I had a few things I wanted to say about my very serious concerns about the current administration and my congressman, Erik Paulsen. Those had to do with Paulsen’s complicit approval of the president’s behavior in attacking and discrediting the media. The president has, in two short years undermined the belief of an estimated 30 percent of our voting public in the validity of our television media except for FOX.
By saying nothing, Paulsen has shown himself to be complicit about how damaging and destructive the “fake news” claims are to the future of our country. That belief will take decades to undo, if an attempt is even started.
Now we are suffering through the aftermath of another school shooting. Seventeen dead students and faculty in this one. This is 100-percent unacceptable. I decided to do some research. Just a few facts:
Paulsen has an A grade from the NRA. He has a 93-percent favorable voting record with them and the gun manufacturers they represent, according Vote Smart, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States.
Paulsen has accepted $21,150 from the NRA since he was elected in 2008, according to nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics). During an 18 month period, he voted 13 times to block a gun safety measure from coming to the House floor. Just last year he voted for letting mentally ill people have access to assault weapons. He has voted against the background check. How can a background check be something he is against? The obvious answer is the $21,150. How many school children have been murdered in the past 10 years?
In comparison, I also went back and checked how former Rep. Jim Ramstad handled the gun issue. Since 1998, when Open Secrets started keeping track, up to his last election in 2006, he accepted $0 from the NRA.
We need a congressman who is championing gun safety legislation, not one who tries to fly under the radar and quietly votes with the NRA.
Barbara Boldenow, Plymouth
Plymouth Sun-Sailor, March 1, 2018