DFL Senate candidate Al Franken had a welcoming audience Monday to announce an infrastructure plan.
Franken stood alongside U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., in Bayfront Park at the annual AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic. The two touted an infrastructure plan Franken is proposing that they believe will create nearly 150,000 jobs, $2 billion for infrastructure payments and $1 billion to build rail systems.
"I'm calling for a new stimulus package designed to create jobs, and bolster the middle class economy while at the same time doing something that our economy badly needs: rebuilding our infrastructure and investing in new transportation options," Franken said.
Franken said he would pay for the plan by asking for $7 billion intended to go toward Iraq's infrastructure instead to be redirect back to the United States.
A statement from Sen. Norm Coleman's re-election campaign said Franken was "behind the curve again."
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"Last month, Sen. Coleman proposed trimming reconstruction funds by $1 billion, with that money being immediately returned to U.S. taxpayers," the statement read. "Franken's proposal, if actually implemented, would threaten funds designated for emergency response by American troops in the field. [Coleman's] prudent approach is a first step, which will be followed by his efforts to identify greater amounts that can be rescinded in upcoming budget bills without threatening American security for its troops, or pulling the rug out of an increasingly stable Iraq."
