By Luke Hellier

CQ Politics is reporting that State Senator Terri Bonoff will not be challenging freshman Republican Erik Paulsen in Minnesota’s Third Congressional District.

This news comes on the heels of the terrible fundraising reports by current DFL candidates Jim Meffert and Maureen Hackett.

From CQ:

Erik Paulsen's campaign announced his numbers today with almost 950,000 on hand.

EDEN PRAIRIE, MN - Today, Congressman Erik Paulsen (MN-03) announced that he has raised $274,863 for the fourth quarter of 2009.  The numbers reveal yet another strong quarter for Paulsen, who is a freshman member of Congress representing the Western Suburbs of the Twin Cities Metro Area.

"I continue to be honored and blessed with the opportunity to serve the people of Minnesota's Third District in Congress," said Paulsen.  "Minnesotans are tired of Washington's spending habits and want their representatives to be results-oriented and deliver on their promises." Since beginning his first term in the U.S. House of Representatives, Paulsen has been noted for his work on fiscal responsibility, government transparency, job creation, and pursuing bipartisan solutions to solve our nation's largest problems.

To date, Paulsen has raised $1,199,679 and has $943,923 cash on hand.

By Erik Paulsen

Over the past several months, the American people have sent a resounding message that Washington is on the wrong path.   They’ve grown tired of runaway spending, massive deficits and debt, and more government intervention into their lives.   They want a new path, one that above all focuses on putting people back to work and getting our economy moving again.

Tonight, President Obama acknowledged some of those concerns by articulating his desire to work on the key issues facing the American people.  I share a strong desire to address these issues and turn the page on what has been a year of missed opportunities. 

When it comes to new policy proposals, the devil is always in the details.  However, there is no question we need a laser-like focus on job creation, recognizing that it’s small business and the private sector – not the government – that will lead the way.  We must take real steps to reduce spending and our deficit.  A spending freeze, while certainly a good starting point, will not be enough by itself.  We also need health care reforms that will lower costs for individuals, families and small businesses without breaking the bank or creating a new government-run program. 

The most important thing, of course, will be what actions take place after the speech.  The American people have heard plenty of speeches about what Washington wants to do.  They now want them to actually do it. We will need real bipartisanship to accomplish our goals.  I’m hopeful that tonight’s speech can serve as a fresh start on many of the key issues before us, but equally important will be a fresh start to working in bipartisan fashion.  The American people expect and deserve no less.

By Jeff Johnson

We’re Not Going to Win 2010 by Default

It’s been wild listening to some prominent Democrats this past week who seem completely clueless as to the message behind the amazing Republican victory in Massachusetts. Some are arguing that their candidate was bad or that local issues mattered or that Obama hasn’t been liberal enough (or conservative enough). Martha Coakley, the Democrat who lost the seat, stated in her concession speech that she lost partly because people are “angry about our two wars and our inability to properly care for those who return home after fighting.”

I suppose there is some anger out there about those issues, but that’s not the tenth of it. The citizens of Massachusetts and America are angry for a much, much bigger reason: Government is completely, utterly and infuriatingly out of control!

People are angry over huge bailouts, sleazy congressional deal-making, massive deficits and a seeming belief that government should control nearly every sector of our economy. People are angry that their voices don’t seem to be heard and their opinions don’t seem to matter.

If Democrats don’t eventually get that, 2010 could be a pretty ugly year for them.

But what about Republicans (like me)? We better give some serious thought to what this victory means for us, too.

By Derek Brigham

Today I got a request from Katie Nadeau and Sheila Kihne who are heading up the GOTV effort for CD3 this year. They wanted me to make a map to illustrate the reality of just how blue CD3 had become to help dispel the myth that CD3 is an easy territory for the Republican party.

I took the 2008 Minnesota House election results map showing the winning party by precinct and enlarged the northwest metro area. Next I cut out all the areas that were not in CD3 (there are a few flaws I left in like SD45 so I did not have to cut off the names). The results?

