The upcoming election is again subjecting voters to inflammatory and deceptive advertisements by candidates and special interest to artificial divide our country.
Recognizing that these divisive advertisements have some success in creating harmful divisions, I have faith we can still agree on something: Congress isn’t working as confirmed by Gallup Inc.’s 40 years of polling America’s approval of Congress. Since 2010 approval of Congress has hovered between 10 percent and 20 percent. The institution is broken. Why?
Listening to eulogies for Sen. John McCain, I was struck by one speaker’s words of the senator: “He did understand that some principals transcend politics, that some values transcend party. … he understood that if we get in the habit of bending the truth to suit political expediency or party orthodoxy, our democracy will not work.”
“Bending the truth” by career politicians is one cause of our dysfunctional Congress, and Erik Paulsen, Minnesota’s 3rd District representative, is a contributor. Notwithstanding, Paulsen is the sixth top recipient of PAC money out of all 435 U.S. House representatives, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Paulsen’s assertion on WCCO and MPR that he’s “held over 100 town halls” and his recent TwinWest Chamber of Commerce debate assertion of “being accessible” are just two egregious examples.
A subtler and equally disturbing illustration of Paulsen’s truth bending is his representation of his private-sector work experience. Paulsen’s identifies himself as a “businessman” in the U.S Government Biographical Directory. His congressional website states: “Erik brings real-world experience … with over 16 years of business experience.”
I called Paulsen’s office asking for detail on his “real-world business experience.”
In my final conversation with Paulsen’s office, Alex Stanford, Paulsen’s district outreach coordinator, finally stated that the congressman had been elected and re-elected with employment information already in the public realm and they would not provide any additional detail.
In lieu of transparency from Paulsen, I researched his employment history. It was difficult to find. He spent two years at Cable Value Network post-college before entering politics in 1989 to begin five years of employment with politicians Rudy Boschwitz and Jim Ramstad. He was then elected to the state Legislature in 1995 and served 14 years before election to Congress in 2009. While in state Legislature, he worked part-year for All Systems Go Inc., NavPoint Financial, then part-time at Target Corp., according to the Pioneer Press. As for his responsibilities, who knows?
Paulsen’s 14 years of part-year private-sector work experience as an employee for three different employers while serving in state Legislature does not equate to “16 years real-world business experience” or make him a “businessman.” His congressional bio is deceptively bent.
To fix Congress, we need to remove career politicians that are “bending the truth” for any cause, including “to suit political expediency or party orthodoxy.”
The Nov. 6 midterm election is an opportunity to start the repair. Be a voter.
John Albers, Minnetonka
Eden Prairie News, October 4, 2018