WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), a leading Senate Conservative, Tuesday night responded to President Obama’s State of the Union Address with the following statement.
“Tonight we heard President Obama’s last State of the Union Address before the 2012 election. It was a campaign stump speech, and it is clear that President Obama believes the best way to keep his job is to continue to promote class warfare in America and blame Republicans in Congress. Not surprisingly, he took credit for successes that he has actively fought against.
“After three years of failed economic policies, record deficits, and layers of back breaking regulations, President Obama just doesn’t get it. Tonight we heard about more government programs and more government spending.
“President Obama wants to pay for all this by increasing taxes and cutting defense spending.
“His defense cuts began in 2009 with his first budget cutting the Army’s Future Combat System and missile defense, ending production of the F-22 and the C-17, and postponing development of a new combat search and rescue helicopter and the next generation bomber. The next two rounds of defense cuts included downsizing the force, cancelling the Marine Corps Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, and slowing down production of the F-35.
“Tonight we heard President Obama’s vision for the future of American Manufacturing. The best thing for American manufacturing is for President Obama to get out of the way. The Obama Administration’s overly intrusive regulations are killing jobs in America.
“What he couldn’t achieve through legislation, he is achieving through heavy-handed regulations. He is moving forward with a plan to regulate greenhouse gases through the EPA, which will cost American families $300 to $400 billion a year – and this is just the tip of the iceberg: the barrage of regulations coming out of EPA taxing electricity and gasoline have become known as the ‘train wreck’ for the incredible harm they will do to jobs and the economy. In fact, the cost all these regulations put together add up to about the same as Obama’s national deficit, which is a recipe for economic disaster.
“President Obama continued his double-speak on energy. That is why he’s been touting oil and natural gas production so much lately. As his re-election approaches, he understands that especially in a weak economy, Americans want the hundreds of thousands of jobs, the affordable energy prices, and the increased energy security that fossil fuel development brings. But while he talks the talk, his actions clearly show that he is still determined to shut down oil, gas and coal development so that energy prices will, as he said himself, ‘necessarily skyrocket.’
“Just last week, to appease his global warming alarmist friends, he killed the Keystone Pipeline that would have provided 20,000 jobs and increased energy security while providing a means to get more domestic energy to the marketplace.
“We heard quite a bit tonight about fairness. Tonight’s speech makes it clear that his view of America and our values is vastly different from how our Founding Fathers viewed this great nation. He believes that fairness should be mandated and imposed through bigger government, more regulations, higher taxes and wealth redistribution. I couldn’t disagree more. American values are not found in government imposed fairness – but rather through increased liberty, personal responsibility, and individual charity. The unique greatness of America is found in the goodness of our people, not the strong arm of government.
“Now as usual, he was eloquent. Some of the things he said tonight, like reforming our tax code and investing in our nation’s infrastructure, sounded good. But, as usual, despite his eloquence, his actions defy his rhetoric.
“He has already had three years of record setting deficits, and now he wants more government programs and even more spending. We cannot allow that to happen.”