Category: The Real Erik Paulsen

Open debates can air issues before election

To the Editor:

At Erik Paulsen’s recent town halls on May 30, he was asked many questions related to the health care, an issue about which I have a good deal of interest. Naturally, I was interested to hear Congressman Paulsen’s responses to these question. I was sadly disappointed. The Congressman was asked about the possibility of Medicare negotiating directly with the drug companies, something that over 90 percent of the country supports. The Congressman claimed the Congressional Budget Office had determined there would be no effect on drug prices. Actually, Congress has the authority to amend the Medicare Act requiring negotiated drug prices, which would result in significant discounts as seen elsewhere, as in Canada, for example.

Coincidently, at the Brooklyn Park Town Hall, there was a question related to the significantly lower drug prices in Canada. Congressman Paulsen’s response implied that Canada was stealing intellectual property from the USA in this regard. This bold claim was not supported with any facts or clarification. Unfortunately, the town hall format precluded a dialog, nor has a written inquiry to his office resulted in a response. We in CD3 deserve much more from our congressman. My intention here is to neither demonize Congressman Paulsen nor to confer sainthood on Dean Phillips, but I sure hope that, between now and Nov. 6, there will be open debates between Paulsen and challenger Phillips on heath care and many more issues. Airing out these issues in public will provide an opportunity to the well-educated constituents of CD3 to help separate rumor and innuendo from facts.

Derek Roek, Plymouth
Plymouth Sun-Sailor, June 13, 2018

Repeal the Legacy Amendment and outlaw gay marriage? GOP platform positions that might surprise you.

By DAVE ORRICK | dorrick@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press PUBLISHED: June 12, 2018 

The Republican Party of Minnesota wants to repeal the Legacy Amendment and outlaw gay marriage (again), two of a number of official party positions that might surprise some even within the GOP.

platformThe positions are contained in the Republican party’s official “standing platform” — a collection of positions on issues ranging from taxes to abortion — that was approved earlier this month at the state convention in Duluth.

A word of caution: Party platforms are notoriously skewed toward the fringes of the major political parties because they’re usually drafted by a party’s die-hard members. They’re living documents from previous years that may or may not feel up to date, depending on your view …

As such, many politicians brush off his or her party’s official platform — and frequently hold positions contrary to it. In fact, some activists in each party have tried to eliminate platforms altogether.  Still, the platforms are voted on by the convention delegates — the same delegates who voted to endorse, or not, candidates running for office. So if your party’s official endorsement matters, you might want to know something about its platform. And some will read these and say, “I agree 100 percent!”  Here are five from Minnesota’s Republican party.

REPEAL LEGACY AMENDMENT
In 2008, 56 percent of Minnesota voters approved the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, choosing to increase sales taxes to fund programs for clean water, protecting the outdoors, improving parks and trails, and preserving arts and cultural endeavors for the next 25 years. The resulting $2.3 billion in total spending has generally been pretty popular. Among lawmakers, the annual “Legacy Bill” is one of the few noteworthy appropriations that often receives resounding bipartisan support. There are detractors, often those who believe that the government should stop buying up land and taking it off property tax rolls — a sentiment echoed in other parts of the GOP platform.

Still, it might surprise some that the official GOP platform calls for its repeal. The position is contained in a section titled “Enjoy and Protect our Natural Resources” that includes a preamble supporting “sound science” and opposing policies “Based on the Theory of Man-Made Global Warming.”

Continue reading “Repeal the Legacy Amendment and outlaw gay marriage? GOP platform positions that might surprise you.”

Why Paulsen should support the VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act

By Nick Etten, MinnPost Community Voices

22 Veterans commit suicide dailyAs a former Navy SEAL officer turned veterans advocate, I hope our lawmakers will be inspired by their time spent on Memorial Day in somber remembrance of the fallen to redouble their support of the returned.

America’s veterans are in crisis. On average, 22 veterans commit suicide every day. Veterans suffer chronic severe pain at rates disproportionately higher than their civilian counterparts (roughly 40 percent higher, according to the National Institutes of Health), helping explain why the opioid crisis has hit veterans at a rate two times the national average. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), upwards of 20 percent of the 2.7 million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans will experience post-traumatic stress or depression.

While VA physicians are quick to prescribe powerful drug cocktails (opiates and benzodiazepines) in response to these and other service-related conditions, the federal government continues to deny veterans legal access to a demonstrably safer alternative treatment option: medical cannabis.

Continue reading “Why Paulsen should support the VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act”

GOP super PAC targets House districts with new $15M ad buys

Ben Kamisar from MSN reports:

The Congressional Leadership Fund, the outside group blessed by House GOP leadership, is … boosting spending in seven additional districts as well as in the Minneapolis media market, which reaches four competitive House districts. Two-thirds of the new spending ($10 million) will be devoted to protecting Republicans in six districts where CLF has already booked advertisers [including] Erik Paulsen (Minn.). more

Paulsen criticized for response to migrant separation issue

No U.S. law compels the separation of migrant parents and children.
LTE by Editorial Board Star Tribune JUNE 11, 2018 — 5:59PM

Tearing apart familiesThe brutal separation of children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border is an abomination for which there is no morally acceptable justification. It is a practice that simply must stop … This practice and the ensuing condemnation by other nations is particularly painful in Minnesota, a state with a rich history of extending an open hand to refugees and asylum-seekers.

