Senator Coleman Proudly Stands by his Record of Getting Things Done for the People of Minnesota
The Minnesota DFL Party’s repeated attempts to distort Senator Coleman’s record on these important issues in an effort to score political points yet again turns out to be more make-believe than reality.
Partisan Critics Claim:
Coleman Takes Big Money from Special Interests.
The Facts Say:
Senator Coleman continues to be a strong, independent voice in the U.S. Senate who puts the best interest of the citizens of Minnesota first. His voting record places him consistently among the most independent Republicans in the Senate.
Senator Coleman has incredible support from Minnesota donors to his campaign. He is proud of the support he's received from employees of companies that benefit the good of the state and people who support the way Senator Coleman votes and the job he is doing representing Minnesota in the Senate. Senator Coleman doesn't base his votes on the amount of money he receives, whether it's five dollars or 5,000.
"So far, Franken far outpaces the field in outsider contributions, with 77 percent of his individual donations coming from non-Minnesotans. Coleman follows with 60 percent." (Pat Doyle, "All politics local? Not in U.S. Senate race," Star Tribune, January 20, 2008)
Partisan Critics Claim:
Coleman Supports Making Bush’s Tax Cuts Permanent
The Facts Say:
Raising taxes on hardworking Americans and their families during a time of economic slowdown is not only counterproductive but is bad policy. More money should be put back where it belongs, in the pockets of American taxpayers who best know how to meet their own needs, and that is why Senator Coleman continues to support making the tax cuts permanent.
What's more, it is undeniable that the Bush tax cuts have helped working families. Thanks to these policies, a family of four making $40,000 will receive $2,010 in tax relief this year. 116 million taxpayers will see their taxes decline by an average of $2,420. Over 6 million individuals and families will see their income tax liabilities completely eliminated. 45 million families with children will receive average tax relief of $3,184. 16 million elderly individuals will save an average of $3,052. And 27 million small business owners will save an average of $5,169.
Senator Coleman voted for tax cuts for every American, as well as the Alternative Minimum Tax and marriage penalty relief, expanding the 10% bracket, and increasing the child tax credit to $1,000.
Partisan Critics Claim:
Coleman Helped Protect $5 Billion Big Oil Tax Windfall.
The Facts Say:
Senator Coleman believes energy tax incentives should go where energy development is needed for our national, energy, and environmental security, and that’s why he has voted at least four times in the Senate to shift energy tax incentives where we need them most –away from oil and gas companies and to renewables and energy efficiency. Senator Coleman has also introduced a bill to take away oil and gas tax incentives in order to pay for fuel relief for the poor. When Senator Coleman voted for reconciliation in the last Congress, he voted for fiscal responsibility, extension of the MILC program, and for protecting Minnesota’s sugar farmers from proposed cuts – he did not endorse the oil and gas provisions in the bill.
Partisan Critics Claim:
Coleman Voted For Medicare Prescription Drug Bill Heavily Tilted Towards Drug Companies.
The Facts Say:
Senator Coleman supported the Medicare prescription drug bill, which gave over 90% of seniors- including over half a million Minnesotans- prescription drug coverage for the first time in history.
Additionally, Senator Coleman was one of six Republicans to vote to move forward and consider legislation to lift the ban on Medicare involvement in drug price negotiation.
Partisan Critics Claim:
Star Tribune Slammed Coleman for Supporting Bankruptcy Bill.
The Facts Say:
The Bankruptcy Bill, which passed in 2005 by a bipartisan vote of 74-25, curbs abuse of bankruptcy protections, promotes responsible borrowing through consumer education and tougher requirements on lenders to disclose risks, protects patients in bankrupt hospitals from having their medical records sold, and includes debt-repayment exemptions for the poor and deductions for education and medical bills. Under this bill, individuals who earn less than their state’s median income and owe debts will still be able to wipe them out, as they have always been able to. The legislation also permits payment deductions for a family’s medical expenses and school tuition. The bill prohibits credit card companies from advertising deceptively low rates, and requires them to provide a toll free number for consumers to get information on how long it will take to pay off their balance. The bill creates penalties for creditors who file bad faith motions to try to collect on debts.
