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Leaders respond to SOTU, GOP response

WANE TV

Updated: Jan 25, 2012 6:13 AM

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — The following are statements released by area elected officials and leaders in response to President Obama's State of the Union speech and Gov. Mitch Daniels GOP response. Keep checking this story for additional statements as they are made available.

Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-IN 3rd:

“The President can deliver an inspiring stump speech—but cheerleaders sit on the sidelines and, right now, Americans need leadership on the field. Tonight, the President failed to offer a serious proposal to avoid a future full of debt and decline. The American people deserve a fact-based plan to promote confidence and job growth.”

“In his first State of the Union, President Obama promised to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term. He never made a serious attempt to make good on that promise. Now, his Democrat colleagues in the Senate haven’t even passed a budget in 1,000 days and the $15.2 trillion national debt is bigger than our entire economy. Governor Daniels highlighted our serious efforts to promote real economic growth. Instead of offering the rhetoric of class-warfare and disunion, we’re focused on policies that will promote equal opportunity for all Americans. Common sense policies have worked in Indiana, I’m working to bring them to our nation’s capital.”

 

Sen. Dan Coats, R-IN:

“The President talked a lot about fairness and protecting the middle class, but it’s his failed economic policies that have unfairly put all Americans at risk.

“The Obama economy has left our country in worse shape than before the president took office. Millions of Americans wake up every day without a job, and many have given up looking for work entirely. It’s time for a change. With a $15 trillion national debt and increasingly insolvent entitlement programs, this administration cannot continue to avoid the fiscal emergency we face.

“Americans expect and deserve more from their leaders. In Indiana, we have a more effective and efficient government because of the strong leadership of Governor Mitch Daniels. Governor Daniels has proven that with a credible plan and a willingness to make tough decisions, government can do more with less while still serving the people.

“We need that type of leadership in Washington today. It is time for President Obama to put the future of our country over the politics of the moment.”

 

Rep. Mike Pence, R-IN 6th:

“Tonight, like millions of Americans, I was disappointed to hear more of the same from this president – more borrowing, more spending and more taxes, which stood in stark contrast to the common sense message of fiscal responsibility and reform from America’s best governor.  Gov. Mitch Daniels’ plainspoken call for fiscal discipline and reform was the right message during these difficult times and must be heeded if we hope to put an end to the mountain range of debt that threatens the prosperity of our children and grandchildren.”

 

RNC Chairman 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.”

 

Indiana AFL-CIO President Nancy Guyott:

“The irony surrounding Governor Daniels’ response to President Obama’s State of the Union Speech is seemingly endless. While the Governor seemed unaware of the problems the president addressed in his speech, it almost seemed as if Governor Daniels was talking about a completely different country, one with a completely different set of economic and social circumstances than the one we all actually live in.

Growing income disparity, the growing gap between rich and poor, seems to be a reality lost on this governor. Indeed, his push for a so-called “right to work” bill here in Indiana confirms that he is oblivious to this pressing problem. He is pushing this bill that would inevitably reduce wages and job security for working class Hoosiers while he supports more tax breaks for the wealthy. He is not only ignorant of the problem of income inequality, he seeks to exacerbate it and brazenly claim that it is best for Indiana’s economy.

Another cruel irony about the governor’s response is the timing. In less than two weeks, Indianapolis will host Super Bowl XLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium which was 100 percent built using union labor. Ironworkers, electricians, bricklayers, plumbers, laborers and carpenters all put their blood, sweat and tears into that magnificent building that has afforded Indianapolis this once-in-a-generation opportunity to showcase this wonderful city and state and all the people that live here. Unfortunately, as the governor touts this opportunity, he is leading an attack on the very workers that built the stadium and made it all possible.

Finally, there is a profound irony that national Republicans would choose Governor Daniels to deliver this response given his track record of flip-flopping and double crossing Hoosiers. In 2006 he promised a labor convention that he saw no reason to change Indiana’s labor laws and specifically ruled out pushing any “right to work” law. Fast forward to 2012, where in the last year of his administration, Governor Daniels has decided to go after workers in the exact way he promised he wouldn’t, by robbing them of their collective bargaining rights.

The secrecy and haste with which the governor has pursued his extreme agenda is equally troubling. Because he has refused to disclose the donors that have financed the television ad campaign to support his efforts, we have no idea for whom he speaks, but we do know he no longer speaks for middle class Hoosiers and all that we stand for.

President Obama laid out a balanced vision for how to improve our national economy and move this country forward. In his role as his party’s spokesman to offer a different vision for the country, the governor does indeed offer a contrast. He offers disparity instead of equality. He offers oppression over liberty. He favors political opportunism instead of investing in America’s strength. He favors nameless donors over countless workers who have been demanding fairness. And he offers rhetoric that does not match the reality of his record.”

Copyright 2012 WANE TV. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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