Members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation signed onto a letter urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to speed up the approval process for medical devices.

It was signed by 41 members of Congress, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Betty McCollum, Sen. Al Franken, Rep. John Kline, Rep. Michele Bachmann and Rep. Erik Paulsen, who the Minnesota Independent previously reported is a major recipient of the industry’s campaign donations.

The letter notes that medical devices are appearing in Europe months or years before they’re approved in the United States.

“Unless we make significant improvements to the predictability and transparency of the regulatory process, we will lose the industry, the jobs that go with it, and the innovation to transform our healthcare system,” the letter states.

The members of Congress offer some changes to the FDA’s approval process in the letter, including instituting a new tracking system and changing conflict of interest requirements of those serving on advisory panels.

“We recognize the need to balance risk and benefit; we all share patient safety as our primary concern, but there must be a “least burdensome approach” to achieve this without crippling an industry,” the letter states.

The medical device industry is a major backer of Paulsen, with donations from industry Political Action Committees (PACs) and executives helping to make him the lead fundraiser in Minnesota’s House delegation.

The New York Times later noted that efforts to reform the agency’s procedures are part of a push from venture capitalists investing in the industry. Congressional hearings on the subject have been overloaded with industry supporters, paying little attention to the potential dangers of medical devices.

The letter from Klobuchar and other signatories:

Dear Dr. Hamburg,

The bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Medical Technology Caucus, and other members of Congress join together to express our concerns about regulatory issues facing the medical device industry. This is an industry that has become increasingly important as dramatic improvements over the last decade have revolutionized healthcare and improved the quality of life for millions of Americans.

We share your commitment to ensuring safe and effective medical devices are available to patients. However, we are very concerned about recent declines in FDA performance. Increased review times, inconsistent expectations, and poor communication from the FDA are causing a lack of confidence and instability in the industry.

From the President’s own Jobs Council report released this month

“Today, however, our medical innovation ecosystem is in jeopardy. Investment in the life sciences area is declining at an alarming rate because of the escalating cost, time and risk of developing new drugs and devices. While many factors have contributed to this decline – including challenges around reimbursement and the general state of the economy – an important factor is the uncertain FDA regulatory environment. These concerns come at a time when Europe, China, and India continue to entice companies to take their medical research and development enterprises abroad, putting at risk our ability to keep private investment and jobs here at home.” [1]

Dissatisfaction with the approval process is no longer just anecdotal: data shows the average time to approve a 510(k) application has increased by 43% from the 2003-2007 period to 2010.[2] The average time to approve a PMA application has increased 75%.[3] The total review times for both 510(k)s and PMAs are now actually longer than they were before the user fee program was instituted.[4]

It has also become significantly more costly to get new products approved. Companies spend an additional $520,000 a month as they wait for FDA approval of a 510(k) product and $740,000 each month for a PMA product.[5] This is simply unsustainable.

Today, the United States accounts for 40 percent of the global medical technology market[6] and the industry indirectly creates two million American jobs.[7] Maintaining American leadership in this field is essential for jobs and for patients. Unless we make significant improvements to the predictability and transparency of the regulatory process, we will lose the industry, the jobs that go with it, and the innovation to transform our healthcare system.

We recognize the need to balance risk and benefit; we all share patient safety as our primary concern, but there must be a “least burdensome approach” to achieve this without crippling an industry. We urge you to make every possible improvement to cut down device approval time by:

• Recognizing and correcting the disparity between “FDA time” versus real time when tracking device approvals
• Considering potential benefits of harmonization with international testing standards
• Addressing the unintended consequences of the conflict of interest rules for advisory panels
• Creating a transparent tracking and review system for applications and clearance decisions

These are just some of the ways the FDA can improve the process.

We appreciate the FDA’s efforts in developing an Innovation Agenda and we recognize these changes will not take place overnight. However, stakeholders from innovators and patients, to investors and physicians all note that if the FDA does not restore regulatory certainty, predictability, and transparency, investment in the industry will continue to decline and this uniquely American success story could disappear.