Partisan Critics Claim:
Coleman Protected Tax Breaks at the Expense of Veterans Funding.
The Facts Say:
Senator Coleman has voted 30 times to increase funding for Veterans’ programs in a real and effective way while in the Senate. Since Senator Coleman has been in the Senate, funding for Veterans’ programs has increased 67% percent from $52.38 billion in Fiscal Year 2002 to $87.5 billion in Fiscal Year 2008. He has rejected Democrats’ attempts to massively raise taxes and increase the burden on American families in political ploys to claim additional increases to federal spending.
Partisan Critics Claim:
Senator Coleman Voted Against Help for Homeowners Facing Foreclosure.
The Facts Say:
This week, Senator Coleman joined 93 of his colleagues in supporting a motion to move ahead on a housing package immediately. Earlier this year, Senator Coleman voted against a procedural motion on a Democrat bill because the bill contained another harmful proposal by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) that would allow for the “cram down” of mortgage principal. At the time, Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) would not guarantee that he would allow any amendments to be offered to this legislation to fix the bill’s shortcomings, including this one by Senator Durbin. Senator Durbin’s proposal would have the serious unintended consequence of hurting borrowers by significantly raising the costs of mortgages. Senator Coleman believes that in the current environment of a severe housing downturn and tighter mortgage credit, the last thing we should be doing is making it even more difficult for the housing market to recover by limiting the ability of future homebuyers, particularly low-income Americans, from owning their own homes. This week, Majority Leader Reid announced that both sides had agreed to come together and he did not call up this Democratic bill again and instead the Senate will proceed on a bipartisan bill.
Senator Coleman is a supporter of an alternative mortgage bankruptcy relief proposal offered by Senator Specter (R-PA), S. 2133. Senator Coleman is also a co-sponsor of the SAFE Act, which contains a number of non-controversial mortgage and housing relief measures that would have a tremendous and positive impact for many Americans if they were allowed to come to a vote on the Senate floor. In addition, Senator Coleman introduced the Community Foreclosure Assistance Act in December 2007, with Senator Pat Leahy (D-VT) as a cosponsor, to provide emergency Community Development Block Grant funding to communities to respond to the fallout from the subprime crisis.
Partisan Critics Claim:
Coleman Cast Crucial Vote For the Largest Student Loan Cuts in History.
The Facts Say:
The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which Senator Coleman supported, not only increased student aid programs, but cut federal spending by $38.8 billion over five years, putting more money back into the pockets of taxpayers. The DRA created $12 billion in savings by targeting the profits banks were making off of student loans, such as lender yield rates, insurance, administrative costs, and default fee recovery, among other things. The DRA then put $4.5 billion of that savings BACK into two new student aid programs: Academic Competitiveness grants and SMART grants.
Senator Coleman has been a strong advocate for increasing funding for Pell grants during his time in the Senate with Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Russ Feingold (D-WI). He has also helped lead the effort to fund TRIO/Upward Bound, Perkins Loan program and the GEAR UP program. Last year, he introduced the College Textbook Affordability Act to reduce the astronomical cost of college textbooks. He also worked to create the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education grants program.
Partisan Critics Claim:
Coleman Voted Against Renewable Energy Alternatives, Green Jobs.
The Facts Say:
Senator Coleman has been a champion of renewable energy and energy innovation during his time in the Senate. He’s worked to pass legislation that will increase production of biofuels, wind, biomass, and clean coal energy. He also supports building a vibrant renewable fuels industry in this country by giving farmers the support they need in the Farm Bill, continuing to expand America’s ethanol infrastructure, and developing flex fuel technologies.
Senator Coleman is building a strong Energy Title in the Farm Bill from his seat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, and has introduced several bipartisan bills to free America from foreign energy dependence, including the Dependence Reduction through Innovation in Vehicles and Energy Act (DRIVE Act), co-authored with Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), that now enjoys 24 cosponsors in the Senate. A number of the provisions in this legislation were included in the 2007 energy bill.
Back To The Truth