Republicans’ tune: “Too much government.” Democrats: “Everything’s gonna be great!” America: “Yeah, this thing’s a toss-up.”
Pete Sessions: “President Obama once again touted his ostensible commitment to job creation and fiscal responsibility. Unfortunately, the American people have heard these empty campaign promises for the past four years. Instead of turning his rhetoric into responsible action, the President’s policies have burdened our economy with unprecedented levels of spending, record deficits and debt, and inevitably high unemployment. It’s time for a new direction, not retreaded policies.”
Jeb Hensarling: “The president’s speech tonight can be summed up in a few short words: same song, different verse. By and large, the problems we face today – out of control spending, high unemployment, rising health care costs, entitlement programs on a fast track to insolvency – are not new. Regrettably, neither are the president’s solutions to these problems.”
Ralph Hall, whose response, I must say, was thoughtful, long, and the best of any local reps. Click through for the whole thing: “The current state of our nation is in large part due to this Administration’s failed economic and over-reaching regulatory policies. Increased spending levels and higher taxes are not the answers we need. Big government is not the solution. The President continues to speak about continuing the same policies that have exacerbated the problem rather than offer new proposals. His speech offered no real solution to our immediate need for jobs. Every suggestion he offered involved more government expansion and no new ideas. Four more years of this President’s agenda, and we will not only see fewer jobs, but fewer employers to apply to.”
Kay Granger: “Tonight, the President correctly said that across-the-board defense cuts would harm our military readiness and jeopardize our national security, but he did not offer a specific solution to stop these devastating cuts. Today’s nuclear test in North Korea is a reminder of the risks our country continues to face. We must maintain a military capable of responding to serious threats around the world.”
Kenny Marchant: “What the American people need right now is a real plan for the future. The President refuses to develop such a plan. His failure to submit a budget on time for the fourth time in the last five years could not make this any clearer. Instead of working to restore our economy and put the country back on a more fiscally sustainable path, the President would rather focus on restricting Second Amendment rights and providing millions of illegal immigrants access to our welfare system.”
Eddie Bernice Johnson: “The President’s address focused on how best to grow our economy and create more jobs, and I applaud his efforts to ensure that our country is moving forward. Investments in research and innovation are key to our efforts to create more jobs. The mandatory cuts that are set to take effect after March 1 will be detrimental to research institutions such as the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and FDA. We must invest in research and development because it is critical for America is to remain a leader in global innovation”
Marc Veasey: Well, he invited an undocumented immigrant to be his guest, so we probably know where he stands on most of this.
As for Sam Johnson, his website, Facebook, and Twitter pages have no State of the Union statements. If I had $500, though, and had to bet on whether or not he hated the speech, I’d bet it all.
