Scott Tipton, Candidate for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, released the following statement in response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address.
Again and again over the past year, the American people have sent a clear message to Democrats in Washington: we don’t want your leftist agenda. We saw this message play out first in Virginia and New Jersey last November, and again this past Tuesday in Massachusetts. President Obama’s response in tonight’s State of the Union address was to double down on the same failed policies that Americans overwhelmingly reject, albeit dressed up and repackaged in fancy new language.
There is nothing more disheartening than knowing that one in every ten Americans is ready and willing to work, yet unable to find a job. Even many of those lucky enough to still be employed are struggling amidst decimated 401(k)’s and plunging home values. Tonight the president said that “jobs will be our number one focus in 2010,” and to make his point he called on Congress to pass “a new jobs bill” to encourage job creation and stimulate the economy.
 Yet it was less than one year ago that President Obama first called on Congress to pass legislation to stimulate the economy and encourage job creation. The $787 billion so-called “stimulus” bill passed by Nancy Pelosi, John Salazar, and the rest of the Democrats in Congress, was signed into law by President Obama in February 2009 when national unemployment stood at 7.2 percent. Today, at more than 10 percent unemployment and billions of dollars in wasted spending later, we cannot afford another wasted spending bill – whether it’s called a stimulus or a jobs bill we know the only thing it grows is government. A return to small government and free markets is the key to unleashing the economic potential of America. It’s time Washington recognized it.”
Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike all agree that there is much to be improved in our current health care delivery system, but Americans have also firmly rejected the Obama and the Democrats’ current over-spending, over-regulating “reform” monstrosity. There is a better way. Health care reform does not require the creation of large federal bureaucracies, or the imposition of new fees and taxes to cover the costs of corrupt political deals such as the so-called ‘Cornhusker Kickback’ or ‘Louisiana Purchase’.
One simple and costless reform would go a long way to reducing the cost of insurance immediately, without thousands of complex new rules and regulations or additional taxes and fees: allowing Americans to purchase health insurance across state lines as we currently do with auto insurance, life insurance, and hundreds of other consumer products. A national market for health insurance would drive down costs through increased competition, making insurance affordable and accessible for the thousands of families who currently are forced to go without. “
President Obama was swept into office just over a year ago on promises of transparency and bipartisanship, peace and prosperity, hope and change. One year into this administration and we have yet to see renewed transparency or bipartisanship, and prosperity has never seemed farther from reach.
We have listened this year as the president has made us promise after promise, and we listened tonight as he did so again. If the past year is any indication, the promises made in tonight’s State of the Union will be just as empty. |