Category: The Real Erik Paulsen

U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen and judicial nominations

I was left agape with incredulity by U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen’s Aug. 25 commentary criticizing Minnesota’s U.S. senators for delaying Justice David Stras’ nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Paulsen complains that “[s]talling Stras’ nomination is the latest example of partisan game-playing in Washington” and urges Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken “to end their obstructionism and allow [the] nomination to proceed for a confirmation hearing and vote.”

If Paulsen believes this is the “latest” example, I anxiously await his upcoming op-ed piece excoriating the Republican Senate majority for the “greatest” example of partisan game-playing in Washington: the failure to hold a hearing or vote on Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Garland is a judicial moderate (unlike Stras) and undeniably qualified. Continue reading “U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen and judicial nominations”

Federal Taxes: Paulsen ‘touts plan’? Where are the details?

Re: Friday’s subhead “Minnesota Republican touts plan …” — that is, a plan to lower and simplify taxes. What? Where’s the plan? I read the article twice and saw absolutely no detail, none. Sure, there were some vague suggestions, but no plan (“Paulsen pitches lowering, simplifying taxes,” Aug. 18).

What I saw was the Star Tribune running a PR piece for Paulsen. Where are the details? Where is the plan the subhead promised?

We end up with nothing. Come back with a real story when he tells us specifically what he’ll do. Stop being a shill for our elected officials with notions, wishes, slogans, and bumper-sticker sayings.

Without breaking a sweat or doing what the headline implied, Paulsen got what he wanted: a headline someone can place on a piece of campaign literature.

Tom Krueger, Crystal
Minneapolis Star Tribune, August 18, 2017

Dem rep: Trump North Korea statements ‘reckless’

The following article by Max Greenwood was posted on the Hill website August 11, 2017:

© Getty Images

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) on Friday slammed President Trump’s rhetoric toward North Korea as “reckless” and urged him to pursue a diplomatic solution to Washington’s escalating tensions with Pyongyang.

“We need to engage in diplomacy. That’s the one thing that Donald Trumphas not yet done,” Lieu said in a video posted on Twitter by VoteVets, a progressive advocacy group.

“And before the president takes us down the dark and bloody path of a catastrophic war, he needs to first engage in diplomacy,” he added. “He owes that to the American people and I call on the president to do that first before issuing provocative and senseless and reckless statements.” Continue reading “Dem rep: Trump North Korea statements ‘reckless’”

Doctor Shortage Under Obamacare? It Didn’t Happen

The following article by Austin Frakt was posted on the New York Times website August 14, 2017:

When you have a health problem, your first stop is probably to your primary care doctor. If you’ve found it harder to see your doctor in recent years, you could be tempted to blame the Affordable Care Act. As the health law sought to solve one problem, access to affordable health insurance, it risked creating another: too few primary care doctors to meet the surge in appointment requests from the newly insured.

Studies published just before the 2014 coverage expansion predicted a demand for millions more annual primary care appointments, requiring thousands of new primary care providers just to keep up. But a more recent study suggests primary care appointment availability may not have suffered as much as expected. Continue reading “Doctor Shortage Under Obamacare? It Didn’t Happen”

Why control of the U.S. House could hinge on Minnesota in 2018

The following article by Sam Bordey was posted on the MinnPost website August 10, 2017:

From north to south, woods to prairie, the vast majority of the state of Minnesota will be hotly contested political turf in the 2018 election cycle.

Of the state’s eight U.S. House seats, five are among the handful of races considered legitimately competitive — and a few even rank as top national priorities for both parties.

It’s not a stretch to say that control of the House could be decided in the North Star State: with Republicans commanding a 23-seat majority, and Democrats aiming to chip away, or even reverse, that total, having a slate of five competitive races in one state is a big deal. Continue reading “Why control of the U.S. House could hinge on Minnesota in 2018”

Tax Propaganda

The following article was posted on the TrumpAccountable.org website August 10, 2017:

TaxPropaganda2

Republican tax reform advocates and the Trump White House have taken note of the mistakes made during the hapless Obamacare repeal effort that culminated in failure in the Senate. One of the biggest mistakes Republicans made was an inability to make the case to the broader population that their replacement was going to be in any way better.

Tax reform advocates friendly to the Republican agenda have already begun a campaign to help the Republican leadership deliver talking points about the need for tax reform. The American Action Network recently launched a 15 second video across national cable platforms featuring Albert Jones, a laid off metal worker from Ohio, who claims that he lost his job because of the U.S. tax code. Continue reading “Tax Propaganda”

GOP group launches TV ads in Third District

The following article by Jennifer Brooks was posted on the Star Tribune website August 9, 2017:

Brace yourselves, Minnesota voters. Campaign ad season came early this year.

U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen, a Republican who represents a district Hillary Clinton carried in 2016, is getting a boost from a $2.5 million national television ad buy from a deep-pocketed GOP advocacy group.

American Action Network, a political nonprofit helmed by former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, announced today it will be airing television ads — featuring an Ohio metalworker who pins the blame for his layoff of the current tax code — in 24 vulnerable Republican districts, including Minnesota’s Third Congressional District. Continue reading “GOP group launches TV ads in Third District”

Erik Paulsen supports Dar-Al Farooq mosque (from his vacation somewhere else)

The following article by Mike Mullen was posted on the City Pages website August 9, 2017:

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Erik Paulsen says the “community” is “united” after the Bloomington mosque bombing. Maybe he read about it in the paper?Facebook/Erik Paulsen

Erik Paulsen just cannot get Facebook to work.

He’s able to publish posts, sure, and can get all the words and photos to show up online. It’s what happens after that, when everyone jumps in to say he’s full of shit, that’s giving him so much trouble.

Continue reading “Erik Paulsen supports Dar-Al Farooq mosque (from his vacation somewhere else)”

Maternity Care Under ACA Repeal

NOTE:  Rep. Erik Paulsen (MN-03) voted to make maternity care optional in coverage offered with his vote for the ACHA act.

The following article by Christy M. Gamble and Jamila Taylor was posted on the Center for American Progress website August 7, 2017:

Implications for Black Women’s Maternal Health

A woman holds her newborn daughter in her hospital room at Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago, June 7, 2013. Credit:  AP/Scott Eisen

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been instrumental in providing affordable, quality health care to millions of American women. In fact, since the implementation of the ACA, about 13 million women have gained access to maternity services.1 Access to these services has been especially important for black women, who are more likely to be uninsured and experience poorer maternal health outcomes than their white counterparts. Unfortunately, racial and gender disparities in health care access persist: Black women are more likely to experience unintended pregnancies as compared to women of other races; die at a rate that is three to four times the rate of white mothers; suffer from severe maternal morbidity; and have the lowest rate of prenatal care utilization.2 Many health care experts agree that maternal death and morbidity can be avoided by ensuring that mothers have access to adequate prenatal care, skilled attendants during birth, and proper postnatal care, all of which are available through maternity care coverage.3 Continue reading “Maternity Care Under ACA Repeal”

Senate Gives House Republicans Little Cover on Health Care in 2018

The following article by Simone Pathé was posted on the Roll Call website July 31, 2017:

Some House GOP lawmakers trusted Senate to improve legislation

When Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo voted for the Republican health care bill this spring, he did so believing the Senate would make it better.

“I received strong assurances that major improvements would be made in the Senate,” the two-term congressman wrote in a May Miami Herald op-edexplaining his vote.