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Op-Eds
Here you can find pieces Erik has authored for various publications.
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WSJ Opinion: Step One in Defanging ObamaCare
11/14/14The medical-device tax, a job-killing, growth-stalling mess, is ripe for bipartisan cancellation.< Read more > -
Star Tribune Op-Ed: How many more students have to die?
08/05/14Andy Marso was a college kid with a bright future. He left Minnesota to study journalism at the University of Kansas. He was three weeks away from graduating and had a job waiting as a sportswriter for the local paper. Then one day he literally felt a shiver up his spine.< Read more > -
Chanhassen Villager Commentary: Big demand for new charter schools
05/28/14Twenty-two years ago, Minnesota began a bold experiment by opening the first charter school in the nation. The growth in public charter schools in the state has added to a public education system that is among the best in the country. Since the founding of our great nation, Americans have worked hard to provide a better future for our children. However, failing schools often present an obstacle that is simply too large to overcome. Parents are left with an impossible choice: trying to pay for unaffordable private schools or keeping their children in a school they know is failing.< Read more > -
Exploiting Our Daughters: Fighting Sex Trafficking
04/07/14The stories sound too horrible to be true. One woman tells of the boyfriend she loved forcing her to perform sex acts on strangers to pay for the rent. Another young girl says she was kept in abandoned warehouses and was shipped with dozens of other women in the back of trucks like cattle. News reports detail the story of a teenage girl who had her pimp's initials forcibly tattooed on her eyelids to show that she was his property. Sadly, the personal accounts of sex trafficking are as common as they are horrific.< Read more > -
Remembering President Lincoln's Words
11/08/13Congressman Paulsen (MN-03) pens a special Veterans Day message in this week's Chaska Herald< Read more > -
Remembering the meaning of Independence Day
07/04/13 < Read more > -
Empowering families and protecting workers
05/24/13At one point or another, most of us have faced the dilemma of having to take time off of work to be with our families. Whether you're a working father forced to use limited sick time to care for an elderly relative, or a young mother who must use up p< Read more > -
Politico: Trade pact right for U.S. and EU
05/06/13Democrats and Republicans alike want to see strong economic growth and good jobs for Americans, even if at times we may disagree about how best to achieve these objectives.< Read more > -
Medical-device tax needs to go
04/22/13An encouraging thing happened last month in the U.S. Senate. An overwhelming number of Republicans and Democrats came together in taking a step toward ending a policy that is having unintended consequences on job creation and innovation.< Read more > -
The Hill: Restoring financial flexibility in healthcare
04/11/13Three years to the day after President Obama signed into law his massive healthcare overhaul, the Senate overwhelmingly approved a measure to repeal two provisions limiting families' freedoms. For a brief moment in Washington, politics took a back sea< Read more > -
Roll Call: Paulsen, Bilbray and Gerlach: Kill the Excise Tax on Medical Devices
06/07/12While the Supreme Court debates the 2010 health care law's constitutionality, what is not up for debate is the crippling effect that the medical device excise tax, a provision within the law, will have on patient care, health care affordability and ou< Read more > -
Star Tribune: Device tax, if not stopped, will stifle
06/07/12Congress can preempt this burden on medical innovation and jobs.< Read more > -
Remember the sacrifices of veterans
11/11/11 < Read more > -
Paulsen and Gerlach: Medical Device Tax Hinders Innovation
10/03/11At a time when our greatest priority needs to be creating jobs for our unemployed citizens, the government is on the verge of implementing a new medical device excise tax that will eliminate more than 40,000 well-paying jobs and imperil America's glob< Read more > -
$14.7 Trillion Debt - It's an American Problem
09/28/11"A nation that does not control its debt does not control its destiny"< Read more > -
We All Win With Wellness in Workplace
06/17/11It's a nonpartisan way to get rising health care costs under control.In these tough economic times, spiraling health care costs continue to bust the budgets of families and businesses alike. If we don't get these rising costs under control, all of us will suffer the consequences.< Read more > -
Pass Free Trade Agreements Now
09/22/10Global markets have changed and competition has increased over the last 60 years but the United States remains the world's largest manufacturer and provider of services. In fact, much of our economic growth in recent years can be attributed to robust international trade. According to the US Chamber of Commerce, more than 1 in 5 American jobs depend on international trade.< Read more > -
Why is government closing businesses?
06/11/09Imagine owning a successful business you've built from the ground up. Maybe you provide several dozen people with good-paying, full-time jobs or are one of only a few businesses left in a small community. You've likely made difficult decisions just to keep your business afloat and employees on staff during these tough economic times.< Read more > -
Dubious Date for the Feds
06/10/09Debt Day is the day during the fiscal year, which begins on Oct. 1, on which government spending exceeds total revenues. In short, about halfway through the fiscal year, Washington has run out of money.< Read more > -
Washington Must Act on Bonuses
03/19/09Public outrage over the AIG bonus payments has reached a crescendo, and rightfully so. Many in Congress, particularly those already concerned about the sweeping government invention into private markets, share that outrage.< Read more >