Longer Review of Obama's SOTUS

President Obama delivered his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress and the American people tonight.The speech was more than an hour long and much of it was spent on the topic of jobs and the economy. Obama said, "When I ran for President, I promised I wouldn't just do what was popular – I would do what was necessary."  Let view comments  from across the country addressing President Obama's State of the United States (Union) speech [Updates will be added as received]:

Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo.: "He's tone deaf. The policies he's pushing are going to hurt employment and small businesses."

Ashley Horn, federal issues analyst for Focus on the Family Action: "He basically looked at the American public tonight and said, 'I don't care what you think about health care, we are still moving forward,' He didn't say anything about the value of life, he didn't say anything about marriage.  That's what we really would love to see out of a president.When he did touch on social issues, it was in defiance of values voters.'This year, I will work with Congress and our military,' he said, 'to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are.'"

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-UT and former chairman of the Judiciary Committee, pointed out that President Barack Obama was out of line to use his State of the Union speech to criticize the Supreme Court while six of its members sat nearby: "Taking on the Supreme Court like he did, I thought it was kind of rude. It's one thing to say that he differed with the court but another thing to demagogue the issue while the court is sitting there out of respect for his position."

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-UT: "It was definitely unprecedented to attack the Supreme Court while they're there. The president was contradictory in trying to reach out to those he disagrees with. He said, 'I want to change the tone,' and then he attacked Republicans. He said], 'I don't want to relitigate the past,' and then he blamed the past administration."

Congressman Paul Ryan, R- WI: “This president, unfortunately, is no student of economics. His dogged devotion to Keynesianism came through tonight in how he used its principles to complement his political ideology. Spend more money, he said, create more government jobs, and all will be fine. . . . Tonight, he returned again and again to the notion that the government must take money out of the economy — through borrowing and taxes — to create more government jobs. That’s become the Obama doctrine. . . . Tonight’s speech was about addressing the Democrats’ political problems. They know the American people are fed up with the backroom deals, hyper-partisanship, and one-party rule. So, unsurprisingly, the president took on lobbyists and partisanship. He wants to be seen as both rising above it and not responsible for its consequences. That’s what all of the rhetoric was about: moving the president away from the problems he’s created. Beyond the soaring rhetoric, however, it should be clear: This administration is not budging when it comes to policy. It’s not ready to change tune.”

Marc Thiessen, lead writer on the last two State of the Union addresses: "It was quite possibly the most partisan, condescending State of the Union address ever. Tonight, Obama was unpresidential. The permanent campaign continues. In the long run, it will backfire." Thiessen in The Washington Post: "The president's brief discussion of terrorism focused not on what he was doing to defend the country but was, rather, a vigorous defense of himself. His first words on the subject were a chastisement of those who would dare criticize his handling of terrorism, declaring that 'all of us love this country' and warning his Republican critics to 'put aside the schoolyard taunts about who is tough.' It's all about him. No acknowledgment of how close we came to disaster or praise for the brave passengers who subdued the terrorist. No, only this message for his critics: If you question the wisdom of telling a captured terrorist 'you have the right to remain silent,' you are really questioning the president's patriotism and engaging in childish taunts."

Roy Beck, NumbersUSA: "Pres. Obama's obtuse sentence on immigration in his address to the nation revealed a great fear of how the American people would react if he directly called for more foreign workers and for permanent jobs for the estimated 8 million illegal foreign workers. He seemed to be trying to signal to the supporters of amnesty and "comprehensive immigration reform" that he was still behind them but in words that the voters watching on TV wouldn't understand: 'We should continue to work at fixing our broken immigration system to secure our borders and enforce our laws and ensure that everyone who plays by rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation.' . . . If the President really believed that putting Americans back to work were an emergency that called for tough measures, he would have announced a suspension of most new immigration of foreign workers and mandated E-Verify verification to keep illegal aliens out of U.S. jobs."

Bobby Eberle, GOPUSA: "The speech was the same old socialist rhetoric topped with a direct confrontation with members of the Supreme Court. There was no class at all... but should I have expected anything else? . . . Obama extolled the need for jobs but only offered government as the solution. A job "created" by the government simply based on Obama's proclamation that it is an "approved" job will only last as long as tax payers are paying for that job. Is that a real job? What about promoting an economic climate so that businesses can hire more people? Obama railed against the spending, yet it was his socialist plan that exploded the budget and put more power in the hands of Washington bureaucrats. . . . He actually spent time blasting lobbyists and special interests. Completely amazing! This is coming from the man who hires lobbyists! The Democrat-controlled Senate is performing backroom negotiations with the aid of lobbyists and unions to craft the health care bill."

Erick Erickson, RedState Editor: "Barack Obama LIED! - Tonight, Barack Obama said, 'To close that credibility gap we must take action on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue to end the outsized influence of lobbyists; to do our work openly; and to give our people the government they deserve. That’s what I came to Washington to do. That’s why – for the first time in history – my Administration posts our White House visitors online. And that’s why we’ve excluded lobbyists from policy-making jobs or seats on federal boards and commissions.' Maybe this explains why his national security policies are so weak. He put William Lynn in the Pentagon as Deputy Defense Secretary. Mr. Lynn was a lobbyist for Defense Contractor Ratheon. ... [Other listed former registered lobbyist] Eric Holder, attorney general nominee... Tom Vilsack, secretary of agriculture nominee... William Corr, deputy health and human services secretary nominee... David Hayes, deputy interior secretary nominee... Mark Patterson, chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner... Ron Klain, chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden... Mona Sutphen, deputy White House chief of staff... Melody Barnes, domestic policy council director... Cecilia Munoz, White House director of intergovernmental affairs [for National Council of La Raza]... Patrick Gaspard, White House political affairs director [for SEIU]... Michael Strautmanis, chief of staff to the president’s assistant for intergovernmental relations..."

RPA Comments: “Last night’s State of the Union address spoke largely to the millions of Americans who are dissatisfied with a government whose ethical and legislative boundaries appear limitless. In spite of a recession, President Obama vigorously fought to push through liberal bills and policy initiatives defined by unruly government spending. President Obama and his administration also pioneered the largest growth of government in decades despite obvious opposition from conservative movements all over our nation."

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