WASHINGTON — Likely Republican 2016 presidential candidates on Tuesday seemed to agree that President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address was off base. What they disagreed on was why. Responses issued by possible contenders after the hour-long speech ranged from civil, optimistic messages to angry visions of a world beset by terrorism.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush gave one of the sunnier Republican responses of the night — sunnier, that is, for a put-down. “It’s unfortunate President Obama wants to use the tax code to divide us -– instead of proposing reforms to create economic opportunity for every American,” Bush said in a statement. “We can do better.”
Mitt Romney, Bush’s potential rival for the backing of the GOP establishment in 2016, also was measured in his response, calling the speech “disappointing” and “a missed opportunity to lead.”
From there, the tenor of the rhetoric intensified. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was pithy and a little cutting in his statement, issued hours before Obama’s address. Huckabee called the president’s plan to cut taxes for the middle class “ridiculous,” adding, “There are two things certain about the Obama administration: debt and taxes.”
Two of the most ideological of the likely GOP candidates, Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Rand Paul (Ky.) both made sure to issue impassioned video statements, with Paul’s lasting more than 12 minutes.
Paul railed against government seeking to impose its will on the public in the form of regulations, and said the “gifts offered by liberals have perpetuated poverty” by contributing to dependency on government. The scourge of dependency is a common conservative talking point, but Paul went farther than rivals in blaming big government, and not necessarily the president, for the nation’s ills.
He also reached out to African-Americans, quoting civil rights leaders like Democratic Rep. John Lewis of Georgia and the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He said his visits to places like Ferguson, Missouri, Detroit, Atlanta and Chicago illustrated for him that there is “an undercurrent of unease” in the nation. The key to remedying this unease, Paul said, is a new way of thinking in Washington.
Cruz made his response personal with an attack on the president and a rebuke of Obama’s time in office. Cruz opened his speech by saying Obama has “Ignored the many problems that America is facing,” and “tried to paint a rosy picture.” He blasted Obama for what he said was planning to “double down on the failed policies of the last six years … [and] all of the policies that are hurting hardworking Americans.”
Cruz also touched on immigration reform and Obamacare, both likely to form major themes of a presidential campaign. Speaking of immigration reform, Cruz said he was struck that the president “did not mention his illegal and unconstitutional executive amnesty … issued in defiance of the voters, in defiance of the Constitution, and in defiance of the law.” Cruz said that he and other Republicans have an obligation both to stop immigration reform and “to stop the train wreck that is Obamacare.”
During the next few weeks, the Republican hopefuls will have ample opportunities to hone the messages they floated on Tuesday night, through meetings with donors, voters, and party kingpins. This weekend, more than a half-dozen likely 2016 GOP candidates will address conservative activists at the Iowa Freedom Summit, a gathering hosted by Iowa Rep. Steve King, a strident opponent of immigration reform.
Among the Republicans slated to attend are Cruz, Paul, Huckabee, Sen. Marco Rubio, former Texas Gov. Ricky Perry, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.
HuffPost’s Christina Wilkie reports:
Likely Republican 2016 presidential candidates on Tuesday seemed to agree that President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address was off base. What they disagreed on was why. Responses issued by possible contenders after the hour-long speech ranged from civil, optimistic messages to angry visions of a world beset by terrorism.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush gave one of the sunnier Republican responses of the night — sunnier, that is, for a put-down. “It’s unfortunate President Obama wants to use the tax code to divide us -– instead of proposing reforms to create economic opportunity for every American,” Bush said in a statement. “We can do better.”
Mitt Romney, Bush’s potential rival for the backing of the GOP establishment in 2016, also was measured in his response, calling the speech “disappointing” and “a missed opportunity to lead.”
From there, the tenor of the rhetoric intensified.
Read more here.
HuffPost’s Michael McAuliff and Sabrina Siddiqui report:
More than anything, President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address signaled a fresh battle for the hearts and minds of America’s beleaguered middle class — and Republicans weren’t having any of it.
Obama mentioned the middle class at least seven times and touted “working” people at least nine as he rolled out proposals to offer new child tax credits, raise the minimum wage, extend paid family leave and make college more affordable. He mentioned “families” 16 times.
But well before Obama’s speech was over, House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) office was firing off responses, declaring that Obama’s “regulatory onslaught squeezes the very middle-class families he claims to be trying to help,” and that he was threatening to veto what Republicans consider to be jobs bills.
Read more here.
HuffPost’s Elise Foley reports:
Earlier Tuesday, it appeared the GOP’s Spanish-language rebuttal to the State of the Union would be exactly the same as the English-language one, just delivered by a Latino congressman instead of a senator who wants to make English the official U.S. language.