Democratic senators — including U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith of Minnesota — have sent a letter asking for an end to family separation.

Republican U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen told an editorial writer that he is greatly concerned. “The U.S. has a reputation for accepting refugees. We don’t want to be in the position of forcibly breaking up families. That is just not what the U.S. is about.”

Indeed, it is not. But concerns must be followed by action, or the culpability for this tragedy in the making will extend to those who did nothing. more

You can check Rep. Paulsen’s voting record here.

Paulsen offers no solutions at town hall meetings

To the Editor:

I’m proud to be a Minnesotan. We value truth, honesty, integrity, and kindness. I sure wish my Congressional representative would stand up and “represent” those values, too.

When I asked Rep. Erik Paulsen (CD-3) at the May 30 town hall in Brooklyn Park what he’ll do in the next six months to stand up to the bully in the White House, he dove into the virtues of bipartisan legislation. Oh boy. This isn’t about legislation, it’s about principled leadership.

Minnesota’s Third Congressional District needs a bold advocate willing to stand up to the chief bully and his posse of lap dogs. Instead, we have Erik Paulsen, for now. Continue reading “Paulsen offers no solutions at town hall meetings”

Congressman Paulsen doesn’t tell the whole story

To the Editor:

In a recent campaign mailing I received from my Congressman Erik Paulsen, titled “Getting Results for Minnesota Seniors,” the congressman is pictured discussing issues “including health care and the national debt” with seniors. I wonder if he told the seniors that he co-sponsored the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that added $1.5 trillion to the national debt and voted three times to repeal the Affordable Care Act that would have left 32 million Americans without health care coverage.

He touts his efforts to repeal a cap on physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech language pathology services under Medicare and quotes AARP’s positive statement on repeal of the cap, but fails to mention that his tax bill will need to take millions of dollars from programs like Medicare to fund the tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. According to a letter sent to Congressional leadership, AARP CEO Jo Ann C. Jenkins condemned the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act because of the likelihood that it would lead to “dramatic cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and other important programs that serve older Americans.”

Congressman Paulsen can’t be counted on to tell the whole story. His campaign strategy appears to hinge on his constituents never checking his voting record.

Cindy Mundahl, Minnetonka
Minnetonka Sun-Sailor, June 5, 2018

Erik Paulsen’s NRA Rating

During the 2016 election, Rep. Erik Paulsen received a A rating from the NRA Political Victory Fund. You can view the email they sent to NRA members in CD3 here. He received an A- rating from the organization in 2011, a 93% rating in 2015, and 93% in 2017.

He has received $21,150 in campaign contributions from them, and has said he “would not rule out” taking even more in the future.

Since joining Congress, Erik Paulsen has voted:

  • to allow those convicted of felony domestic assault to possess pistols and semi-automatic weapons
  • to allow stalkers and those with restraining orders for harassing or threatening behavior to carry concealed weapons across state line
  • 21 times to block legislation that would prevent people on the U.S. terror watch list from purchasing guns
  • to weaken conceal-carry standards in Minnesota
  • repeatedly against bills to allow CDC research into gun violence (it’s currently against the law for this organization to look into this)
  • to block the creation of a Select Committee on Gun Violence
  • to allow guns on college campuses and in bars.

You can check his voting record on guns here

It’s a Mystery

It’s a mystery to me why Paulsen could not simply answer “yes” or “no” to a question asked by three different people at different times during the town-hall session I attended in Brooklyn Park. The first person could not have been more clear when she asked him to respond “yes” or “no” to whether he would accept funds from the National Rifle Association. Paulsen insulted her and the rest of us by responding that he did not expect any contribution from the NRA.

Did he think we were stupid and would not notice his issue avoidance? That is when our frustrations with yet another non-answer to a question from someone in attendance boiled over and we became, in his words, “more boisterous” than those in attendance at the two town-hall sessions held earlier in the day. Yes, some of us briefly gave voice to our contempt. Continue reading “It’s a Mystery”

Finally, he takes questions* from constituents* in a public forum*

Finally, he takes questions* from constituents* in a public forum*

Regarding the May 31 article “Going face-to-face,” about U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen’s three “town hall” meetings on Wednesday, I wish the reporter had looked at and reported on the context. After not holding any public meetings for six years, Paulsen chose to schedule these meetings on a workday, on short notice, and he required constituents to enter a “lottery” — his word — in order to attend.

When I attempted to sign up, I was told I was being put on a waiting list. I arrived at the Chanhassen venue and was told that because a full house was anticipated, no one from the waiting list would be admitted. About 15 of us who were on the waiting list waited outside the venue. After the meeting began, people inside the hall informed us that there were 13 empty seats, but Paulsen’s staff did not admit any of us. And, if you were to look at the photos of the meeting that took place later in the day in Brooklyn Park, there was clearly ample capacity to accommodate more constituents, but the congressman chose not to do so. Many people were also wait-listed for that meeting.

So, we can but conclude that this is not a town-hall meeting but a tightly scripted political stunt. Paulsen does not really want to hear the concerns of his constituents; he just wants to appear to be doing so.

Mary Yee, Edina
StarTribune, June 1, 2018