Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday regarding the State of the Union:

“Now, every grade-schooler in America knows that all three branches of the federal government in Washington are equal. But as every member of Congress quickly learns, the President sets the agenda. And never is that more apparent than on the day of the State of the Union address. 

“This year, the President will be speaking to a Congress that looks very different from the one he spoke to last year. The voters sent a clear signal in November that, when it comes to jobs and the economy, the administration’s policies have done far more damage than good. And one very positive thing that the President could do tonight is to acknowledge that they have a point.

“He has tried to do so indirectly in recent weeks by hiring new staff and by speaking in the tones of a moderate. But it takes more than a change in tone to improve the economy. It takes more than a change in tone to reduce the debt. It takes more than a change in tone to help create the right conditions for private-sector job growth. It takes a change in policy. And the early signals suggest that the President isn’t quite there yet.

“The President has talked recently about working together to improve a regulatory climate that stifles business innovation and job growth. Yet he hasn’t acknowledged the extent to which his own policies have stifled growth. Over the past two years, his administration has issued more than 130 economically significant new rules, or 40% more than the annual rate under the last two presidents.

“What’s worse, the new health care bill, which alone will create 159 new bureaucratic entities, is exempt from the President's proposed regulatory reforms. This is bad news for small businesses, who were already struggling to get by in a down economy, and who are now grappling with how to afford all the new mandates in this new health care bill. 

“The President has talked about streamlining and reducing the burden of government. Yet the heath care bill he signed is already increasing the cost of care and forcing people out of their existing coverage. The debate over this bill continues. And the President and Democrats in Congress continue to defend it. But when nearly two thirds of the doctors surveyed predict that it will make health care in America worse, not better, Americans are right to be concerned. It should tell us something that of the 19 doctors currently in Congress, 18 of them support repeal.

“The President has talked about the need to cut spending and reduce the debt. Yet over the past two years, his policies have added more than $3 trillion to the national debt, much of it through a Stimulus that promised to keep unemployment, now hovering just below double digits, from rising above 8 percent. And now we hear that he plans to stick with the same failed approach of economic growth through even more government spending with a call for 'investments’ in education, infrastructure, research, and renewable energy. We’ve seen before what Democrats in Washington mean by investments. In promoting the failed Stimulus, the President referred to that too as an investment in our nation’s future. Fourteen times alone during his signing statement, he referred to the Stimulus bill’s “investments.” We all know how that turned out.

“The first Stimulus, we were told, would also include critical so-called investments in education, infrastructure, scientific research, and renewable energy — the same areas we’re told he’ll focus on tonight. Only later did we learn that some of those critical investments included things like repairs on tennis courts, a study on the mating decisions of cactus bugs, hundreds of thousands of dollars for a plant database, and a $535 million loan to a California solar panel maker which, instead of hiring 1,000 new workers, as planned, just laid off 175 instead.

“This is what happens when the government decides to pick winners and losers without considering what the marketplace really wants: competitors are left out in the cold, employees get a false sense of security, and taxpayers are left holding the bag. Unfortunately, the President doesn’t seem to have learned this lesson yet. But taxpayers now know that when Democrats talk about investments, they should grab their wallets.

“So I’m all for the President changing his tune, but unless he has a time machine he can’t change his record. And if we’re going to make any real progress in the areas of spending, debt, and reining in government, the President will have to acknowledge that the policies of the past two years are not only largely to blame for the situation we find ourselves in, but that unless we do something to reverse their ill-effects, the road to recovery and prosperity will be a bumpy one.

“The President has spoken in the tones of a moderate many times. He did so in his campaign. He’s done so in countless speeches. He’s got a knack for it. I have no doubt he’ll do so again tonight. But speeches only last for as long as they’re delivered. Americans are more interested in what follows the speech. And in the case of this administration, Americans have good reason to be skeptical.

“Time and time again, the President has spoken in a way that appeals to many, then governed in a way doesn’t. My hope is that he’ll leave that method aside. A better path, in my view, is the one Republicans have been proposing for two years — one that respects both the wishes of the public and the two-party system.

“Last year, just prior to the President’s last State of The Union Address, I proposed a number of areas where I thought the two parties could find common ground and work together to help the economy. The President ignored just about everything I proposed. So when the pundits ask whether there are areas where the two parties could come together, I would say yes, I’ve proposed several of them, but that Democrats don’t seem interested.

“Some have suggested that in this new post-election environment, I might find a more receptive audience. So in the spirit of bipartisanship, I’d like to propose once again a few areas where I believe the two parties can work together in the weeks and months ahead.

“I believe the parties can and should work together on energy initiatives that expand America’s own domestic energy supply and makes us less reliant on foreign sources; on expanding exports and creating jobs through free trade agreements with Panama, Colombia, and South Korea; and on reforming corporate taxes so American businesses are more competitive in an increasingly global marketplace. These are just a few of the things we can do beyond the symbolic gestures and the posturing to help the economy.

“Beyond that, we must work to cut spending and to rein in the size and scope and cost of government. The voters have been crystal clear on this point. By proposing more government spending tonight, the President is not only defying their will, he’s refusing to learn the clear lesson of the failed Stimulus: government may create debt, but it doesn’t create jobs.

“So I think we have a lot of work to do in bringing the two parties together on a program that will actually address the problems we face. But there are reasons for optimism. The President’s change in tone is an acknowledgement, at least, that something has to change, as was his willingness to work with Republicans last month on keeping taxes from going up on anyone. In the coming weeks and months, Americans will be looking for him to come around on spending and debt as well, and Republicans working hard to persuade him to do so.”

 

 

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