Congressman Paulsen on Nation's Ballooning Debt and Medical Device Tax

by U.S. Congressman Erik Paulsen

U.S. National Debt Balloons Past $16,000,000,000,000

This past Tuesday, our country marked an infamous day as our national debt grew past 16 trillion dollars. To put that into perspective that burden equates to more than $50,000 for each and every Minnesotan. We now have a debt that is larger than our entire nation’s GDP.

This debt is not only a burden placed on our children and grandchildren, but it also continues to dampen the prospects of the economic recovery we should have seen long ago.

To tackle our debt in a meaningful way and put our economy on the path towards sustainable growth, I will continue working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to control spending and enact tax reform that will lead to more investment, faster economic growth and more middle-class jobs.

We Need the Senate to Protect 35,000 Minnesota Jobs

For a long time I have fought hard to repeal the new $30 billion tax on American medical devices, which will hit Minnesota hard. This tax is nothing more than a tax on U.S. medical innovation, which will stifle our state’s leadership in developing innovative life-improving and life-saving technologies.

More companies are announcing layoffs because of the tax, and just this week, St. Jude, an important Minnesota leader in healthcare announced layoffs of 300 employees, 80 of those right here in Minnesota in part because of the looming tax.

In June we won an important victory in that effort with the bipartisan passage of my bill to repeal this onerous tax on U.S. innovation in the House of Representatives. But, the Senate still needs to take action.

With unemployment over 8% for 43 consecutive months, now is not the time to levy new burdensome taxes on one of our nation’s brightest success stories. I encourage you to reach out to our Senators and encourage them to stand up for the 35,000 Minnesota jobs supported by medical device innovators and bring my bill to a vote.

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