The following article by Susan Du was posted on the CityPages website October 27, 2017:
Credit: Jared Yamahata
Minnesota’s three Republican congressmen — Tom Emmer, Jason Lewis, and Erik Paulsen — share an essential creed. Americans are being overtaxed. Government spending is out of control. And the national debt — now at $20 trillion — is an outrage.
Paulsen has called the debt the “single biggest threat to national security.”
Lewis vowed in May to “protect our children’s future from Washington’s unsustainable and reckless spending … by funding programs that actually work for Americans and making sensible reforms to tackle the debt.”
Republican Representatives Tom Emmer, Erik Paulsen, and Jason Lewis today voted to pass a budget that will hurt Minnesotan families. The budget makes drastic cuts to vital programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. It eliminates the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction, which saves Minnesotans thousands of dollars per year. On top of that, it is predicted to increase the budget deficit by at least $1.5 trillion.
“A budget is a moral document, and the Republican budget is a moral failure,” DFL Chairman Ken Martin said. “Minnesotans deserve a budget that ensures financial stability for the country–and for their family. This document does neither. It cuts critical programs that help working families keep food on the table while putting our nation on the path of economic disaster. Republican Representatives Emmer, Paulsen, and Lewis must be held accountable for voting for this misguided budget that will harm the nation’s economy, and Minnesotan’s pocketbooks.”Continue reading “Republican Representative Paulsen Votes for Budget Cuts that Will Hurt Minnesotan Families”
The following column by Sirish Samba was posted on the Sun-Sailor website October 18, 2017:
Sirish Samba is a Minnetonka business owner.
I am convinced that the best opportunities come at the most challenging times.
The year 2008 was not the best year for small business owners. The Minnesota economy, like that in many states, was hit hard by the Great Recession and many companies faced the reality of insecure funding streams.
Our company, Sambatek, was no exception. We were primarily a land development/municipal engineering firm that specialized in designing retail stores, apartment buildings, hotels and municipal infrastructure projects. Our services were not of much use in an economic bust.
But as a civil engineer, I was trained to see the solution that might be hidden to others. And I saw the recession as an opportunity to grow our company in a new direction. We decided to create a new specialty in transportation, including public transportation.
It has been almost 10 years and we have never looked back.
By 2014, we were the 48th fastest growing company in the country, with offices in Minnesota and North Dakota. We could not have become as successful as we have without a devoted staff and, strange as it may seem, sustained public investment in our public transportation systems.
When our government prioritizes public transportation, it not only keeps our systems running, but it spawns job creation in companies all along the supply chain.
Our firm employs 100 professionals in what we often refer to as the “Sambatek family.” Plain and simple, we would not be able to provide sustainable careers for these individuals without local, state and federal investment in public transportation.
Currently, we are working on several projects with Metro Transit including the Blue Line Extension and Southwest LRT projects. Not only do these projects provide jobs for hardworking Minnesotans, but they will spur economic growth in our state once they are completed.
Already, the Southwest LRT corridor has experienced more than $515 million in new development in anticipation of the project’s completion, according to a report by the American Public Transportation Association. Once it’s done, estimates hold that the line will create 16,600 jobs near the new stations and 18,500 jobs in downtown Minneapolis.
The Blue Line Extension corridor’s development has grown from $358 million in spring 2016 to $489 million today. It is estimated that, once completed, the Blue Line Extension’s 11 new stations will mean 4,600 new jobs along the route – a 30-percent growth for the region, not to mention the 20,000 jobs created downtown.
So when the federal government invests in public transportation, it’s doing much more than creating a rail in a vacuum. It is supporting small businesses, creating jobs within the supply chain, and facilitating long-term economic growth and long-term jobs.
When politicians fund public transportation, they are investing in our communities and in economic development.
Both the Southwest and the Blue Line Extension LRT rely on several different funding streams, including federal investment. They are both recipients of Capital Investment Grants (CIG grants), which come from the federal government.
Yet federal allocation for public transportation is far from secure. I am calling on Congressman Erik Paulsen and others to designate vital transportation resources in the federal budget next year.
Our politicians often speak about their focus on job creation and economic growth. They can act on these priorities and create real change in their districts and across the country with designated funding for public transportation.