Sincerely,

Anna G. Eshoo                                                           Erik Paulsen
Amy Klobuchar                                                          Scott P. Brown
Richard Lugar                                                             Al Franken
Debbie Stabenow                                                        Brian Bilbray
Jay Inslee                                                                    David Drier
Michael Honda                                                           Dan Burton
Betty McCollum                                                         Marlin Stutzman
Bob Filner                                                                   Ken Calvert
Jason Altmire                                                              Charles Bass
Andre Carson                                                              Mary Bono Mack
Susan Davis                                                                Michael Burgess
Joe Donnelly                                                               Todd Young
Pat Tiberi                                                                     Michael Rogers
Marsha Blackburn                                                       Jim Gerlach
John Kline                                                                   Michael R. Turner
Charles Dent                                                               Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Michele Bachmann                                                     Brett Guthrie
Aaron Schock                                                             Glenn Thompson
Anne Marie Buerkle                                                    Chris Gibson
Bill Huizenga                                                              Patrick Meehan
Todd Rokita

cc: Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services

Source: MyEyesSees, Flickr

A Florida-based group that the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled an anti-gay hate group is taking aim at Minnesota-based Target for advertising during a Teen Nick show, Degrassi, that contains gay characters. The group, the Florida Family Association, is calling for a boycott.

Pres. Barack Obama released a plan to provide student loan debt relief to millions of Americans this week. Sen. Al Franken, who has sponsored similar legislation, praised the executive orders. But student loan advocates said the reforms were too limited.

The Occupy Wall Street protests saw their first serious injuries this week as Oakland, Calif., police used crowd control tactics on a peaceful march. One of those injured was former Marine and Wisconsin native Scott Olsen, who took a police projectile to the head and is expected to undergo surgery. Warning: the embedded video is intense.

Campaign finance disclosures filed for October show both the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and Republicans are in debt. The Republicans carry more than half a million dollars in debt, while Democrats have about half that.

Less than a week after a Minnesota Independent story on Rep. Erik Paulsen’s intimate connections with the medical device industry, the New York Times published a piece profiling his attempts to relax Food and Drug Administration oversight of device approval.

The Inver Grove Heights City Council rejected a measure that would have allowed a domestic partnership registry in the city. One of the main opponents on the council, Dennis Madden, said he was “tired of these weird little groups that do all these strange things.” The rejection came after a pressure campaign from religious conservatives.

A union locked out since Aug. 1 will take the most recent offer from American Crystal Sugar to a vote by the end of the month, although the union isn’t happy with the offer. Replacement workers brought in by Strom Engineering of Minnetonka, which specializes in supporting companies involved in labor disputes, have staffed the plants since the lockout started. Union members have blamed replacement workers for a number of fires at the plants this summer and fall.

Just weeks after a Minnesota Independent article retraced the political influence wielded by Comcast’s to push through their early 2011 merger, Pres. Barack Obama hired one of the company’s paid lobbyists. The lobbyist has also been involved in pushing for the Keystone XL pipeline, which Obama has not opposed.

After almost three weeks of protesting, someone left a box labelled “riot equipment” on Hennepin County Government Plaza. The spokesperson for the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department sent out an email to all media, attaching photos of the box and listing incidents where police have responded to the plaza since the occupation started. Occupy MN organizers blamed a “provocateur” for the box, and said protesters aren’t responsible for many of the incidents downtown.

Presidential candidate Rick Santorum appeared on the show of controversial preacher Bradlee Dean. Santorum reinforced his support for “sodomy laws” and accused gay people of using marriage rights issues to “secularize our society.”

The Minnesota Independent also reported at the start of this week that an anti-abortion activist was planning to use a run against Rep. Keith Ellison to force Twin Cities media to play graphic anti-abortion ads. Legacy media later picked up on the story.

Source: Flickr; Republicanconference (www.flickr.com/photos/republicanconference)

On the heels of the Minnesota Independent story last week about U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen’s cozy financial relationship with the medical device industry, the New York Times reported Tuesday that some health professionals are alarmed by Paulsen’s push to relax Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversight.

