Franken, McFadden trade campaign jabs

The race for U.S. Senate heated up Friday with Sen. Al Franken releasing an ad attacking challenger Mike McFadden’s firm for “exploiting a Bermuda tax haven” and Republicans continuing to hammer Franken on foreign policy. Until he left last year to run for the Senate, McFadden was co-CEO of Lazard Middle Market, a Minneapolis investment bank that’s a subsidiary of Lazard Ltd., which is incorporated in Bermuda. McFadden’s company “uses a special tax loophole to list its headquarters offshore and avoid paying millions of dollars in taxes in America,” says the ad. McFadden spokesman Tom Erickson called Franken’s ad “nothing but a desperate attempt by Democrats to turn attention away from the failed Obama-Franken foreign policy agenda that is creating chaos around the globe.” A statement by McFadden’s campaign said Lazard Middle Market is incorporated in Delaware and that it deals primarily with U.S. businesses, plus its U.S. revenues are taxed in this country. Lazard Middle Market sometimes works with its parent on deals, and it pays management fees to the larger entity for services it receives. McFadden’s most recent financial disclosure report filed with the Senate showed he owns between $1.3 million and $2.75 million worth of unvested shares of Lazard Ltd.
In the statement, the McFadden campaign blamed Franken and President Barack Obama for failing to reform the tax code and thus “encouraging companies to move their headquarters overseas.” It also pointed out that Franken himself is invested in the Lazard parent company as part of a mutual fund of “socially responsive” stocks. The Franken campaign has dismissed the senator’s Lazard investment as a tiny portion of his assets and not under his direct control. Focusing abroad Foreign affairs has been the Republicans’ theme much of the week. State GOP chair Keith Downey said Wednesday that Franken hasn’t taken a clear stand on Iraq and Syria, and McFadden on Thursday accused Franken of failing to address the problem of Minnesota youth being recruited to fight with international terrorist groups. “It was not until this past Tuesday that Senator Franken thought this was an issue worth addressing,” said McFadden in a statement, referring to a letter Franken wrote Tuesday asking the Justice Department to step up efforts to block the recruitment activity. “We need more than a senator who pens an angry letter in hopes that action will occur.” On Friday, Republican military veterans, including state lawmakers Bruce Anderson and Bob Dettmer, blamed Franken and Obama for the “mess in Iraq.” The Franken campaign released a statement saying it was “delighted with Mr. McFadden’s newfound concern with terrorism,” noting he has avoided questions on Syria and the Patriot Act in the past. “Senator Franken has been working on these issues since his first FBI briefing on terrorist recruitment in our communities soon after joining the Senate in 2009,” the statement said. Veteran care Adding to the partisan sniping Friday, McFadden called for an immediate investigation into a KARE-TV report about falsification of medical records at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center and said Franken had let veterans down “by allowing the VA waitlist scandal to fester here in our own backyard.” The report quotes two former employees who said they were fired after trying to bring to light what they said was pressure to falsify records to hide delays, potentially putting patients’ health at risk. They said they were told by a supervisor to keep a secret, off-the-books patient waiting list. Hospital officials have denied the allegations. Minnesota Congressmen Erik Paulsen and Tim Walz have called for investigations of the new allegations. Franken issued a statement Friday saying, “As I said months ago, I strongly believe that problems identified at VA facilities in Minnesota needed to be investigated, and it’s disturbing to find out that the problems may be far worse than we were initially told.” Franken supported further scrutiny following a VA audit this summer that identified problems at the Minneapolis facility and a Rochester clinic, and he has pushed for legislation to increase accountability at the VA, according to his Senate office. The Pioneer Press is a media partner with Forum News Service.The race for U.S. Senate heated up Friday with Sen. Al Franken releasing an ad attacking challenger Mike McFadden’s firm for “exploiting a Bermuda tax haven” and Republicans continuing to hammer Franken on foreign policy.Until he left last year to run for the Senate, McFadden was co-CEO of Lazard Middle Market, a Minneapolis investment bank that’s a subsidiary of Lazard Ltd., which is incorporated in Bermuda.McFadden’s company “uses a special tax loophole to list its headquarters offshore and avoid paying millions of dollars in taxes in America,” says the ad.McFadden spokesman Tom Erickson called Franken’s ad “nothing but a desperate attempt by Democrats to turn attention away from the failed Obama-Franken foreign policy agenda that is creating chaos around the globe.”A statement by McFadden’s campaign said Lazard Middle Market is incorporated in Delaware and that it deals primarily with U.S. businesses, plus its U.S. revenues are taxed in this country. Lazard Middle Market sometimes works with its parent on deals, and it pays management fees to the larger entity for services it receives.McFadden’s most recent financial disclosure report filed with the Senate showed he owns between $1.3 million and $2.75 million worth of unvested shares of Lazard Ltd.
In the statement, the McFadden campaign blamed Franken and President Barack Obama for failing to reform the tax code and thus “encouraging companies to move their headquarters overseas.”It also pointed out that Franken himself is invested in the Lazard parent company as part of a mutual fund of “socially responsive” stocks. The Franken campaign has dismissed the senator’s Lazard investment as a tiny portion of his assets and not under his direct control.Focusing abroadForeign affairs has been the Republicans’ theme much of the week.State GOP chair Keith Downey said Wednesday that Franken hasn’t taken a clear stand on Iraq and Syria, and McFadden on Thursday accused Franken of failing to address the problem of Minnesota youth being recruited to fight with international terrorist groups.“It was not until this past Tuesday that Senator Franken thought this was an issue worth addressing,” said McFadden in a statement, referring to a letter Franken wrote Tuesday asking the Justice Department to step up efforts to block the recruitment activity.“We need more than a senator who pens an angry letter in hopes that action will occur.”On Friday, Republican military veterans, including state lawmakers Bruce Anderson and Bob Dettmer, blamed Franken and Obama for the “mess in Iraq.”The Franken campaign released a statement saying it was “delighted with Mr. McFadden’s newfound concern with terrorism,” noting he has avoided questions on Syria and the Patriot Act in the past.“Senator Franken has been working on these issues since his first FBI briefing on terrorist recruitment in our communities soon after joining the Senate in 2009,” the statement said.Veteran careAdding to the partisan sniping Friday, McFadden called for an immediate investigation into a KARE-TV report about falsification of medical records at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center and said Franken had let veterans down “by allowing the VA waitlist scandal to fester here in our own backyard.”The report quotes two former employees who said they were fired after trying to bring to light what they said was pressure to falsify records to hide delays, potentially putting patients’ health at risk.They said they were told by a supervisor to keep a secret, off-the-books patient waiting list.Hospital officials have denied the allegations.Minnesota Congressmen Erik Paulsen and Tim Walz have called for investigations of the new allegations.Franken issued a statement Friday saying, “As I said months ago, I strongly believe that problems identified at VA facilities in Minnesota needed to be investigated, and it’s disturbing to find out that the problems may be far worse than we were initially told.”Franken supported further scrutiny following a VA audit this summer that identified problems at the Minneapolis facility and a Rochester clinic, and he has pushed for legislation to increase accountability at the VA, according to his Senate office.The Pioneer Press is a media partner with Forum News Service.