Written by Donovan Slack

 

 

WASHINGTON — As President Barack Obama hammered away at economic inequality during his State of the Union address Tuesday evening, members of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation reacted along partisan lines with Democrats embracing the speech and Republicans panning it.

 

The Badger State lawmakers’ reaction was a reflection of the partisan tint of the address itself, with Obama throwing his supporters red-meat initiatives they have wanted for years -- such as his pledge to unilaterally raise the minimum wage for federal contract workers — while at the same time lashing out at Republicans for blocking his agenda.

 

“I’m eager to work with all of you,” Obama said. “But America does not stand still — and neither will I. So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that’s what I’m going to do.”

 

Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Madison — who in a show of bipartisanship was seated with Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona — praised the president for focusing on job training, advanced manufacturing andinvestments  in research to fuel small business startups.

 

“I applaud the president for giving a voice to these initiatives and calling on Congress to put progress ahead of politics,” she said. “Our economy is strongest when we expand opportunity for everyone. So I am hopeful that Congress will now answer this call for action by working across party lines to get the job done for the American people.”

 

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Oshkosh said that Obama was a little more conciliatory than he had expected, but his proposals to address income inequality, such as asking Congress to raise the minimum wage for everyone, are misguided.

 

“His solutions won’t work,” said Johnson, who sat behind members of Obama’s cabinet during the speech. “I know raising the minimum wage sounds good. If states want to do it — he said the states have done it — they should do it. If businesses want to do it, they have the freedom to do that, but if we’re to impose that on a federal basis, the concern is you raise the minimum wage, you do eliminate entry level positions, that’s a bad thing.”

 

Johnson invited as his guest a former defensive end for the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team who lost both legs in Afghanistan. Johnson met the veteran, U.S. Army First Lt. Jason Church, while he was recovering at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Virginia, and Church has been working as a fellow in Johnson’s office.

 

Green Bay-area Republican Rep. Reid Ribble said Obama said “a number of aspirational things” but the true measure of success will be his ability to work in good faith with Congress to actually get things done.

 

“Going it alone with dozens of executive orders isn’t a way to solve the tremendous challenges our nation faces. It will take both the executive and legislative branches of government, as the founders and Constitution intended, to make the progress the American people are depending on,” Ribble said, adding that Obama’s going it alone will only further the status quo.

 

“And the status quo isn’t working well for the American people,” he said. “They deserve better than a jobless economic recovery, rising energy, education , and healthcare costs, and diminished hope that the next generation will be better off than the current one.”

 

Fellow GOP Rep. Sean Duffy of Wausau said he has no problem working with the president and other Democrats, but he said they have to work with Republicans, too, to cut the deficit. And he said jobs would be created by approving the Keystone pipeline, permitting more mining operations and opening up more national forests for timber production.

 

“Help us limit the size of government, and we’ll help you do some of the stuff you want; It’s give and take,” Duffy said, noting that he believes Obama has done a poor job in the past with such negotiations.

“I hope there’s a change of attitude, because we want to work together,” he said.

 

Republican Rep. Tom Petri of Fond du Lac said he agreed with the president’s stated goal of helping people stricken by poverty, but like Johnson, he said he doesn’t support raising the minimum wage. Petri wants to expand the earned income tax credit instead.

 

“There are many in Congress — on both sides of the aisle — who want to help those who are working and living in poverty,” Petri said. “So, rather than moving forward with a ‘go it alone strategy,’ I call on the president to engage in debate with Congress on this issue so we can pass constructive legislation that moves us toward that goal.”

 

On the other side of the aisle, Democratic Rep. Ron Kind of La Crosse commended Obama for laying out “a clear plan to create jobs, help more job seekers find employment, and expand economic opportunities to all Americans.”

 

“And I was glad to hear the president talk about deficit reduction, raising the minimum wage, college affordability and improving our workforce’s ability to compete in the 21st century economy, issues that I have been fighting for in Congress,” Kind said.

 

He said he looks forward to discussing those issues with Obama Thursday when the president is scheduled to visit a General Electric plant in Waukesha. “I think his message will be well received,” Kind said.

Rep. Gwen Moore of Milwaukee echoed those sentiments and said she was pleased that the president focused on concrete initiatives. She said she hopes Congress will work with the president to address immigration reform and gun violence prevention.

 

“I am pleased that he used this moment, not simply as a messaging platform, but as a means to highlight how he intends to address some key legislative items this year,” Moore said.

But the president’s message didn’t sit well with one of the most high-profile members of Wisconsin’s delegation, signaling Obama may continue to face gridlock in Congress and resistance from Hill Republicans.

 

Republican Rep. Paul Ryan of Janesville, who chairs the critical House Budget Committee, told CBS News it sounded like Obama “wants to go around the Constitution.”

 

“If you want to write a law, the elected representatives here in the House and the Senate, the legislative branch, they’re the ones who write laws,” he said. “Presidents don’t write laws.”

 

 

 

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