Arizona Responses to Obama's SOTU Address

AZ Congressman Matt Salmon:  “The president is our nation’s elected leader and has the privilege and responsibility to set the tone for our nation. Unfortunately, this cannot happen with a president who remains tone-deaf and unwilling to listen to the American people. We learned last week that President Obama believes he can lead our nation with only a pen and a phone. But Americans don’t care about pens and phones; they care about jobs and paychecks. This requires a president who will work with Congress to pass bills that grow the economy, not the size of the government. If the president is serious about working with Congress he should start by asking Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to take up the 40 jobs bills the House has sent to the Senate, finally approve the Keystone Pipeline and remove job-killing regulations through legislation such as the REINS Act. I firmly believe that job creation and higher-wages are a product of economic growth, not mandates from Washington. Americans have a strong spirit of ingenuity and will. We can and should support policies that foster these values, not hinder them.” AZ Congressman David Schweikert: “For those who watched the president’s speech and the Republican response, the difference could not be more stark. The Republican message of optimism and opportunity contrasts with the president’s speech of recycled proposals from his previous years in office. If the president is ready to accept responsibility for his policies that have led to stagnant economic growth over his 6 years in office, he needs to follow through this time and address the issue with more than just talk of job creation. I am hopeful 2014 can be a productive year, but it will require President Obama to do something he has refused to do until now. And that is, reach out and work with Congress in good faith.”Gubernatorial Candidate Frank Riggs: "President Obama's SOTU speech is more of the same: big government proposals that shift more power to DC, and dominion and control over our lives, despite the fact that the federal gov't can't stop deficit spending or secure our state and national border with Mexico.  We need to put our fiscal house in order, revive our economy and create jobs, and promote more competition and choice in education and health care to build a better future for all Arizonans!  The common sense conservative solutions we need are in Arizona, not Washington, DC."