Some lawmaker’s were unimpressed by President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday.
This is Obama’s fourth State of the Union Address and he spoke about the progress America has made and the work that still needs to be done.
“After a decade of grinding war, our brave men and women in uniform are coming home. After years of grueling recession, our businesses have created over six million new jobs. We buy more American cars than we have in five years, and less foreign oil than we have in 20. Our housing market is healing, our stock market is rebounding, and consumers, patients, and homeowners enjoy stronger protections than ever before,” Obama said.
He also said that the State of the Union is stronger but there are millions of Americans “whose hard work and dedication have not yet been rewarded.”
Obama acknowledged that America’s middle class needs to be reignited and asked Congress to join him in helping the American people.
“It is our unfinished task to restore the basic bargain that built this country — the idea that if you work hard and meet your responsibilities, you can get ahead, no matter where you come from, no matter what you look like, or who you love,” Obama said.
He spoke about climate change and tax reform and went through a number of issues he hopes to change including increasing the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour.
“This single step would raise the incomes of millions of working families. It could mean the difference between groceries or the food bank; rent or eviction; scraping by or finally getting ahead,” he said.
Obama said that while American’s don’t expect the government to solve every problem, they do expect the government to “put the nation’s interests before party. They do expect us to forge reasonable compromise where we can. For they know that America moves forward only when we do so together, and that the responsibility of improving this union remains the task of us all.”
U.S. Representative Richard Hudson, for North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District, said in response to the address that “for the first time since the campaign trail, the president finally acknowledged the need for job creation and real economic growth, but still failed to offer detailed plans.”
Hudson said that while many parts of Obama’s speech correctly addressed the issues regarding the need for bipartisan cooperation, Obama has failed to back up his promises.
“Words are cheap, while the cost of living for millions of workers is not. The American people are desperate for pro-growth policies that encourage private-sector expansion, create jobs, and ensure a meaningful livelihood for our hardworking citizens,” said Hudson.
U.S. Senator of North Carolina, Richard Burr, said that Obama’s State of the Union Address did not sound any different from his speeches in past years.
“It is time for the president to stop lecturing Congress and face the facts — his policies have failed, and they are making our economy worse. Our national debt is at an all time high, unemployment is rampant, and federal spending threatens to bankrupt our entitlement programs and will bury the next generation of Americans in debt,” Burr said.
He said that many of the topics Obama addressed were because of expanding the size of the federal government and increasing the debt ceiling.
“Words alone will not turn our economy around and put America back on the right track. I hope the president will work with Congress to reform our entitlement programs so they are viable for future generations of Americans and fix our tax code so that we can promote job creation, encourage economic growth, and provide a prosperous, fiscally sound future for American families,” Burr said.
“Ultimately the state of our union will not improve until the President stops focusing on partisan political issues and actually starts acting on the issue that matters most — our economy,” Hudson said.
U.S. Senator of North Carolina Kay Hagan said that she was glad to hear Obama speak about manufacturing and the need to make important investments in education.
“I will continue to work on a bipartisan basis on commonsense solutions that will create jobs, protect our military personnel and bases, and reduce our deficits so that middle class families in North Carolina will have a brighter future,” Hagan said.
— Staff Writer Laura Edington can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 18, or by email at ledington@civitasmedia.com.
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