As you can see, CD3 owns a lot of blue. The breakdown shows a mostly centrist and divided picture, very different than say CD 4 or 5. (Larger image below the fold)

The lightest pink and blue are less than 50%  for GOP or DFL (read: true purple) seen mostly in Downey’s Edina area on this map.  There was not much in the way of these razor thin margin precincts in 2008. Look for there to be a few more baby pinks replacing baby blues in 2010.

Dear Republican Neighbor and Friend,

This election year is going to be critically important for our state and our country.  We need to elect conservative Republicans who will bring common sense back to government!  And we need your help to do this.

We are working very hard to make certain that Erik Paulsen will be representing the Third Congressional District in Congress for a second term! Our dedicated volunteers are already planning strategy to ensure the re-election of our Republicans in state government and we are searching for candidates who will run strong campaigns for state representatives and senators in areas currently in the hands of Democrats.

Minnesota’s Third Congressional District will work hard for all our Republican endorsed candidates in CD3 and for statewide offices for this election cycle with both financial support and many volunteer hours for voter ID and get-out-the-vote efforts.

Our work never takes a rest as we continue to identify Republicans and help our local districts build their organizations. We need to always be on the offensive in a swing district like ours to make Republican gains in the Democrat controlled legislature.

Your generous contribution today will enable the Third Congressional District Republicans to help pay for our grassroots efforts.  Our all volunteer organization is comprised of your friends and neighbors and is very cost-effective.  We make sure that every cent spent is used wisely to continue our mission.

We are asking that you consider your local all-volunteer Third Congressional Republicans in your first contribution of 2010.

Please click the Donate button at the right for a safe secure PayPal online donation, and Thank you in advance for your support.

Sincerely,

Margaret Cavanaugh, Co-Chair          Rick Weible, Co-Chair

Letter to House Speaker Asks for Remedy to Medicare/Medicaid Payment Inequities, Unfunded Mandates as Final Bill is Put Together.

Washington, D.C. – As House and Senate negotiators continue their work on a final health care bill behind closed doors, U.S. Representatives Erik Paulsen, John Kline and Michele Bachmann sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today asking that payment inequities and unfunded mandates negatively affecting Minnesota be addressed in the bill.

Under the current legislation, the future liabilities from the proposed Medicaid expansion are estimated to cost the state $2.1 billion over six years.  Moreover, the states of Nebraska, Vermont and Louisiana are set to receive hundreds of millions dollars in federal subsidies for increased Medicaid costs, whereas Minnesota and other states will get no similar assistance. The letter also requests a remedy for Minnesota’s longstanding Medicare reimbursement inequities.

The text of the letter is as follows:

January 14, 2010

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House
H 232, the Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Madam Speaker,

As Congress moves closer to drafting a final version of its health care reform legislation, we wanted to take a moment to highlight particular areas of concern for the state of Minnesota.

First, we have serious concerns about the long-term effects the bill could have on our state budget.  At a time of extremely tight budgets, we believe it is unfair to add additional burdens on the state in the form of unfunded mandates.  In Minnesota, we are already facing a shortfall of $1.2 billion for the current biennium, and the state has already had to reshuffle and reduce health care services.  Moreover, according to the Minnesota Human Services Commissioner, the future liabilities from the proposed Medicaid expansion are estimated to cost the state $2.1 billion over 6 years.

3rd District Congressman to Host Job Fair for Constituents, Minnesotans seeking employment at Normandale Community College on Feb. 8th

Congressman  Erik Paulsen (MN-03) today announced he will host a job fair at Normandale Community College in Bloomington on Monday, February 8th.   Scheduled to attend Paulsen’s job fair are a wide variety of employers from health care, technology, retail and several additional employment sectors.  Last week, it was reported that unemployment remained at 10% during the month of December, with 85,000 jobs lost in the month alone.  

“The recession has hit Minnesota workers hard, with jobs remaining very hard to find,” Paulsen said.  “By bringing together potential employers and Minnesotans who are looking for work, I’m hoping this job fair will open up some new possibilities as we continue to work through this challenging economy.”

The job fair is free and open to the public and will run from 1:30 PM – 5:00 PM CST.

Businesses interested in participating can contact Congressman Paulsen’s office at (952) 405-8510 or register at no charge via Paulsen’s website at www.paulsen.house.gov