2010-02-04

Reaction to State of the Union address, or ‘The president said what?!’

Contributed

United States Senator John Cornyn and US Congressman Lamar Smith provided the Bandera County Courier with their thoughts on President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, delivered on Wednesday, Jan. 27. Neither seemed particularly impressed with the rhetoric.

“Like many of his other speeches, President Obama’s State of the Union address was clearly well delivered. He certainly he has a gift,” Cornyn said.

“But I was a little disappointed. The president does not have a communications problem, he has a credibility problem.”

Referring to the many unkept promises Obama has made during the past year, Cornyn said, “We’ve all heard these promises before, and he simply hasn’t delivered.” He added, however, “I liked the one about the tax cuts.”

Cornyn continued, “I wish the president had kept his promises about transparency and bipartisanship, as well as going through the budget line by line to cut wasteful spending. Even the base of his party is complaining that President Obama says one thing and does another.”

Describing what he perceived as the president’s priority problem, Cornyn said, “The priorities of the American people are simply different than his. The American people want us to focus on jobs, keeping the country safe from terrorists and getting spending under control. Instead, the majority party’s priority has been to force through a $2.5 trillion health care bill that the American people do not want.”

Cornyn also felt Obama has a problem with the leaders of his own party. “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Harry Reid are clearly not bound by what the President says – which is why I’ll believe his three-year spending freeze when I see it.”

Concluding, Cornyn said, “In his State of the Union address, the president reiterated that he is committed to these priorities. Hopefully, 2010 will prove to be more about action and less about talk.”

Meanwhile, Smith noted that Obama’s actions on spending, jobs and national security speak louder than his words:
Commenting on what he sees as the president’s “out-of-control” spending, Smith said, “After one year in office the president has increased spending by 66 percent and tripled the annual deficit – the amount the government has overspent – from $458 billion to $1.4 trillion. Additionally, the national unemployment rate has grown from 7.7 percent to 10 percent."

Calling Obama’s proposed spending freeze “a good first step,” Smith noted the freeze only applies to one-eighth of the budget. "The freeze, which will only start after the next election, also won’t apply to the Democrats’ unpopular and costly health care proposals, Smith said.

As one way to halve the nation’s unemployment rate, Smith suggested simply enforcing immigration laws. “Unfortunately, the Obama administration continues to ignore the eight million illegal immigrants holding jobs that rightfully belong to out-of-work citizens and legal immigrants."

The Congressman also took exception to Obama’s approach to protecting Americans from a terrorist attack. “Despite the president’s attempts to reassure the American people about national security, his policies speak louder than his words,” Smith said.

“The president’s policies endanger Americans. There were more attempted terrorist attacks last year than in any year since 9-11. Trying to close Guantanamo Bay has not made America safer. Releasing terrorists and giving detainees constitutional rights weakens our ability to prevent future attacks.”