President Obama delivered his State of the Union address Tuesday night. (Photo via DayLife/JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)
— President Barack Obama delivered his second address to a joint session of Congress regarding the ‘State of the Union.’
For his part, Obama focused on the need for job creation, simplification of the tax code, and the importance to him of investing in the nation’s future. “We need to out- innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world. We have to make America the best place on Earth to do business,” the President said.
Calling for a ‘Sputnik moment’ of innovation, Obama said, “We are the nation that put cars in driveways and computers in offices; the nation of Edison and the Wright brothers; of Google and Facebook. In America, innovation doesn’t just change our lives. It’s how we make a living. ”
Obama called to end federal subsidies for oil companies, new investments in education, and a five year freeze on annual domestic spending. “[W]e have to confront the fact that our government spends more than it takes in. That is not sustainable,” he said.
Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Cape Girardeau) was publicly positive with her reaction to the President’s speech.
“Happy to hear President Obama mention simplifying the tax code and not spending more than we take in during his State of the Union tonight,” Emerson said to her followers on Facebook. “Let’s hope both can happen soon.”
While the President offered willingness to reform unpopular parts of the Affordable Care Act, Rep. Sam Graves (R-St. Joseph) called on the Senate to repeal it all together.
“The mandate of this Congress is to cut spending and stop placing burdens on our nation’s job creators. The President tonight indicated that he will continue spending and continue to push his takeover of the American health care system,” Graves said, in a statement.
Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Columbia) seconded that. “The American people want to know that their voices are being heard and the president must prove that he is finally willing to listen by proposing concrete solutions to controlling spending, tackling the debt, and removing the heavy hand of government from people’s lives so that the private sector can create the jobs and expand economic opportunities desperately needed to grow our economy,” he said.
Republican Senator Roy Blunt was critical of investments Obama proposed. “We also heard a lot about the new buzz word for spending, which is ‘investments.’ In the stimulus message two years ago, the President mentioned investments 14 times. I don’t think those ‘investments’ really did for the economy what it did for people’s debt. This speech should have been about jobs and too much government spending. Instead it was about ‘investment,’ which is just another word for more government spending.”
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Harrisonville) repeated the investments line, and called on the President to embrace polices proposed by Republicans. “Citizens of the 4th District want action on job creation – not empty rhetoric. President Obama gives a great speech but needs to embrace the Republicans’ solid, pro-business policies to put Americans back to work,” she said.
“The policies of the President and Congressional liberals have failed,” added Hartzler. “Our debt has climbed to its highest level in U.S. history as unemployment levels remain at historic highs. More of the same liberal spending is not the solution to our problems. It is time to say ‘no’ to more binge spending, ‘yes’ to fiscal responsibility, and ‘yes’ to American jobs.”
Reaching out to Republicans, Obama said, “We may have differences in policy, but we all believe in the rights enshrined in our Constitution. We may have different opinions, but we believe in the same promise that says this is a place where you can make it if you try. We may have different backgrounds, but we believe in the same dream that says this is a country where anything’s possible. No matter who you are. No matter where you come from.”
Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-St. Louis) encouraged his colleagues to work together. “We must set aside petty differences so we can focus on what is most important: Getting people back to work, and making sure America’s businesses – and our children – can compete in the new, global economy. And I think the St. Louis region can and should be at the forefront of that effort,” Carnahan said.
Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver (D-Kansas City) said of the speech, “This is another call to action and reminder for us to continue laying the foundation for our children in making the great promise of America, the practice of America. We will continue to work. We will continue to do our job and create jobs for all Americans. Like President Obama I too believe, ‘yes we can’ and ‘yes we will.’”
Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill praised the president for his pledges to freeze spending, but encouraged the him to go further. “I appreciated his words about the need to deal with our deficit, but I don’t think his proposal to freeze spending goes far enough and I had hoped he would endorse the Sessions-McCaskill amendment. I was glad to hear that he’s on board with my efforts to stop earmarks – it’s a small, but symbolic way Congress can signal to the American people that we are serious about bringing fiscal responsibility to Washington,” she said.
On the tone of the evening, McCaskill said, “The president also is right that we need better civility and bipartisanship in Washington to tackle the tough challenges facing our nation, so I hope everyone takes that message to heart. The tone in the Capitol tonight was optimistic – this is a great country and we have a great future ahead of us.”
Rep. Lacy Clay (D-St. Louis) applauded Obama’s remarks. “As the President stated so well, while we streamline our government, close tax loopholes and cut waste, we must continue to invest in infrastructure, renewable energy and closing disparities in healthcare and education. We must never forget that at the core of our strength at home is restoring our great urban centers by stabilizing neighborhoods and helping entrepreneurs and small businesses grow,” he said.
The president will be in Wisconsin Wednesday, promoting economic growth while touring multiple businesses.
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