A press release from Congressman Randy Hultgren:
Hultgren Statement On President Obama’s Address To Congress
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren (IL-14) tonight released the following statement regarding President Barack Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress.
“Tonight, I attended President Obama’s address to Congress because, although I expected partisan rhetoric but little in the way of new ideas, I felt that it was my constitutional responsibility to do so,” said Hultgren.
Randy Hultgren speaks in Huntley.
“Unfortunately, despite his premise of bipartisanship, the President’s prescriptions for our economy were political and wholly inadequate. Once again he urged more scattershot ‘stimulus’ spending, at a time when we should be husbanding our constituents’ hard-earned tax dollars and ensuring that they are spent as wisely as possible.
“I agree with President Obama that investing in our nation’s infrastructure is needed and will create jobs. But we cannot do so blindly. We must ensure that our investments are targeted and timely, and we must work hard to cut red tape and limit the permitting delays that currently plague our investments in infrastructure improvement.
“While I also believe that tax reform is long overdue, I was disappointed to hear him resurrect his calls on increasing taxes. It is absolutely the wrong time to be raising taxes on Americans that Main Street often calls small business owners, entrepreneurs, or job creators.
“However, I wholeheartedly support the President’s call for passage of the three Free Trade Agreements. I look forward to voting for them – as soon as he sends them to Capitol Hill.
“And true to form, nobody is calling for the elimination of all regulation; rather, contrary to this Administration, House Republicans are working to ensure that regulations are commonsense and reasonable.
“While there will undoubtedly be bipartisan support for some of President Obama’s proposals, none of them will create meaningful numbers of jobs or get our economy moving so long as the threat of more crushing regulations and increased taxes are hovering over the heads of small business owners.
“Moreover, as with so many of his speeches in the past, tonight’s address lacked the specificity needed to be scored by the Congressional Budget Office, and instead rested solely on grand statements and eloquent rhetoric. I hope we have the opportunity to see these details in the days and weeks to come.”
From President’s speech – “But know this: The next election is 14 months away. And the people who sent us here, the people who hired us to work for them, they don’t have the luxury of waiting 14 months.”
Oh really? “We the People” have been waiting since this man took office in DC to get the right things done…NOW he’s suddenly worried about something being done in a timely manner. Oh, sorry, I forgot he’s in campaign mode which probably isn’t helped by his approval ratings crashing and the unemployment numbers going up.
I am disgusted when he talks down to the People and chastizes . I’d have more respect for him (but never vote for him) if he just came out and said he blew it and listened to the wrong advisers (the ones he selected and then sent packing back to their college classrooms, etc.)
And, hey, it’s a thrill that he wants his union supporters to get their jobs back, however, it’s the rest of us who pay their salaries and benefits (the ones we don’t have) and if WE don’t have jobs to pay them – how’s that gonna work?
It would have been honest if he just wore a union logo or two on his suit. The grayer head was a nice touch too. NOT