“They have this unwritten assumption that every new device is innovative,” Dr. Rita Redberg, who is the editor of the Archives of Internal Medicine, said, referring to the venture capital funds. But some devices, she said, “are killing people or causing significant harm.”

The Times reports that 10 bills to speed up the FDA’s medical device approval process have already been introduced by House Republicans this month. In the Senate, Sen. Amy Klobuchar has introduced a similar bill.

The U.S. House of Representatives has held four hearings on F.D.A. device approval procedures since February, with the vast majority of witnesses being “investors, entrepreneurs, industry consultants, trade group officials or patients who said that agency delays in approving a device had harmed them or a loved one,” according to the New York Times. No one who was harmed by a faulty device was invited to testify.

As the Minnesota Independent reported last week, Paulsen has been rewarded for his advocacy for the industry with campaign donations from company PACs and executives. The Congressman is currently sitting on $900,000, according to Federal Election Commission records. The medical device and drug industry gives more generously to Paulsen than to other candidates or PACs in the district, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics.

The Times story shows a steep increase in donations from venture capitalists with an interest in health care after Paulsen testified to Congress in June that FDA processes should be streamlined.

As the Minnesota Independent reported, Paulsen has seen substantial increases in donations from the entire medical device industry since he became a member of the influential House Ways and Means Committee, with one medical private equity firm crowing that “his increasingly high profile in Congress may help bring additional visibility to the medtech sector.”

As co-chair of the House Medical Technology Caucus, U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen has battled for the medical devices industry since he took office in 2009. Industry Political Action Committees (PACs) and executives have responded to his advocacy with a deluge of campaign donations, helping to make Paulsen the lead fundraiser in Minnesota’s House delegation.

Influx of medical device and drug industry cash
Already in this election cycle, Paulsen is the ninth most favored candidate in the House of Representatives for the drug and medical device industry, according to a breakdown by the Center for Responsive Politics. Paulsen was recently appointed to the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. In the 2012 election cycle, he’s already showing a 68 percent increase in donations from individuals and PACs associated with the pharmaceutical and medical device industries over the 2010 cycle.

A substantial portion of Paulsen’s fundraising this election cycle has come from executives at companies like Medtronic, Boston Scientific and 3M’s medical division. In the last financial quarter, which ended at the close of September, five executives at Medtronic pitched in $2,750, supplementing the additional $3,000 from the company’s PAC. Boston Scientific executives pitched in $4,500. Paulsen also received donations from smaller operations, like the $1,750 given by a manager at Hampshire Labs, which sells prostate and “male enhancement” supplements.

Thomas Fogarty also maxed out his yearly contribution to the candidate at $5,000, according to quarterly disclosure records filed with the Federal Election Commission. Although Fogarty lists himself on Paulsen’s disclosure as a self-employed physician, he’s also president of Fogarty Research & Development and has founded or co-founded 30 companies related to medical technology or devices, according to his bio at Stanford University, where he’s a professor.

A host of medical PACs also contributed to Paulsen’s war-chest this last financial quarter. WellPAC run by WellPoint, a health plan company that’s part of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, gave $2,500. Zimmer Inc. PAC, which pushes the interests of an Indiana-based company that creates artificial joints and other medical technology, gave $1,000.

Paulsen now has more than $900,000 on hand, according to Federal Election Commission records released last weekend. Donations from the medical device and drug industry, which gives more generously to Paulsen than to other candidates or PACs in the district, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics, helped put Paulsen at the top of the heap in terms of the Minnesota House delegation’s fundraising.

Source: Flickr; Republicanconference (www.flickr.com/photos/republicanconference)

“Tireless efforts” to support medical device industry
By all accounts, Paulsen has been a good advocate for the industry, which has deep roots in Minnesota. Last year, he received the 2010 Medical Device Manufacturer’s Association (MDMA) Chairman’s Award for “his tireless efforts to support the innovative and job-creating medical device industry.”

Paulsen has also increased the visibility of the medical device caucus, launching a website this March that a press release said ”expands our connectivity and engagement with medical technology companies, industry experts, and doctors and patients who use the innovative products the industry creates.”

