Republicans Respond To SOTU Address

Here are the following statements released by Republican members of the state’s Congressional delegation in response to President Obama’s State of the Union address last night:

From Sen. Roger Wicker (this was actually sent out before the speech): “The President has shown he can generate government jobs. But jobs created by small businesses and entrepreneurs in the private sector are the ones that are needed. The President’s solution to produce jobs is just to expend more tax dollars, which is a nonstarter in the Senate and for the American public. We are already spending more than we have, so the President’s call for a five-year spending freeze simply does not go far enough. We need to stop the spending binge and give job creators certainty to enable them to hire.”

From Sen. Thad Cochran: “I think we should rise to the challenges to control government spending more effectively and to reduce our nation’s debt. This State of the Union speech should be followed by realistic requests and specific proposals from President Obama in order to achieve those goals. Economic growth and job creation efforts will fall by the wayside in the absence of Presidential leadership. I look forward to working in a positive and constructive way with the President, and the leaders in Congress, to deal with these important challenges.”

From Rep. Alan Nunnelee: “I appreciate the President’s call for bipartisanship and his emphasis on creating jobs. However, he has yet to take a serious stance on a plan to reign in the national debt and present a strategy for real spending reform. My concerns lie in his so-called ‘investments’ in innovation, infrastructure and education. In Washington speak, investments mean spending. These are the same type of investments that made up the failed stimulus package. We’ve already been down this road and the stimulus spending failed – failed to create jobs and helped raise the national debt to a record $14 trillion. We need to invest in our future generations by relieving them of the insurmountable amount of debt they will inherit due to the government’s thoughtless spending…” Continue reading Nunnelee’s full statement.

From Rep. Gregg Harper: “Tonight the President called on Congress to reduce the deficit and enact government reforms such as banning earmarks, both initiatives that House Republicans have already adopted. Just today the House approved a resolution to return non-security discretionary federal spending to Fiscal Year 2008 levels. House Republican rules enact a ban on congressional earmarks, and the House has passed a resolution to reduce Members’ budgets by five percent. Actions always speak louder than words. I welcome the President’s change of heart and look forward to his joining Republicans in our efforts to create jobs, drive down spending and shrink the size of the federal government.”