MN03 Represenative Erik Paulsen and friend
US Rep Erik Paulsen (MN03) who has failed to hold a town hall since 2011 continued his well established pattern of dodging his constituents by failing to appear in Edina’s 4th of July Parade. You can read all about it here: Protesters Take Rep. Paulsen’s Parade Spot After No-Show. What was new and illuminating for me in this article (I moved/returned to Minnesota this past December) was this statement: “According to Larry Jacobs, a political analyst, Fourth of July parades are “must-show political events. But he also says Paulsen, who cruised to victory last November, remains a formidable candidate …" What? Cruised to victory? I had not heard. I always thought he got re-elected by a razor thin margin. I had to research further. So I read this article and confirmed Erik Paulsen did indeed win his district by a landslide - 14 pts. So that was disheartening. Then of course because I am a glutton for punishment I read the "comments" section. I like the mindset of these particular posters - what was important was that they got the "win". I thought I would celebrate the "win" by writing my own comment six months later.
I am thrilled to be represented by Erik Paulsen. Rep Paulsen shares my values. I was particularly thrilled to see this recent bold move by the Dept. of the Interior which is now being run by my fellow Republican leaders. I thought this was a particularly inspiring idea — to sell national parks to drill for oil. We do not need so much public land to enjoy nature - a few acres is enough nature for anybody.
I am happy they slashed the Great Lakes Clean Up Fund. If Minnesotans want to continue to reap the benefits the lake provides like tourism, shipping and transportation - they should pay for it. Minnesotans can well afford the expense of keeping Lake Superior the clean, profitable resource that it is. If Minnesotans cannot afford to keep Lake Superior clean and thriving, I think it should be sold to a private company who can afford to keep it running - even though that means Minnesotans will individually have to pay to use it.
I am particularly happy they cut Medicaid so I could get a tax break (all earners over $200,000/year). It is a senior citizen's responsibility to pay their $600/month premiums, not the government. This will obviously be a burden to some as the average social security benefit pay out is $1300/month. If they cannot pay, it is up to their children to pay. I hope people will now realize they should be paying for their parent’s health care premiums, not the government.
I do not believe in the heating program. If you cannot afford to heat your house without government assistance, you should not have a house. If you are a senior citizen, you should live with your children. It is not the People's responsibility to make sure you don't freeze to death.
I am glad that Erik Paulsen's fellow congressman is now in charge of the EPA. He will allow farmers to use a pesticide (chlorpyrifos) shown to harm people. This is good for Minnesota farmers. Though Pruitt is not a scientist, and had no studies to base this decision on, I think it was smart. Minnesota farmers should not have to worry about contaminating the ground water or growing crops that contain substances harmful to humans - they should just concern themselves with growing and harvesting crops - they should not have to be bogged down by these types of constraints. If you are worried about pesticides, simply do not purchase the items produced by Farmers (food).
Russia, Russia, Russia... I do not care that we were attacked by a foreign government. I do not care that Russia influenced our election. It's a global world now and American's should face it that they are not the only ones who get to participate in American elections. I think foreign governments who want to help choose our leaders/representatives, should be allowed to by giving as much money to political campaigns as they want. It's a free world and if they want to change American values to be more like theirs, I say we should let them.
Thanks for helping me celebrate the "win".
