The State Fair is here and I would love to see you at our booth at Judson and Underwood, right across from one of the entrances to the Dairy (Empire Commons) building.  So on your way to visit the Princess Kay of the Milky Way butter carving, please stop by.  Our volunteers have built a house this year, and it is spectacular, complete with the address "2006."  We chose a house to focus on the struggles facing middle class families in our country today.  Costs for health care, gas, college and buying a home have sky-rocketed, while Congress keeps spending money like crazy on giveaways to drug and oil companies.  Stop by and get some information about my plan to help first-time home buyers afford a home.  It is a unique proposal which allows first-time homebuyers making under $120,000 a year to actually use the credit to pay for their closing costs.

How do we find the bucks to pay for things that actually help the people of our state?  How do we focus on the big bold challenges that confront us like health care, energy, and education?  As we say at our office when we're looking at a white collar case, "follow the money," and you'll find the bad guys.  

Just this month it came to light that billionaires have been sheltering money in places like Bermuda to the tune of $70 billion in tax shelters. That's outrageous.  Drug companies got something like $90 billion a year from Medicare Part D when Congress banned negotiations on prices.  When I talk to small-business owners trying their best to keep health insurance for their employees, families working several jobs to send their kids to college, and workers trying to figure out how to give their parents get help as they get older, I know we can do better.

We put a new ad out this week called "Follow the Money" that succinctly makes the point.  If you haven't seen it yet, please click here:

http://amyklobuchar.com/media/video/

This month, with a kick-off rally with Senator John Edwards at the Capitol, our family set out on our North Star Tour,  meeting with people across the State to talk about the issues that matter to them.  John is picking Abigail up at camp today in Bemidji and from there they are setting off to points north while I greet friends at the Fair.  

I can tell you that from Albert Lea to Northfield to Elk River to Cambridge to Duluth, people are ready for change in Washington.  They want to see more than empty promises--they want a change of course in Iraq, actual progress in the areas of energy independence and affordable health care and education, and an end to the corruption and crazy spending on so many things that don't help the people of our state.  I am determined to get things done in Washington and put the people of our state in front of the big oil and drug companies and the Halliburtons of this world.  That's why I'm running for Senate.  You can see the pictures from our travels around the state in our photo gallery and see articles about our visits during the past eighteen months in the News section .    

To win this race, it is going to take your financial help and it is also going to take your determination.  Determination to tell everyone you know why this election is so important -- determination to forward our emails to friends and family and ask them to volunteer and contribute .  Determination to help out with phonebanking and doorknocking and lawn signs and bumper stickers.  

Please sign up to volunteer online or at the Fair (where you can also pick-up lawnsigns) or email Lizzie Nelson, our Volunteer Coordinator at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or call the campaign at 651-714-2006.

Together, we will make a difference.

Sincerely,

Amy Klobuchar