Rubio, McCotter, Cantor, Bachmann, Priebus: Response to #SOTU

Senator Marco Rubio: “I’m actually very disturbed by the speech tonight. The President is on the verge of committing economic malpractice.

“How does raising taxes create jobs? How does raising my boss’s taxes help me keep my job? Why is he advocating policies that will punish people that are investing in American businesses that are creating middle class jobs?

“It just doesn’t make a lot of sense. It’s the kind of policies that have taken a bad economy over the last four years and made everything worse.”

Thaddeus McCotter: “Tragically for the American people, in our unfolding globalized century the President remains wedded to a failed “Great Society” government: specifically, Washington elites dictating who gets someone else’s money. For the sake of our country’s economy and security, this President must learn that the great American tradition isn’t redistributionism; the great American tradition is exceptionalism. The sooner he does – or is relieved of the burden of governing – the sooner the American people will build a 21st Century of unprecedented liberty, prosperity and security.”

Eric Cantor: We need bold, pro-growth policies that focus squarely on the job engines in this country – our nation’s small businesses. Small businesses need to know that Washington won’t make it harder for them to succeed. To me, what makes our country so special is that no matter who you are, where you come from or what your background is, in America, if you work hard and play by the rules everyone has a fair shot at earning success.

Michele Bachmann: Tonight, in his State of the Union address, President Obama will claim that he supports “fairness” in America, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. This is the same president who, in his first year, signed into a law a budget stuffed with 9,000 earmarks. It’s the same president who doles out grants for his friends in the green energy field, with Solyndra being the poster child. And it’s the same president who allowed his healthcare program, Obamacare, to pick winners and losers with more than 1,000 waivers granted to exempt entities from the law. Mr. President, this doesn’t sound like “fairness” to me. Instead, the Constitution provides a clear guide on fairness - equal protection under the law.

◼ Paul Ryan

Reince Priebus: Tonight, President Obama delivered his State of the Union address. The speech was new, but it seems like we’ve heard it all before. Promises to create jobs. To fix the economy. To do things differently.
“For three years, the president has made promise after promise. And more often than not, he’s broken those promises. Barack Obama has treated his presidency like a campaign—willing to say anything to keep his job, unwilling to do anything to create jobs for Americans.
“Last week, we saw yet another example of the president’s misplaced priorities. President Obama had a chance to create at least 20,000 jobs by authorizing the Keystone XL energy pipeline. But he said no. He said no to jobs and no to energy security and affordability—just to please his liberal political base.
“Compare that to Solyndra. The president loaned half a billion dollars of taxpayer money to a company backed by political allies. It went bankrupt and laid off workers.” MORE