COLUMBUS, Ohio – As President Obama hits the road to promote themes from last night’s State of the Union address, Ohioans are weighing in on the speech.
“Rather than laying out a pro-growth plan to spur our economy, he promoted the same big-government policies that have failed to get our economy up and running again. Instead of addressing the need to reduce Washington’s massive deficits by reforming important yet unsustainable entitlements, he proposed more taxes on job creators,” Republican Sen. Rob Portman said.
Obama said tax reform should include closing loopholes for special interests.
“This evening, I had hoped the President would lay out precise details on how he plans to grow the economy, create jobs, and reduce our nation’s out-of-control spending and deficit. On behalf of the hardworking Ohioans and Americans whose tax dollars are being squandered away daily by this Administration, I demand that our President show some leadership and lay out specific spending cuts and reforms that will get this country back to work and back on track. Unfortunately, this did not happen tonight,” Cong. Bob Gibbs (R-Ashland) said.
In last night’s address, Obama said the middle class is the true engine of America’s economic growth. He argued that the federal government should work on “behalf of the many, not just the few.”
Saying “it’s not bigger government we need but a smarter government that sets priorities and invests in broad-based growth,” he resisted aggressive new Republican deficit reduction proposals, saying the U.S. can’t just cut its way to prosperity.
A CNN/ORC International poll indicates 53-percent of Americans gave the address a thumbs-up. Twenty four-percent had a somewhat positive response and 22-percent had a negative reaction. When it comes to bipartisan cooperation, less than four-in-ten think the speech will improve on the situation.
Obama urged Democrats and Republicans to work together to avert a so-called sequester of deep, automatic spending cuts set to trigger at month’s end.
The President said he is open to entitlement reform but resisted calls to slash Medicare and Social Security.
The nation “can’t ask senior citizens and working families to shoulder the entire burden of deficit reduction while asking nothing more from the wealthiest and most powerful,” he said.
Obama will be at an auto components manufacturer in Asheville, N.C. today, where the White House says he will call for policies that boost the struggling middle class.
He will travel to Decatur, Ga., tomorrow and his home city of Chicago on Friday.