Response to President Obama's State of the Union Address

Congressman Jack Kingston (R-GA):

“Tackling the challenges facing our country will take more than words.  Therefore, the real test is not what was said tonight but how we move forward and what can be accomplished in the days ahead. 

“I appreciate the President outlining his agenda.  Some of the items laid out have already been passed by the House and await Senate action.  Others merit review and consideration.

“Where we can find common ground, I look forward to working with the President.  Where he clings to failed policies or to politics of division, I will continue to advance alternatives that will help restore the American dream.”

Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC):

“Despite the President’s failed stimulus, for the past thirty-five months, our nation’s unemployment rate has remained above eight percent.  With over thirteen million Americans searching for employment and a national debt totaling more than fifteen trillion dollars, I had hoped the President would highlight sound ideas to promote job creation and allow for private sector growth during his speech this evening.

“Instead of focusing on ways to stop Washington’s out of control spending and create jobs, the President plans to impose higher taxes on hardworking Americans, threatening more of our nation’s jobs.  The President’s decision to delay the Keystone Pipeline, a shovel-ready project that will add 120,000 jobs to our economy without costing taxpayers a single dime, threatens jobs in Lexington at Michelin Automotive and in Aiken at MTU Detroit Diesel. 

“House Republicans have sent more than thirty bipartisan bills to the Senate, where twenty-seven of them are awaiting action.  It is my hope that the President and the liberal Senate will echo the initiatives of House Republicans and find ways to work together to help restore the American people’s faith in government by putting American families back to work.”

U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga:

“Real ‘fairness’ would be government doing what American families have had to do: sit around the kitchen table, prioritize spending, get their spending in line and not borrow too much money.

“When it comes to taxation, we need a comprehensive approach. The president’s own commission, Simpson-Bowles, recommended that we do away with many of the current tax expenditures and tax deductions, lower the tax rate on our taxpayers and produce more income. That will bring capital off the sidelines and investment back to small business. We need a comprehensive approach, not a winners and losers approach to tax reform.

“Additionally, if on the one hand, you speak of more jobs for Americans and energy security, and on the other hand, you reject 20,000 jobs, which the Keystone XL pipeline would have brought about, and 70,000 barrels of crude from Canada, one of our best friends, then you are saying one thing and doing something else—that’s wrong for our country. We need leadership on energy security.”

U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina):

There’s a simple question that middle class families should ask themselves that reveals the true state of our union: Are you better off than you were $4 trillion ago?” said Senator DeMint. “By nearly every measure, Americans are worse off than they were before President Obama saddled our children and grandchildren with trillions in unsustainable debt. Unemployment is still at record highs, millions have given up looking for work, health insurance is getting more expensive, and the housing market still hasn’t recovered.”

“The President talked a great deal about fairness, but he has a long record of unfairness to middle class families who are struggling. There’s nothing fair about taxing hard working families so President Obama can give billions to politically-connected corporations like Solyndra. There’s nothing fair about forcing millions of Americans out of health care plans they like and into Obamacare. There’s nothing fair about a President appeasing liberal environmentalists by killing the Keystone pipeline while denying thousands of Americans good jobs and raising the cost of energy.”

“President Obama offers class warfare, envy and dependency on Washington. Instead, every American should have equal opportunity to earn success and to keep the fruits of their labor.”

“With a national debt larger than our entire economy, America is on the verge of fiscal catastrophe. We must take bold action to stop the spending, debt, and growth of government that is suffocating our economy.”

“Obamacare is the number one job killer in America, and we must fully repeal it to jumpstart our economy. We need a simple, flat tax that treats every American equally, eliminates loopholes for special interests, and ends corporate welfare. We need to stop Washington regulations that are hurting small businesses and now threatening the dynamic success of the internet. And we must stop spending more than we’re bringing in and finally balance the budget.”

“America’s best days can still be ahead of us, but we must make the hard choices now to secure freedom for future generations.”