President Barack Obama delivered his 2013 State of the Union address Tuesday night with a large emphasis on the economy and job growth. In his fourth State of the Union address, the president challenged legislators to join him in taking on “our generation’s task” to ignite the growth of a “rising, thriving middle class.”
Chautauqua County’s representative in Washington, Congressman Tom Reed, was in attendance for the speech and offered his thoughts on the president’s remarks afterward.
In a prepared statement, the Corning Republican said that both he and the president agree that there needs to be a commitment to creating an environment that allows all Americans to succeed. However, he says he disagrees with the president with how to go about doing it, saying the focus needs to be on growing jobs, not government.
Reed also said that given the fact that more than 12 million Americans are unemployed and the country has a $16.5 trillion national debt, it is becoming obvious that job creation is being stifled under our debt and the threat of higher taxes.
Reed also claimed that the President wants to raise taxes again, but he feels the country needs to instead adopt policies that provide the opportunity for all Americans to prosper and encourage innovation and ingenuity, not restricting and punishing them.
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