Says nuclear energy must be part of America’s clean energy strategy, calls for overturning the moratorium on nuclear energy in Minnesota

St. Paul, MN – Today, Congressman Tim Walz and Congressman Erik Paulsen joined business and labor leaders and state officials to announce support for a bipartisan, comprehensive approach to energy strategy and to call for an end to Minnesota’s moratorium on new nuclear power plants.

“We must all work together to solve the energy challenges we face. Nuclear energy can help us achieve energy independence, create jobs, power our homes, our schools and our workplaces affordably and address the serious threat of climate change,” said Walz. “Minnesota has the potential to own the next generation in clean energy innovation and technology and the science and data is clear: we can build modern, safer, more efficient nuclear power plants.”

“Solving our nation’s energy challenges requires a comprehensive, bipartisan approach and nuclear energy must play a major role in that effort,” Paulsen said.  “Nuclear energy is clean, renewable and, unlike many other energy sources, able to provide massive amounts of energy nationwide.   We need to take action now to increase the availability of nuclear energy across the country, and Minnesota has the opportunity to lead the way.”

We are nearing the end of our annual budgeting process on the Hennepin County board, with a vote on the final budget scheduled for Tuesday, December 15. I expect a 2010 budget to pass (although I will not support it) that is slightly smaller than the 2009 budget, but it will contain a 3% increase in the property tax levy. I will post more information on that proposed budget soon.

Today, we had a budget hearing during which commissioners were allowed to propose amendments to the budget the administration has presented to us. There were a couple of amendments to move or restore funding to certain programs that had been cut. I brought in one amendment: To cut our commissioner office budgets by 4% for 2010. It failed 1 - 6.

This is a great article from the Heritage Foundation:

As we gather with family and friends to celebrate our blessings at Thanksgiving, we should remember how fortunate we Americans are to live in a free and just nation.

America was founded upon sound conservative principles grounded firmly in human nature and not in radical idealism. And today, we see that these principles, though under attack from the Left, are still very much alive. As Heritage Foundation scholar Matthew Spalding explained in 2003, Thanksgiving maintains the tradition of the American Founding and affirms that "while we are committed to upholding religious liberty, we remain one nation under God."

Minnesota Congressman offers amendment in Financial Services Committee to end bailout spending, use remaining dollars to pay down federal debt

During legislative markup in the House Financial Services Committee today, Congressman Erik Paulsen (MN-03) offered a proposal to end bailout spending through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) by the end of 2009 and use remaining funds to reduce the national debt. Paulsen’s proposal, offered as an amendment to the Financial Stability Improvement Act of 2009, was unfortunately rejected on close committee vote of 30-37.

“Taxpayers are tired of the revolving door of bailouts and deficit spending in Washington,” Paulsen said. “The inspector general overseeing the TARP program recently said it will ‘almost certainly’ result in a loss for taxpayers, and yet it is likely the program will extend well into next year. TARP funding is simply becoming walking-around money for the government, and today my colleagues missed an important opportunity to bring this program to a close.”

Under the legislation Congress approved in the fall of 2008, the Troubled Asset Relief Program is set to expire on December 31st of this year. However, the legislation also grants the Administration the right to extend the program until October of 2010, which can be triggered by the Secretary of the Treasury sending a notification letter to Congress. Paulsen’s amendment would have removed the trigger for extending TARP, officially ending the program on December 31st, 2009, and committed the remaining TARP funds to reducing the national debt.