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  • From the Desk of Al Franken

The Luckiest Kid in the World

I was born in 1951 and grew up in a two-bedroom, one-bath rambler in St. Louis Park, a suburb of Minneapolis. My Dad never graduated high school and worked as a printing salesman. My mom was a real estate agent. We didn’t have much money, but I felt like the luckiest kid in the world. I felt I could do or be anything I wanted to be.

I don’t think kids (or parents) today feel the way I did when I was growing up. But I believe we can change that. 

The ‘50s were a period when the economy grew from the middle out. Why? Because unions were strong, corporations valued their employees, our public schools were (better) funded, and parents didn’t have to sell their souls to put their kids through college. You could be middle class, afford to own a home, and go on a vacation! Imagine that. 

But in the last several decades we’ve seen our economy and wealth grow at the top. There are now 735 billionaires in the U.S. When one of them, Donald Trump, was president, he and a Republican Congress passed a huge tax cut for corporations and high-income earners.

So here’s where the change comes in: electing people who believe what Paul Wellstone believed — that “we all do better when we all do better.”

By and large, the people who believe we all do better when we all do better are Democrats. President Biden and Democrats in Congress are committed to building the middle class so that every kid in America can feel like the luckiest kid in the world. And MVP is committed to helping them win.

Thanks!

Al

P.S. Then again, maybe Trump isn’t a billionaire. He seems to be having a hard time paying off a measly $454 million fine to the state of New York.

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Somehow, it’s been 20 years since I started Midwest Values PAC to help Democrats win elections — from progressive organizations to state legislatures to Congress to the White House — who share the values I grew up with in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

Since 2006, Midwest Values PAC has invested more than $4 million in 341 candidates and organizations — and counting. 

Of course, none of this happens without you (or supporters like you) who care enough to pitch in.

As we mark our 20th anniversary, the work is more urgent than ever. This year, we have a big job: flip the House, take the Senate, and win up and down the ballot at the state and local level.

To mark our 20th year, we’ve set an ambitious goal: 26,000 contributions by Election Day 2026.

DONATE HERE

Thanks for being part of this fight, and for sticking with us for 20 years (or for just joining — welcome!).

Al

P.S. Over the years, okay, decades, we’ve helped Democrats win tough races all across the country by investing early, intelligently, and strategically. That’s how you flip seats. That’s how you protect democracy. And that’s how you stop the worst impulses of a president who never should have been president in the first place.

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