Paulsen on 'Changing Washington's Spending Culture'

I suppose it’s no surprise that the past few weeks were consumed with the debt ceiling debate. Thankfully, it came to a conclusion before Aug. 2. Below is an update on that issue as well as a few other items.

Changing Washington's Spending Culture 

With great reluctance, I voted in favor of the recent budget bill that avoided a catastrophic default because it was better than the alternative. While it does not raise taxes on our job creators when our economy is struggling, it is only a small step towards doing what is needed to adequately address our spending-driven debt crisis and end Washington-style budget gimmicks. The simple truth is that we cannot continue to spend more than we take in and our national debt poses a huge threat to our economy.

Watch my recent interview on the national debt with WCCO-TV’s Esme Murphy.  

Opening New Markets for Minnesota Products 

An important part of our economic recovery as a state—and a nation—is going to be finding new customers for made-in-Minnesota products. With 59,040 Minnesota jobs directly relying on exports, it’s imperative that we ratify three pending trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and Colombia. There is strong bipartisan support to pass these agreements and it looks like the President may send them up for a formal vote in September.

This is important because while Washington sits on its hands, other countries are passing their own agreements and leaving American firms on the sidelines. For example, the European Union and South Korea passed a new trade deal that went into effect on July 1. In the first 20 days, European exports increased 17 percent, which is market share America is now losing.

At the end of the day, these trade deals will level the playing field for American businesses, allow the United States to compete to win, and most importantly, aid in our economic recovery.  

National Night Out 

On Tuesday, I teamed up with the Champlin Police Department for the 28th annual National Night Out. National Night Out is all about citizens spending time in their communities and getting to know their neighbors as a way to prevent crime. Every year the Twin Cities metro area has some of the highest participation rates in the country. In Champlin alone there were 51 separate National Night Out parties.

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Erik Paulsen
Member of Congress