The Minnesota Independent is running a live video feed of Al Franken's appearance at Iowa Senator Tom Harkin's annual steak fry. Link after the jump.
U.S. Sen. Al Franken is the featured speaker at the Harkin Steak Fry in Iowa today. He is scheduled to take the podium at 3:10 p.m., right after event namesake Sen. Tom Harkin. The hourlong program should start at 2:30 p.m. Live streaming video after the jump.
Harkin bills his event as a stop for Democrats on their way up: In 2007 the event’s speakers included, among other Democratic presidential wannabes, a first-term U.S. Senator from Illinois named Barack Obama.
Link
I'm listening to Al's address live and his talk is centering on Health Care reform. He just quoted Senator DeMint's statement about stopping health care reform because it would be President Obama's Waterloo. It's true--this isn't about President Obama, this is about people's lives. The woman in Fergus Falls, MN, with diabetes who cannot afford insulin for both herself and her son, so they share one prescription. He also quoted another woman who came up to him at the MN State Fair and said, when you're elderly, EVERYTHING is a pre-existing condition.
The link also includes links for then-Senator Barack Obama's address at the Harkin steak fry in 2007. I hope they will post Al's address once it is complete.
Al Franken -- "We're paying for sick care, not paying for health care."
UPDATE: Senator Franken goes on to tell the story about his wife, Franni. Her father died in a car accident on the way home from a double shift at his job. She was a baby. Al told this story often during his campaign and it always brings a tear to my eye. Franni's family survived on social security. She and her siblings received high education through Pell Grants and scholarships. Her brother served in the Coast Guard and received an education to become an Electrical Engineer. (He is still with the Coast Guard.) Franni's mother received money to fix the roof on their house but used it, instead, to go to college. Each and every one of their family became productive members of society. The GOP likes to say that people just need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Well, as Al tells it, you need the boots first before you can pull yourself up--and Social Security provided 'the boots' to Franni's family when they needed it. GREAT example of how government can help its citizens.
There seems to be a technical difficulty at the moment as the live feed has gone off the air. Here's hoping they restore it soon. However, it seemed Senator Franken was about to wrap up his remarks. He needs to get back to Minneapolis for an event he is co-hosting for Wellstone Action. Safe travels, Senator Franken!
UPDATE 2: I haven't seen the full video of Senator Franken's address posted on YouTube (yet). However, he did mention the confrontation he had at the MN State Fair by some tea baggers. I thought it would help to add a link to Dusty Trice's video: link