tim Walz and Coleen Rowley.

Now, Al is taking his show on the road to Denver, Colorado and San Francisco, California. If you’re in the area, don’t wait another second – buy your tickets now. Not only will you get to see the hardest working man in showbiz politics, you’ll also help out great progressive candidates and causes.

DENVER – AUGUST 24

SAN FRANCISCO – AUGUST 25

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Stand-Up 4 Change -- Tomorrow!

If you’re in the Twin Cities area, and you haven’t registered for tomorrow’s event, do it now! Now!

Hurry!

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Celebrate Al's 55th Birthday!

This past Sunday, May 21st, Midwest Values PAC chairman Al Franken celebrated his 55th birthday. You can still help usher in Al’s 55th year—Here’s how:

Sign Al’s Birthday Card. Leave a “Happy Birthday” message for Al in his birthday scrapbook.

We’ll deliver your special birthday message to Al, and alert you to all the exciting things Al and Midwest Values PAC are doing to bring progressive victories in 2006 and beyond.

Give a Present to Al and MVP. By donating to Al’s Midwest Values PAC, you’ll not only give Al the best present money can buy (literally!), you’ll also help progressive candidates, activists and organizations.

So far, MVP has helped great progressive candidates like Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Francine Busby (San Diego), Bernie Sanders (Vermont), Nick Lampson (Texas) and Claire McCaskill (Missouri). We’re also supporting great organizations like the Illinois Health Care Referendum 2006, and Preschool for All in California, and helping train the next generation of activists with money to Camp Wellstone.

Celebrate Al’s birthday by supporting the progressive values we all share, and send a birthday present to Al.

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Denver: See Al!

MVPers in Denver, Colorado—Al will be hosting a live benefit concert for the Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp.

More information here.

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MVPers are Blogging

Have you checked out what MVPers are saying on our MVP community blogs?

Read now, and start your own.

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See Al: Rochester, MN

What: Olmsted County DFL Dinner
Time: Thursday, May 4 at 6:00 PM
Location:
Kahler Grand Hotel (Rochester, MN)
20 Southwest 2nd Ave.
Rochester, MN 55902

For maps, click here, or visit OlmstedDFL for more info.

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Profiles on MVP's Community

A random sampling of 3 profiles recently created on MVP-Community:

Andy

Location: Portland, OR

My Story: Midwest kid who moved to London after college (best decision ever), even got paid to sing Rocky Horror badly. NYC for 4 fabulous years, then being heartbroken led to fleeing west to Oregon (also, you can only list bartender on a resume so many ways). Stirred about in Eugene for a year before accepting job in Portland, sight unseen. I love it here. Now I grow older and softer and set in my lefty ways….

Issues: foreign policy / security; economic fairness / security; environment / conservation; smart energy policy; public infrastructure / transportation; affordable health care

Click to learn more about Andy.

Sarah

Location: Minnetonka, MN

My Story: I grew up in MN and was fortunate enough to go to Hopkins, one of the best districts in the state. As I see its success dropping, I want to make sure lawmakers put the youth of the state at the top of their agenda. Oh, and I am obsessed with MN! :)

Issues: civil liberties / privacy; environment / conservation; good government / ethics; education

Click to learn more about Sarah.

Al

Location: Minneapolis, MN

My Story: MVP’s Honorary Chairman

Birth Date: May 20th

Registered to Vote: Yes

Click to learn more about Al.

Join Andy, Sarah and Al—create a profile, start a blog, and join with others in our Groups and Circles.

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What MVPers Are Saying

Our new MVP community features are only two and a half days old, and already hundreds of you have signed-up and created new profiles, groups, and blogs.

What are MVPers like you saying? Check out our Community Blog and read for yourself. And if you’d like to write your own blog, or comment on posts, jump-in and sign-up.

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Free Franken Swag?

Are you interested in winning:

• A signed and personalized copy of The Truth with Jokes
• A signed and personalized copy of The Al Franken Show Party Album
• A hand-drawn US map by Al on a sheet of paper.

Yesterday afternoon, we launched a new feature here at MidwestValuesPAC.org: MVP Community. Through our new features, you can network with fun-progressives, create your own blog, and join groups related to issues or geography.

