Paulsen Post: Senate Goes 1,000 Days Without Budget

Dear Friends,

It was a busy week in Washington as I welcomed the Norwegian Minister of Health, Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen, to the U.S. Capitol, and attended the President’s State of the Union Address. Here is an update from our nation’s capitol. 

I encourage all of you to continue to join the conversation and stay in touch by visiting me on my website, Facebook page, Twitter, and YouTube. As always, please let me know whenever I can be of assistance

Erik Paulsen
Member of Congress

The State of the Union

In his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, the President touched on several themes and one was the need for domestic manufacturing jobs. The first place he should look is medical device manufacturing, which provides 35,000 jobs in Minnesota alone. I will continue to be a passionate advocate for this American success story by working to repeal the President’s new tax on medical devices, and to modernize the FDA so we can keep innovation, manufacturing, and jobs here in the United States.

In a greater sense, I believe we need to reform our tax code to make it simpler, fairer, and more competitive – including eliminating special interest loopholes.

Read my response to the President's State of the Union Address here. 

Senate Goes 1,000 Days without a Budget

Did you know that it’s been over 1,000 days since the Senate passed a budget? No wonder we’ve seen our nation’s debt spiral out of control.

When the last budget was passed in April 2009, our national debt was $11.15 trillion. Today, the total national debt has ballooned to a staggering $15.2 trillion; that’s $4.5 trillion in less than 3 years. 

To put it in perspective, 1,000 days is enough time for the Empire State Building to be constructed twice, for our astronauts to make 250 trips to the moon and back and for Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence more than 58 times!

Every small business needs a budget to operate. Every large business needs a budget to operate. Most families need a budget to operate. Washington definitely needs to pass a budget to stop spending money we don’t have.

Erik’s Correspondence Corner: I Want to Hear From You

Do you have a question you’d like answered? Do you have thoughts on the economy, jobs, Congress?

Each week, I receive thousands of letters, emails, tweets, Facebook posts, and phone calls from constituents voicing their opinions on issues affecting our community and country. Starting last year, we opened the lines of communication even further with a weekly video series in which I respond directly to questions or comments I’ve received from all over the district. If you have a question, comment, or idea, please take time to share it with me by visiting my website, Facebook page, or Twitter.

View past installments by visiting my YouTube page here.

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords

I had the honor of standing with my good friend and colleague Gabby Giffords as she formally stepped down from Congress on Wednesday. I’ve known Gabby and her husband Mark since before either of us were elected to Congress. Gabby served her Arizona constituents and our country with distinction and integrity. I respect and support Gabby’s decision to focus fully on her recovery after the terrible attack on her life last year. I have a feeling this will not be the last we see of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.