But when the speeches were delivered in the evening, there was at least one major difference — one key to many Spanish-language audiences. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), delivering the official Republican rebuttal, did not utter the word “immigration” once. Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) not only mentioned the issue, but said Republicans want to work on it with President Barack Obama.
“We should also work through the appropriate channels to create permanent solutions for our immigration system, modernize legal immigration and strengthen our economy. In the past, the president has expressed support for ideas like these, now we ask him to collaborate with us to get it done,” Curbelo said in the address, translated by liberal group American Bridge (and checked by The Huffington Post).
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One word was noticeably missing from President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday: guns.
In a sign that the sun has set on Obama’s gun control agenda, the president’s prepared remarks contained no mention of the issue. Two years after the shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the absence of guns from Obama’s speech marked a departure from previous years, in which the president urged Congress to pass legislation aimed at reducing gun violence in America.
Read the full story here.
"After years in prison, we’re overjoyed that Alan Gross is back where he belongs. Welcome home, Alan." —Obama #SOTU pic.twitter.com/POG6TQQsQr
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 21, 2015
“In Cuba, we are ending a policy that was long past its expiration date. When what you’re doing doesn’t work for fifty years, it’s time to try something new,” Obama said. “Our shift in Cuba policy has the potential to end a legacy of mistrust in our hemisphere; removes a phony excuse for restrictions in Cuba; stands up for democratic values; and extends the hand of friendship to the Cuban people.”
HuffPost’s Joy Resmovits reports:
Parents, teachers and policymakers who listened to Tuesday night’s State of the Union address heard an earful from President Barack Obama about his intentions to retool education’s bookends by making community college free, expanding child care and increasing cybersecurity for students.
Obama mentioned few specifics about K-12 education, one of his administration’s top priorities during his first term. Notably, the president mentioned not one word directly about one of his education secretary’s priorities for 2015: rewriting the much-maligned No Child Left Behind Act, the Bush-era school accountability law. Obama also failed to mention the words teacher and testing.
Read more here.
“Last month, we launched a new spacecraft as part of a re-energized space program that will send American astronauts to Mars,” Obama said. “In two months, to prepare us for those missions, Scott Kelly will begin a year-long stay in space. Good luck, Captain — and make sure to Instagram it.”
Hey, Trade Promotion Authority finally gets the GOP out of their seats!
— Mike O'Brien (@mpoindc) January 21, 2015
HuffPost’s Elise Foley reports:
There’s a major fight brewing in the Capitol over President Barack Obama’s immigration policies, and whether funding for the Department of Homeland Security should be threatened to stop them. But you wouldn’t necessarily know it from the president’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Obama only mentioned the word “immigration” twice, and didn’t make the impassioned pleas he has in years past for immigration reform. There was no call for a vote on a comprehensive immigration bill, or even smaller legislative measures like help for young undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.
Instead, Obama’s message was that Congress should stop fighting him on immigration. Or, more specifically, that they should stop fighting his executive actions to protect some undocumented immigrants from being deported.
“If we’re going to have arguments, let’s have arguments — but let’s make them debates worthy of this body and worthy of this country. … Yes, passions still fly on immigration, but surely we can all see something of ourselves in the striving young student, and agree that no one benefits when a hardworking mom is taken from her child, and that it’s possible to shape a law that upholds our tradition as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants,” Obama said.
Read the full story here.
Some fun on the floor, as Gillibrand makes a "come onnnnn" hand gesture when the Repubs around her didn't stand for pay equity #SOTU2015
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) January 21, 2015
“To everyone in this Congress who still refuses to raise the minimum wage, I say this: If you truly believe you could work full-time and support a family on less than ,000 a year, go try it,” Obama said. “If not, vote to give millions of the hardest-working people in America a raise.”
“Today, we’re the only advanced country on Earth that doesn’t guarantee paid sick leave or paid maternity leave to our workers. Forty-three million workers have no paid sick leave. Forty-three million. Think about that. And that forces too many parents to make the gut-wrenching choice between a paycheck and a sick kid at home,” Obama said. “So I’ll be taking new action to help states adopt paid leave laws of their own. And since paid sick leave won where it was on the ballot last November, let’s put it to a vote right here in Washington. Send me a bill that gives every worker in America the opportunity to earn seven days of paid sick leave. It’s the right thing to do.”
Obama went back to speaking on Rebekah and Ben, saying for a couple like them, “Friday night pizza is a splurge.”
“Because families like Rebekah’s still need our help. She and Ben are working as hard as ever, but have to forego vacations and a new car so they can pay off student loans and save for retirement,” Obama said.
“Basic childcare for [their children] Jack and Henry costs more than their mortgage, and almost as much as a year at the University of Minnesota,” Obama added. “Like millions of hardworking Americans, Rebekah isn’t asking for a handout, but she is asking that we look for more ways to help families get ahead.”