But what about the free swag? At the end of every month, we’ll randomly pick two MVP community members.

“How Can I (not me, you) Win?” To be eligible, you must:

1) Create a MVP Profile.
2) Join at least one group.
3) Write at least one blog post.

So sign up now, and hurry before Bill O’Reilly gets your signed copy of The Party Album.

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Network with Al and MVP! Here's How

Are you a progressive who wants to:

• Network with other fun-minded progressives in your area?
• Mobilize and learn more about issues such as healthcare or campaign finance reform?
• Make new friends with others across the country?

Then what are you waiting for? Join MVP’s new and growing community, and you’ll gain access to all these benefits, plus be eligible to win free stuff from Al. Just follow these four steps.”:http://midwestvaluespac.org/about/103/joinmvp

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Midwest Values PAC's Community Contest

As an active member of the MVP community, you’ll not only

1. Network with other fun-minded progressives
2. Mobilize and learn more about important issues
3. Make new friends

You’ll also be eligible for our monthly “Community Appreciation Giveaway.”

How Does It Work? At the end of every month, we’ll randomly pick two MVP community members. The community member will be contacted by email and our Social Network tool to provide his or her mailing address.

How Can I Win? To be eligible to win our Community Appreciation Giveaway, you must have:

1) Created an MVP Profile.
2) Joined at least one group.
3) Written at least one blog post.

What Will I Win?

You’ll win one of the following items from this list below (your choice):

• A signed and personalized copy of The Truth with Jokes
• A signed and personalized copy of The Al Franken Show Party Album
• A hand-drawn US map by Al on a sheet of paper.

ch: Al’s Channel

Illinois MVPers: Promote universal health care in Illinois!

Here are two things I’ve learned over the past few years.

1. Access to health care is at the center of almost every public policy problem our country faces. Kids who don’t have health care are more likely to miss school. Health problems contribute to half of all bankruptcies. We need universal health care, and we need it now.

2. If you want to get something done, and done right, you have to do it neighbor-to-neighbor.

That’s why I’m letting you know about something going on in Illinois. An important movement in Illinois is promoting universal health care through a referendum called Illinois Health Care Referendum 2006. IHCR is trying to collect 280,000 petition signatures of Illinois registered voters by May 1 so that the referendum can get on the ballot in November.

That’s a big job. And on Tuesday, March 21, which as you should all know is Primary Day, the group is going to have 250 volunteers at the polls collecting signatures and handing out information about Illinois legislators’ positions on health care reform.

There’s a reason this particular issue is so important to me and to the mission of MVP. Universal health care is really about sharing risk, so that no one is hung out to dry if they happen to get sick or hurt. It’s about building stronger communities, in which families have financial security and kids are able to go to school. And, it’s about common sense: other industrialized nations have universal health care, and they get better outcomes for less money than we spend on health care here in the U.S.

And, remember, another one of our Midwest values is hard work. That’s a lot of signatures we need to get together to make this happen. So let’s all pitch in.

Here’s how:

—Volunteer! Spend a few hours on Primary Day (Tuesday, March 21), gathering petition signatures. Go to illinoishealthcarenow.org to volunteer or call Ajitha Reddy at 312-315-1805.

—Bring friends!

—Give money! (MVP already did.) This is an all-volunteer effort, and they need money for printing, communications, staff, and things like that. Go to illinoishealthcarenow.org and help ‘em out.

Thanks for reading this, and for helping us support the cause of universal health care.

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Caucus with Al -- Tomorrow Night

Hollywood may have the ‘Oscars,’ but we here in Minnesota have the Caucuses—that’s right, the DFL Caucuses are tomorrow, and we want you to get involved in the political process.

More:

The DFL Caucus/Convention process, which occurs on even-numbered years, sets the framework for the DFL’s grassroots organization. It is an important opportunity to become involved with your local DFL, as well as participate in the issues that make up our platform, have a say in which candidates receive the DFL endorsement, and stay up to date on ongoing Party activities.

Al will be at the Ward 7, precinct 9 caucus. To find out where you can attend, visit the DFL caucus website.

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Party with Al in NYC!

Al and MidwestValuesPAC are going to NYC for a party—and you’re invited!

Help us support progressive candidates, organizations, and causes by partying with Al in New York—click here for more information.

