Will Gregory's SOTU Response
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
STAMFORD, Conn., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- During the President's State of the Union speech Wednesday night, the oratory of our country's finest speaker was on full display. After having seen the actions and consequences that followed similar rhetoric in the past, however, I am left concerned about another round of "hope" and "change."
Despite a blistering rebuke delivered by Massachusetts voters in the state's recent US Senate election, President Obama showed no sign of putting the breaks on his and Nancy Pelosi's agenda. Instead, he deferred blame to just about everyone but himself, and proposed some token measures to ease the concerns of moderates (although, some of these ideas indeed merited implementation). He declared he would set aside the mandate voters gave him to change course on healthcare and promised to press forward with a proposed government takeover of the system that would consolidate power and decision-making in Washington.
Beyond that, however, the President touted a "stimulus" that helped drive our national debt to unprecedented levels and cited comedic economic data (i.e.- "saving" 2 million jobs; there is no such macro-economic variable as "a job saved"). At least he didn't go patting himself on the back for creating 25 jobs in Connecticut's 42nd Congressional District, as asserted by an administration website, particularly as there isn't a 42nd Congressional District either.
I also disliked his seemingly intentional misrepresentation of reality. The President lauded his status a "tax-cutter," but failed to mention that the reason there have been no tax hikes is because his legislation failed to pass the Democrat-controlled Congress (i.e.- Cap & Trade).
What Washington needs isn't more rhetoric, but real substantive change. We need fresh thinking and fresh blood in our nation's capitol. Two weeks ago, I launched the first installment of a Congressional Reform Package that will remake the way Washington does business. I have proposed specific measures that will ensure spending is kept in check and budgets are balanced, not passed along to our future generations. I have put forward plans that will shed light on appropriations while making a personal no earmarks pledge. And, I have taken a stance that our members of Congress should no longer be treated as a special class of citizens that are exempt from the laws they write.
Real change is on its way.
SOURCE Will Gregory for Congress
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