In an Oct. 3 editorial at Roll Call, Paulsen condemned what he described as a “new medical device excise tax that will eliminate more than 40,000 well-paying jobs and imperil America’s global competitiveness in one of our leading industrial and technological sectors.”

Paulsen has introduced legislation aimed at speeding up the Food and Drug Administration approval process. And in speeches to industry groups, Paulsen has vowed to revamp the agency, according to a MinnPost account of Paulsen’s May speech to “400 venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and industry professionals” at the MedTech Investing Conference.

Paulsen told Minnesota Public Radio this week that Washington doesn’t have “too many strong voices” supporting the industry.

“We’re going to propose legislation that modernizes the FDA so that this industry remains strong,” he said. “Companies don’t mind if [FDA review] is rigorous. They want to make sure it’s relevant.”

A March posting on a medical private equity firm’s blog noted the new medical technology caucus website and Paulsen’s appointment to the House Ways and Means Committee at the end of last year: “Rep. Paulsen has proven himself dedicated to innovation and the issues facing the medical device industry, and his increasingly high profile in Congress may help bring additional visibility to the medtech sector.”

The Money Trail will be a regular feature looking at the special interests that fund our state’s politicians. If you have tips or suggestions, please sent them to tips@minnesotaindependent.com.

Federal elected officials from Minnesota released their fundraising records for the most recent financial quarter this weekend, with Rep. Erik Paulsen topping all other House incumbents by adding $340,134 to his already substantial haul this year.

Democratic Rep. Tim Walz, who is also expected to face strong opposition, pulled in $221,351, according to FEC filings.

Rep. Michele Bachmann is focused on fundraising for her presidential bid, for which she raised $4.1 million.

In Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District, where at least four DFL candidates are vying to take on Rep. Chip Cravaack, Tarryl Clark gathered up $228,000, more than Cravaack, although Cravaack has more money on hand.

Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson raised the least of the group, although he had a healthy fund on hand at the end of the last election cycle.

Join the Minnesota Independent this week as we dig further into the fundraising numbers in each district.

All data comes from Federal Election Commission quarterly filings.

The bills were supported by corporations, including Minnesota-based Cargill, while labor and human rights groups opposed the measures, particularly the deal with Colombia.

The South Korea agreement passed the House by a vote of 278 to 151 and the Senate by a vote of 83 to 15. The Colombia agreement passed the House 262-167 and the Senate 66-33. The deal with Panama passed the House 300-129 and the Senate 77-22.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken voted in favor of the South Korea and both voted against the Columbia deal. Klobuchar supported the Panama deal and Franken opposed it.

Republican Reps. Erik Paulsen, Michele Bachmann, John Kline and Chip Cravaack voted for all three trade agreements.

“These trade agreements will open new markets for Minnesotan and American workers, farmers, and small businesses to sell their goods and services to new customers,” Paulsen said in a statement. “Currently, U.S. exporters face unfair restrictions in other countries – either through high tariffs or discriminating regulations that put them at a disadvantage. These agreements help address these imbalances and level the playing field. I look forward to working with the President to implement these pacts so we can create jobs here at home, and get our economy back on track.”

Cravaack also praised the passage of the bills.

“Our ailing economy will not be cured through a single ‘jobs bill’ — it will take a comprehensive series of measures, all aimed toward removing government barriers to private-sector job growth and tax relief for employers and small businesses,” Cravaack said. “The bipartisan effort to pass the three free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea, which will help America’s farmers, businesses and manufacturers increase our exports and create jobs, represents a good start. These FTAs will create jobs at home in Minnesota without costing taxpayers a dime and will level the playing field for American exports and boost demand for our products.”

Bachmann returned to Washington from the campaign trail to cast her first vote since August.

“My long-standing support of the free trade agreements was reinforced when I met with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in Colombia in February, and again when I discussed trade in my office with South Korean Ambassador Han Duk-soo in June,” she said. “Both the countries of Colombia and South Korea are eager for the implementation of these free trade agreements.”

All of Minnesota’s DFLers voted against the deal with Colombia citing concerns of government violence against the labor movement in that country. Reps. Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum voted against all three free trade agreements.

