Congressman Garret Graves (LA06) reacted to President Obama's 7th State of the Union speech tonight.
"The president addressed a number of issues that are important to the families of South Louisiana including closing tax loopholes, protecting Americans from cyber-attacks, online privacy for our kids, and trade promotion authority for our ports and river system. Unfortunately, his speech centered on the same policies that have saddled Americans with increased regulatory burdens, more bureaucracy, rising costs and an expansion of the federal government into almost every aspect of American life. His economic proposals are exactly what the American people voted against in November. Increasing taxes to fund new government spending is not turning the page; it's a continuation of an approach to governing that says the federal government knows best and leaves the taxpayer holding the bag.
Nationalizing our education system and calling it free community college, increasing taxes and spending, mandating how a business should manage its workforce, and threatening to veto legislation that contradicts a big government agenda is not the "right thing to do."
I am committed to advancing solutions that increase opportunity for all Americans - ideas that create good jobs and better wages, and that lower healthcare, energy and education costs. The best thing that the government can do is reduce the tax and regulatory burden on ordinary people who go to work every day to care for their families and pay the bills. For all of his talk of unity and collaborative politics, the president has already threatened to veto four jobs bills that have passed the House with bipartisan support.
I was hopeful that we would see the president ready to respond to the mandate of the American public on Nov. 4th. Rather than leading the march of the American people away from the status quo, the president made it clear he intends to continue to march to the beat of his own drum."