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Party with Al Franken in NYC!

Al and MidwestValuesPAC are going to NYC for a party—and you’re invited!

Help us support progressive candidates, organizations, and causes by partying with Al in New York—click here for more information.

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Why Tim Walz is an MVP

Last night, we went to an event for Tim Walz, who’s running in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District. Tim is a tremendous candidate: a veteran, a high school teacher, a family man, honest and courageous. But he’s also the real deal—he can win this election, because he knows the issues, and he knows how to communicate his values despite not being a professional politician.



But Tim needs our help. We need to show Democrats like Tim all over the country that if they’re willing to stand up for what they believe in, we’ll get their backs.

Keep reading to find out why it’s so important that we support Tim Walz TODAY.

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What Are Your Values?

Our new organization, Midwest Values PAC, will provide financial support to candidates and organizations that share the values Al Franken learned growing up in Minnesota:

strong communities; healthy and secure families; equal opportunity for all; honesty and common sense in government; and most of all, the belief that these, our progressive values, are worth fighting for.

What are your values? Let us know, and we’ll share your answers on our blog.

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Have You Seen This Money?

Sometime after our country invaded Iraq, the United States lost 8.8 billion dollars for Iraqi reconstruction. Not miscalculated or carried over to another fiscal year, but lost. No one knows where it went.

To explain how the money was lost is to explore familiar themes in the Bush administration’s handling of post-war Iraq. Last year, Special Inspector General Stuart Bowen released a report detailing how the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) under the leadership of U.S. Ambassador Paul Bremer woefully mismanaged contracts and reconstruction money for Iraq totaling more than 8.8 billion in cash. According to Bowen, the CPA’s distribution process was riddled with “severe inefficiencies” and “poor management.” Furthermore, CPA did not implement adequate managerial controls, financial controls, and contracting actions.

Ironically, other government agencies warned the CPA about problems with the process and said its approach involving Iraqi ministries was open to “fraud, kickbacks, and misappropriation of funds.” The Iraqi officials were largely inexperienced and subject to often subject to corruption. Three ministries “did not did not have personnel assigned to financial and/or budget positions.” The Iraqi Ministry of Finance “had not developed financial reports for DFI funds spent in 2003, and told CPA officials that financial data for November and December was lost.”

In one case, the CPA distributed $1.5 billion in cash to Iraqi banks, yet financial reports from Iraqi ministries accounted for $498 million.

Compounding the inexperience and corruption of Iraqi officials was incompetence on the part of Presidential Medal of Freedom winner Paul Bremer and the CPA, which failed to provide competition for Iraqi contracts, and in some cases failed to acquire contract authority or documentation.

It also hired inexperienced consultants to watch over funds. In order to conduct government mandated accounting, the CPA hired NorthStar Consultants. Guess what? They weren’t certified public accounts. Unsurprisingly, NorthStar “did not perform a review of internal controls as required.”

Last Sunday, 60 Minutes thankfully aired a piece that shed more light on the missing money (their conclusion? “Nobody really knows exactly where that $8.8 billion went”). But aside from the CBS news program, and several political commentators (including one Minnesotan), there’s been little priority in the media and government on retrieving the vanished money.

Last summer, Al asked Senator George Allen and several national reporters why there’s been so little action. All responded they had never heard of the case.

Perhaps, then, it’s no surprise little has happened since Democrats and the Inspector General raised a fuss about the missing money early last year. When asked about whether the government is doing anything to get the money back, 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft replied that “so far we have not been able to find a single case of any government agency filing suit to try and recover money lost to fraud or waste.”

Here’s where you can help.

Using our handy MVP tool, sign our petition demanding a Congressional investigation of the missing 8.8 billion dollars in Iraq. Your support will pressure Congress to take action on this important problem, and gain attention to the administration’s bungling of the Iraqi reconstruction.

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Become an MVP!

Become an MVP!

In the coming weeks, MidwestValuesPAC.org will be adding exciting new community features, multimedia, opportunities to get politically involved in local and national progressive causes, and information about ways you can meet and greet Al.

Besides visiting MidwestValuesPAC.org in excess of ten times a day, how can you stay in the loop? Sign-up for our email list and we’ll alert you to our exciting developments.