In a floor speech, McCollum explained her opposition.

“In Colombia, the intimidation and murder of trade unionists and human rights workers is widespread. According to Human Rights Watch, over 50 trade unionists were murdered last year,” McCollum said. “The Colombian government’s human rights record may be improving but it is still very poor. This is not the time to reward Colombia’s poor record with a preferential trade arrangement. This agreement does not advance fair trade, and I urge my colleagues to vote against it.”

She also said that the trade agreements would cost American jobs and create offshore tax havens for corporations.

“As we’ve seen with free trade agreements with China, NAFTA, and CAFTA, unfair trade deals cost American jobs,” McCollum said. “This is why Trade Adjustment Assistance exists — to provide training to workers who lose their jobs due to trade. Considering TAA while we consider these three agreements is evidence that these deals result in the loss of jobs here in the U.S. I support the passage of the needed TAA extension in order to provide some protections for American workers.”

The TAA, a fourth bill intended to offset the predicted job losses caused by the trade deals was supported by all members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation.

In the rest of the delegation, Rep. Collin Peterson backed the bill for South Korea and Panama but not Colombia. And Rep. Tim Walz voted for South Korea but not Panama and Colombia.

Just before the vote, the AFL-CIO sent an email alert to supporters urging them to contact Congress to vote against the trade bills.

These trade deals don’t benefit America’s workers. And an increasing number of people understand that. Only 17 percent of Americans polled think so-called free trade agreements have benefited the United States. And even 61 percent of self-identified Tea Party supporters think these agreements have hurt America,” the group said. “Politicians who support these agreements are claiming they will help with our jobs crisis—which is a talking point straight from Wall Street lobbyists—and it’s wrong. The Korea deal alone will cost 159,000 net American jobs.”

Paulsen was “glittered” as he was accepting the Friend of the Family award from the Minnesota Faith and Freedom Coalition on Friday morning during that group’s strategy session on passing an anti-gay marriage amendment, and Rove was hit with glitter during a book signing at the conference following his speech.

Activist Ben Egerman shouted, “Feel the rainbow,” as he tossed a box of glitter on Rove while he was signing his book for conference goers.

Rove played a large part in using same-sex marriage bans across the country in order to bolster Republican chances at the ballot box. Minnesota has a proposed constitutional amendment banning marriage rights for same-sex coupleso n the ballot in 2012.

A few hours earlier, Michael Cahill shouted, “You’re no friend to my family!” as he threw glitter on Rep. Erik Paulsen as he was receiving an award as a “Friend of the Family” by the Minnesota Faith and Freedom Coalition. The group was founded by Ralph Reed as a 21st Century version of the Christian Coalition and much of its leadership is dedicated to convincing voters to pass a constitutional ban on gay marriage.

Paulsen, who generally stays mum on social issues, got the support of James Dobson in his first run for Congress. Earlier this year, he voted against repealing the military’s ban on gay and lesbian service members.

“Because of the hateful rhetoric of people like Erik Paulsen and Karl Rove, I was subjected to ‘reparative’ therapy as a teenager,” Cahill said in a statement following the events. “It’s this sort of twisted belief and hateful language that motivates families across the country to push loved ones into harmful treatment, endangering their vitality and emotional stability in the process.”

“Let me be clear, we are going to continue these glitter actions so long as people like Paulsen and Rove are doing everything they possibly can to make the lives of queer people worse,” Egerman added.

The glitterings are the brainchild of Nick Espinosa, who glittered Newt Gingrich at a book signing in May and held two actions at Rep. Michele Bachmann’s Christian counseling business. His actions inspired the glittering of Tim Pawlenty in San Francisco earlier this year and the Minnesota Family Council at the State Fair. The movement hit popular culture when, several weeks ago, the season premiere of Glee used glittering as part of the story line.

“We’ve seen this show before,” said Espinosa. “Republicans are using Minnesotans in a desperate attempt to boost turn-out in 2012, not caring what damage they do to Minnesotan families along the way. It’s sick, it’s twisted, and it shows the desperate lengths that this party will go to in order to further their quest for political power.”

