During the Aug. 21 Twin West Chamber Debate between Congressman Erik Paulsen and Dean Phillips, Paulsen made questionable statements that will lead to fact checkers’ “pants-on-fire scores,” including:
Paulsen Claim: “Number six? I don’t know where you get that number from.”
Fact check: False. Paulsen is ranked number six <https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/top-recipients> from special interest raised from Super PACs.
Paulsen Claim: “The good news is you have young people graduating from college that don’t have as much of a challenge paying off student loans. There’s upward mobility.”
Fact check: False. “At nearly $1.4 trillion in loans outstanding, student debt is now the second-largest source of household debt and is the only form of consumer debt that continued to grow in the wake of the Great Recession.” -Brookings Institute<https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-looming-student-loan-default-crisis-is-worse-than-we-thought/>
Paulsen Claim: Towards Dean Phillips “You’re now accepting and taking money from three Super PACs.”
Fact check: False. Dean Phillips has accepted zero dollars from Super PACs<https://www.opensecrets.org/races/candidates?cycle=2018&id=MN03&spec=N>. It is ILLEGAL to coordinate with Super PACs, and the only thing that can be done is to sign the People’s Pledge – which he challenged Terri Bonoff to do in 2016, and which is included in the MN Way
Paulsen Claim: “I’m not a fan of the light rail, the Southwest. Now we don’t advocate for that in congress, we don’t play a role in that.”
Fact check: True. Congressman Paulsen has continued to ignore this project that is crucial to businesses and city leaders and families in CD 3.