Local Representatives respond to State of the Union

President Barack Obama emphasized the need to come together to preserve the American Dream, create jobs, and fix inequalities in the nation's tax structure during his State of the Union Address on Tuesday night.

Local Republican Representatives Mike Kelly (R-3) and Glenn Thompson (R-5) are skeptical.

In statements released shortly after the address on Tuesday night, each expressed a willingness to work with the president, and reach out across the aisle, but also expressed concern about whether the policies and proposals outlined by the president will come to fruition.

"While the president gave a good speech tonight, and there were elements of the speech I agreed with, the reality is that, in the past, the president's rhetoric has simply failed to match his record," Kelly said.

Thompson noted that "the president had the opportunity to chart a new path on a set of priorities that the American people have called for and both political parties can agree on, and we heard some productive talk... But with almost two million more Americans out of work and having racked up the three largest annual deficits in the country's history since the President took office, the American people are looking for more than just talk."

Kelly blasted Obama's handling of the economy, pointing out that in a speech in 2009, "the president promised to cut the defect in half. Under President Obama's watch, the United States' credit was downgraded" and the defect has increased at epic rates.

"The economy we are facing now is Obama's economy, and he needs to take ownership of it," Kelly argued.

Noting that "America has experienced the longest period of sustained unemployment since the Great Depression," Thompson said that "the president has led us in the wrong direction over the past three years, but there's time to right the ship and put aside the failed policies of the past."

One proposal that Thompson claims "has the potential to create thousands of jobs," recently rejected by the White House, is the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Highly critical of the administration's decision, Thompson said that "the president tonight pledged his commitment to energy security, yet his administration's actions run contrary to the rhetoric." Rejecting the pipeline "is the latest example of this White House's failure to understand our nation's basic energy needs and potential," Thompson's statement said.

Amidst the problems that the nation faces, both Thompson and Kelly recognize a way forward that includes working with the Democratic Senate and White House.

"In the House, we've delivered for the American people by advancing bills to reduce spending, restore fiscal solvency, and encourage new job creation," Thompson said. "In fact we've acted on more than 30 bipartisan jobs bills, almost all of which have been denied consideration by the Senate. With any hope, the president will meet his commitment to 'fight obstruction with action' by calling the Senate to work with the House on these important initiatives."

Kelly explained that "I heard some good proposals tonight, including his plan to remove the regulatory barriers that prevent our nation from rebuilding our nation's infrastructure. I also agree with the president's assessment of the potential that natural gas holds for our nation, including the fact that the natural gas industry could support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade."

He added that "I agree with President Obama that we need to preserve the American Dream for this and future generations. The only way we can do that is by working together, in a bipartisan fashion, to put in place policies that will spur job creation and get Americans working again....If we work together to promote these common sense solutions, I am confident that the state of our union will be better tomorrow than we find it today."

Source: http://www.timesobserver.com/page/content.detail/id/555315.html

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