“The simple truth is Washington must stop spending money it doesn’t have. If government begins to live within its means, just as Minnesota families do, we will begin to level the playing field for our job creators,” Paulsen wrote.

Most states require balanced budgets, but the federal government has used its power to spend more to fund things like wars and the recent stimulus packages. The proposal being considered would exempt the costs of war from the balanced budget requirement.

“Our debt crisis is a legitimate threat to our nation’s security and future,” Paulsen wrote. “A nation that does not control its debt does not control its destiny.”

All Republican members of the Minnesota delegation and U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson (DFL-Minn.) are signed on to the bill by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va). But passage of the constitutional amendment would require a two-thirds majority in each chamber. It would then need to be approved by the legislatures of 38 states.

The issue will come to the floors of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate sometime between October and January, according to Republicans.

Democrats have criticized this and similar constitutional amendment efforts. Sen. Al Franken (DFL-Minn.) said earlier this month that the country really needs a bi-partisan effort at compromise, the St. Cloud Times reported.

“The Constitution did not create our budget problems, and changing it won’t solve them,” Franken said. “There are a lot of unforeseen consequences to altering our most valuable governing document. It should only be done with great care.”

Pres. Barack Obama is sending his jobs plan to Congress today, where it’s expected to face opposition from Minnesota Republicans, despite White House claims that the plan would create jobs in the state.

A White House analysis argues that the American Jobs Act would create at least 91,100 jobs in Minnesota, provide payroll tax relief for 120,000 state companies and cut the average Minnesotan’s taxes by $1,740.

The plan includes at least $608 million in transit and infrastructure funding in the state. It also would allocate $500 million to hire Minnesota teachers, $100 million to rehabilitate foreclosed properties and $87 million to modernize community colleges.

Obama’s plan faces some challenges from the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Republican members of the Minnesota congressional delegation, including Reps. John Kline, Erik Paulsen and Michele Bachmann, criticized the jobs plan last week.

“I stand here tonight to say to the President, not only should Congress not pass your plan, I say stop. Your last plan hasn’t worked, it’s hurting the American economy,” Bachmann said in a rebuttal to the President. “Instead of temporary fixes, do what has proved to work in the past, permanent pro-growth policies that are driven by the free market.”

In a statement last week, U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum urged Republicans to pass the plan for the good of the country.

“Even with millions of people out of work and hurting, passing this jobs package requires the Tea Party majority to act in a responsible, bipartisan manner which is doubtful,” McCollum said. ”The American people want jobs, not dangerous and harmful Tea Party schemes to protect polluters, bust unions, eliminate Medicare, and outsource more jobs.”

In his address to Congress Thursday night, President Obama outlined his “jobs plan” to jump start the American economy. Minnesota’s elected officials and interest groups weighed in on Obama’s speech, and the responses fell along party lines.

Rep. Betty McCollum called on the tea party to “Stop the Game Playing and Pass Obama’s Jobs Legislation”:

“The President’s common-sense proposal to put Americans back to work should be passed by Congress as soon as possible. However, even with millions of people out of work and hurting, passing this jobs package requires the Tea Party majority to act in a responsible, bipartisan manner which is doubtful.

“For the past eight months, the world has witnessed an out-of-control Tea Party majority in Congress, harming our economy and stalling job growth with their posturing and political games. The American people want jobs, not dangerous and harmful Tea Party schemes to protect polluters, bust unions, eliminate Medicare, and outsource more jobs.”

Rep. John Kline called on Obama to roll back regulation on corporations:

“For weeks, I have been in Minnesota hearing from job creators, workers, and too many frustrated unemployed Americans about how we can get America working again. They want to see positive solutions that put the nation’s fiscal house in order and remove Washington’s regulatory roadblocks to job creation.

“I was pleased to hear the President heed the call of Americans by expressing a desire to work together to promote long term economic growth. Unfortunately, his call for more stimulus-type measures ignores the reality that people – not government – are our nation’s true job creators. The private sector doesn’t need Washington to tell them how to create jobs; they need Washington to get out of their way.

