Al Franken

Thirty-seven percent. OK. And compared to other defined benefit pensions in this country, how's Social Security doing in terms of solvency, would you say?

In fact, some in North Dakota say he created them.

That doesn't answer my question, though, really.

It seems that coal is doing pretty well without subsidies. It is very plentiful.

We have countries like China that are aggressively pursuing these, right, like solar and wind?

But, this was started in 1935, and has worked in this system.

We are a national leader in renewables, especially wind and biofuels.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

So this basically sounds to me like insured Oregonians are subsidizing uninsured Oregonians.

Your job is to resolve all these claims on someone when they go bankrupt, right?

You just have been a real leader on bankruptcy issues, and I applaud you for your work in this area.

I fought for that, which basically says that insurance companies that have large group policies have to use 85 percent of the premiums that they get on actual health care.

One of those paragraphs I would think that people do like, is getting rid of preexisting conditions as a reason to discriminate against a child or a patient; right? That's pretty popular; isn't it?

What if I told you that monthly premiums for Massachusetts's businesses... rose, on an average of 6.9 percent?

I've co-sponsored an amendment or bill to actually get rid of that burden; and I think we will.

I think this is really a discussion about a comprehensive health care reform, and not just cherry picking certain paragraphs.

So, isn't that the reason for the mandate? So, in other words, when I hear my friends who are opposed to this reform say, 'Well, we really like the nondiscrimination against people with preexisting conditions, but then you can buy a health…

I rise today to talk about the growing threat of corporate control on the flow of information in this country. Today we have been debating incredibly important issues, and I don't mean to detract from any of them. We need to be doing…

I rise to discuss missile defense and the New START treaty. Missile defense is one of the persistent areas of concern of the treaty raised by some of my colleagues. However, the reasonable questions that have been raised on the subject can…

I ask the chairman, when this Senator was presiding, another Senator was on the floor saying that we got this in May, and now it is close to the end of the year, and it is outrageous that we are doing it now. I ask Senator Kerry, didn't he…

I believe that Minnesotans deserve a better deal than this one. But unfortunately, this is the one we have. For Minnesota's middle class, there is a lot in this bill that will not only be helpful but is absolutely critical. It stops their…

I rise to speak about extending tax cuts to all Americans on income up to $250,000. I was presiding this Monday when one of my friends on the other side of the aisle was speaking on the floor, and he said with great conviction: ``We need…

this is like when--after the Cold War ended there was going to be this peace dividend, and we reduced the size of the military, and we increased contractors as we needed them; and then found that we were in a war for 9 or 10 years, and…

I hear the frustration in their voices when they explain that their benefit determinations have taken years to process.

They shouldn't just keep going because that's what they've done before.