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Heartland lawmakers react to President Obama's State of the Union Address.....


Iowa Senator Charles Grassley...

“Americans are looking for leadership.  The 13 million people who are unemployed need to know that leaders in Washington can come together to get people back to work and move the country in the right direction.

“Washington needs to focus on fostering opportunities with an environment where the economy can improve and jobs can be created.  Tax certainty and low taxes are a major factor, and one of the biggest tax increases in history will happen at the end of this year if Congress and the President don’t stop it.  America’s fiscal problems don’t come from a revenue shortage, but from too much spending, and government spending needs to be reduced.  A massive federal debt gets in the way of economic growth.  So does the heavy hand of government regulation, and it must be lifted.  America also needs new export markets for our products and services, and the economy is helped by affordable energy, so domestic production has got to be a priority.  The President’s decision last week, to deny the Keystone pipeline project, prevents energy-related infrastructure development that creates jobs, in this case as many as 20,000 jobs.  The decision also stymies an energy partnership with a friendly neighbor, and whether or not the United States approves the Keystone project, the oil will be produced, and if it doesn’t come here, China likely will get it.  The result of this decision is just the opposite of what our national priority ought to be and that’s opportunity.

“Since 2009, President Obama’s theory of economic stimulus and government intervention has failed in terms of job creation, economic growth and fiscal responsibility, so we need a new direction.  At the same time, President Obama seems determined to test and even exceed the powers of his office.  America has a system of checks and balances that’s generally worked for more than two centuries.  The President’s interest in putting the executive branch above the other branches of government is unconstitutional and counter-productive.  It’s something Americans rejected 235 years ago.  Today, finding common ground with the elected representatives of Congress would be more productive than trying to govern by edict from the Oval Office.”

Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill....

“The vision President Obama laid out to bolster manufacturing, like we did at the Ford plant in Kansas City, and invest in our work force is a starting point that we all should be able to support.  Missouri’s middle class families can’t endure more partisanship, brinksmanship, and political games.  They expect us to work together and be willing to compromise.  I’m ready to work towards that goal.”

Missouri Senator Roy Blunt....

“Tonight we heard a lot from the President about ‘economic fairness’ and ‘American values.’ The most important American value in the economy is the value of an individual to get a job, and hopefully to get a private sector job.

“The President’s economic policies have not only failed – they’ve clearly made the economy worse.

“Particularly, his focus on ‘energy security’ contradicts all of the facts. I was just in 26 Missouri counties where the discussion was about: Why are my utility bills going up? Why is the power plant closing? Why didn’t the President move forward with the Keystone Pipeline?

“More American energy is the shortest path to more American jobs, and while the President seems to understand that in his speech, the regulators who work for him clearly work against that all the time.

“We need to work together to meet the number one domestic priority in the country, and that’s more private sector job creation. The President needs to understand that, or else we’re not going to solve the problems of this economy.”




Iowa Representative Bruce Braley....

“I’m glad the President so strongly emphasized strengthening the middle class tonight.  I was especially encouraged by his focus on economic fairness, creating jobs, and investing in education.

“The American middle class is being squeezed more than ever, yet Wall Street bankers and big corporations are making record profits.  It seems like there are two sets of rules – one for the elite, and one for everyone else.  America has always been about opportunity.  We need to level the playing field and keep the promise that if you work hard, you can get ahead.  An easy first step in strengthening the middle class is to pass a yearlong extension of the payroll tax cut.

“Our schools, colleges, and universities are avenues of opportunity.  We need to strengthen education if we are going to succeed in the global economy.  China and India are churning out well-educated and skilled workers.  We need to meet their challenge.”

Missouri Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer....

“The president’s philosophy of dividing Americans for political gain and expanding the scope of government shows a lack of respect for the entrepreneurial spirit that makes our country the envy of the world. The president talks a good game when it comes to creating jobs and opportunities for American families, but I’m from the “Show-Me State,” and the president’s actions speak much louder than his words. The bottom line is the president cannot run on his record. The president’s failed policies have made the economy worse with almost 2 million more people out of work since he took office. If the president were serious about creating jobs, he would demand that his former colleagues in the Senate majority act on the 27 House-passed jobs bills that they refuse to take up, and he wouldn’t have stopped the Keystone XL pipeline that would have created tens of thousands of jobs. Besides acting on the jobs bills, he also ought to remind his former colleagues that it has been 1,000 days since they’ve passed a budget and that there are many House-passed cost-cutting measures that they should pass as well. This is about the president’s record, not his rhetoric.”


Missouri Representative Sam Graves....

“In this new year, our nation faces many challenges. We stand at a crossroads in history where we must rebound from an economic downturn the likes of which we have not seen in a very long time. The President continues to propose big government solutions and more taxes. If we have learned anything these past 3 years, it is that you cannot spend, borrow or tax your way in to prosperity. It’s time to move on from these failed policies, and get to work on solutions that will allow small businesses to flourish, which in turn will put our economy back on track and get Americans back to work.
           
The President said tonight that he wants to work with House Republicans on solutions.
           
I hope the President will work with us on lowering taxes and simplifying our tax code. This will create certainty and unleash the power of American entrepreneurs. We need to work together to remove burdensome regulations that do nothing to make us safer, but require numerous hours and paperwork to comply with. Creating more government is not the answer… that’s the problem.
           
The fact of the matter is that we have been ready to work with the President— that’s why we’ve sent over 30 bipartisan bills to the Senate that would address everything from job creation to energy production to our rising debt— yet 27 of those bills are still sitting in the Senate waiting for action. Many of those bills are common sense solutions to get government out of the way.
           
And as Chairman of the House Small Business Committee, that’s exactly what my goal is going to be— moving government out of the way.



Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller....

“We have a clear choice in front of us: a path where everyone is left to fend for themselves and opportunity only exists for the few, or President Obama’s blueprint for an America where opportunity is available to those who play by the rules and everybody does their fair share. It’s time for us to take action and make the President's blueprint a reality.”



Iowa State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald...

“For too long we’ve relied on energy imported from foreign countries to power America. As a national leader in clean energy, thousands of Iowans are already employed in the renewable energy industry. The president’s call to expand American energy will put even more Iowans to work and give other states the opportunity to produce more energy within their own borders.”