“I join most Americans who aren’t content with yet another speech. We need commonsense solutions that put Americans back to work. Earlier this year, House Republicans put forth a pro-growth agenda that builds on the Pledge to America, our governing agenda focused on job creation and economic growth. Our ‘Plan for America’s Job Creators’ will address our economic challenges, foster innovation and investment, and help job creators without raising taxes on working families and small business owners. The President should consider our in-depth proposal as well as urge the Democrat-controlled Senate to vote on numerous House-passed bills that could immediately spur job creation.

Sen. Al Franken praised Obama’s plan:

“Our top priority must be getting people back to work. The President presented a smart plan that will create needed American jobs and won’t add a dime to the deficit. This plan will benefit Minnesota, and Congress needs to act on it quickly. This package would put lots of Minnesotans back to work, including teachers, first responders, and construction workers, and put more money in the pockets of our state’s working families.”

Rep. Erik Paulsen said he’s willing to work with Democrats, but not on Obama’s plan:

“Neither party can escape blame for our nation’s economic turmoil. Republicans during the Bush years made mistakes, spending lots of money the country didn’t have. But a few of my colleagues and I want to reform Washington’s reckless, unsustainable ways,” said Paulsen. “I’m always willing to work across the aisle on good ideas to revive the economy. Unfortunately, the President’s remarks tonight were more of a rehash of previously failed policies. He and we can do better.”

Presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann delivered her own response to the president’s speech:

Unfortunately, it seems, every time the President speaks, his policies have cost the American people jobs and future prosperity.

Tonight the President under the veil of one of the most sacred deliberative forums, a joint session of Congress, delivered another political speech where he doubled down on more of the same policies that are killing the economy. Mr. President, what among your proposals was new? What here hasn’t already been tried and failed before? While the President’s speech comes on the heels of a trillion dollars of failed stimulus, bailouts, and temporary gimmicks aimed at creating jobs, the President continued to cling to the idea that government is the solution to creating jobs.

My conservative colleagues and I have been fighting over the last two and half years for pro growth policies.

I stand here tonight to say to the President, not only should Congress not pass your plan, I say, “stop; your last plan hasn’t worked, it’s hurting the American economy.” Instead of temporary fixes, do what has proved to work in the past, permanent pro growth policies that are driven by the free market.”

Bachmann offered her plan to create jobs:

1) Repatriate American business dollars earned from overseas, 2) Massively cut spending and the size of government, 3) Repeal Obamacare, which is the government takeover of America’s healthcare system, 4) Cut taxes, including corporate taxes, 5) Repeal Dodd-Frank, 6) Repeal job killing regulations, 7) Increase exports by finalizing free trade agreements, 8) Spur new investment in America, inspire innovation, 9) Provide job creating energy solutions, including decreased regulations on developing new energy supplies from our abundant domestic energy resources.

Gov. Mark Dayton gushed over Obama’s speech:

“The President’s speech was the best I have ever heard him deliver. He was exactly the decisive, strong, and forward-looking leader our nation needs at this critical moment. He properly called upon all of us to set aside our partisan differences and to unite in support of the best ideas and initiatives for the people of America, for now and for the future.

“The President’s vision should inspire Americans and galvanize Congress. As he stated so eloquently, the time to act is NOW. His American Jobs Act will put thousands of Minnesotans back to work; they need Congress to act NOW.

“As we learn more in the days ahead about the details of the President’s plan, I am confident we will find even more initiatives that will help Minnesota’s citizens, businesses, and economy. I look forward to rolling up my sleeves to support the President’s proposals and to put them to work for Minnesota.”

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson also weighed in on the speech:

“President Obama took a major step toward pushing Congress to finally address our nation’s jobs crisis in his speech this evening.

“Washington politicians have already wasted too much time being guided by a Tea Party Republican agenda of protecting the super-rich while millions of Americans want and need to work.

“The American Jobs Act invests in jobs for middle class families and finally ensures the super-rich and big corporations start paying their fair share in taxes.

“Now is the time to be bold. We call on President Obama to act on his rhetoric and for Congress to end the political log jam to create the jobs Minnesota’s middle class families need.”