After all, it is more than just the transit systems that benefit from this investment. Our employees would not have jobs without federal investment in Metro Transit’s system.
It was federal investment in public transportation that set our company on a pathway of growth back in 2008 – and what has kept us successful all these years.
I hope that if our politicians truly care about job creation and supporting small businesses in our country, they will support and fund public transportation.
My Congressman, Erik Paulsen, when asked about the shootings in Las Vegas and possible new regulations concerning guns responded “no comment.”
Really? No comment in face of the worst mass shooting in our current history? It is bad enough Mr. Paulsen will not meet with his voters in the 3rd District in a public meeting, but now he doesn’t respond to simple questions from the press.
Rep. Paulsen received over $20,000 since 2007 from the NRA so we know why he votes the way the NRA approves. In my opinion this $20,000 is blood money and should be returned to the NRA or donated to a local charity. Continue reading “Paulsen should donate NRA campaign contributions”
I read the commentary by John Albers questioning the positions of Eric (sic) Paulsen. I have always believed that actions speak louder than words. Paulsen campaigned as a moderate in this district. Regardless of your political party, no thinking person can call this administration’s positions as moderate. Yet Paulsen has voted with the administration on practically every legislative effort of the administration. I am hard pressed to find a single bill or executive action that Paulsen has not supported.
We know many of you aren’t on Rep Paulsen’s list. And, many more have been bumped from the list. So, here’s a link tothe latest survey for you to complete. Granted, there isn’t a plan in place, and not much information has been made available (kind of like with the health care bill he voted for).
The free press is the gatekeeper to our democracy, contrary to what the current rants emanating from D.C. would like you to believe. The beauty of City Pages is that you have the courage, confidence, and conscience to speak the truth of power and to challenge the status quo. Cory Zurowski’s excellent investigative journalism has made a public record of the reality of Erik Paulsen.
No other news organization has taken interest in this congressman who has been serving out-of-state moneyed, special interest groups and extreme ideologues, as opposed to his constituents. No other news organization has taken the time to thoroughly investigate Paulsen and present these truths. In fact, the Star Tribune continually endorses Paulsen to the detriment of my district, state and nation. Continue reading “Erik Paulsen is the poster child for a failed Congress”
The following article by Cory Zurowski was posed on the CityPages website October 11, 2017:
Hilary and Lemar Gilreath’s 3-year-old son started life at a deficit, born six weeks early and weighing less than three pounds.
Erik Paulsen has become the very politician he used to claim to hate. Credit: Jared Yamahata
Over the ensuing 30 months, Logan would be diagnosed with autism, spina bifida, and sensory processing disorder. The onslaught of illnesses posed problems with walking, the ability to communicate, and a brain that struggled to receive information.
Hilary is a patient rep for Allina Health. Lemar works in tech support for a trucking company. The Edina couple receives health insurance through work, which covers 80 percent of Logan’s medical costs. But the tab for caring for a special needs child doesn’t come cheap. One MRI can cost $31,000. Logan’s autism day school runs $800 per week. Twice-weekly therapy sessions ring in at $200 a pop.
If you haven’t been able to attend any of our earlier DFL Congressional Candidate forums, we have one scheduled in November. Here are the specifics:
Where: Council Chamber, Minnetonka Community Center, 14600 Minnetonka Blvd, Minnetonka, MN 55345
When: Wednesday, November 15, 2017 (this is in place for the monthly CD3 DFL Central Committee meeting). Doors open at 6:00 PM. Forum begins at 6:30 PM.
Dean Phillips’s life did not begin as many expect. His birth father, Artie Pfefer, was killed in Vietnam when Dean was just six months old. Two years later, his mother DeeDee married Eddie Phillips, who adopted Dean and both nurtured and mentored him until his
untimely passing in 2011. Dean attended elementary school in Edina and grew up playing hockey and wading in Nine Mile Creek. After graduating college, Dean worked his way up at the family business, eventually becoming CEO of Phillips Distilling Company. He later left to help turn Talenti Gelato into the best-selling gelato brand, and now co-owns and operates Penny’s Coffee, a small business where they voluntarily pay their employees a livable wage. Dean has two daughters, Daniela (19) and Pia (17) and a new dog named Henry. He is running for Congress to bring inclusive, responsible and independent-minded leadership back to Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District.
