Politics & Government

Local Leaders See Both Weakness and Promise in State of the Union

For Rep. Ed Royce, the speech was a glaring failure, but Sen. Barbara Boxer heard a "blueprint" for economic recovery.

In his election-year State of the Union address, President Obama struck a confrontational stance, calling Washington broken by partisanship and proposing to balance the taxpayer burden by requiring the wealthiest Americans to pay a greater share of taxes than they currently do.

Your representatives in Washington had much to say about the address. Not surprisingly, Representative Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) had two very different reactions to the speech.

According to Royce, the speech failed to address the nation’s most serious problem.

Find out what's happening in Los Alamitos-Seal Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I think the president lacked leadership in confronting our nation’s most pressing issue – our debt. Every day the U.S. takes in roughly $6 billion but spends roughly $10 billion. That’s a $4 billion shortfall every day. Unfortunately, that means the U.S. borrows forty cents, most of it overseas, for every dollar the government spends. With an imbalance that large we simply cannot succeed,” said Royce. "We need the president to come to the table, not after the elections, not in 2013, but now to address this crisis. Instead, his call for increased spending will compound the problem. Today marks the 1000th day since the Senate Democrats last passed a budget. It is time to make the tough decisions to reduce the deficit and accumulated debt, not pile on with more borrowing and spending."

Boxer, on the other hand, took heart from the speech, focusing on the need to strengthen the middle class.

Find out what's happening in Los Alamitos-Seal Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“President Obama laid out a blueprint for building an economy that works for every American. The President’s eloquent optimism stands in marked contrast to the angry tone Americans have been hearing on the campaign trail from his opponents,” she said in a written statement. “I welcome his call to action for us to work together to strengthen the middle class, create clean energy jobs, help responsible homeowners stay in their homes, protect the environment from toxins such as mercury and rebuild America’s infrastructure. I will do everything I can to bridge the partisan divide and we can start right away by passing a bipartisan surface transportation bill that saves or creates millions of jobs.”

Do you agree with Boxer or Royce’s take on the State of the Union? Or do you have your own interpretation of the president’s speech? Tell us in the comments.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here