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Reed/Robertson React to State of Union Speech 2014

Congressman Reed and Martha Robertson React To State of Union Speech 2014
January 28, 2014

Statement from Rep. Tom Reed on President Obama’s 2014 State of the Union address:

“More of the same out of Washington won’t help Southern Tier and Finger Lakes families. For this year to be any different we have to be realistic about our divided government, move forward on shared goals and address the top priority for Americans: jobs. When I ask constituents at town halls what the issue is in the forefront of their minds, the answer is instant: jobs. Families are concerned about their well being and prospects for their children and grandchildren to find jobs in this economy. They need a government to listen and to care.

We can make jobs a priority without more Washington spending, red tape and mandates but we first must commit to working together to do so. The sectors we’re seeing poised for substantial job growth – sectors like manufacturing and domestic energy production – are the areas everyone on both sides of the aisle would do well to support.
I was pleased to hear the President talk about how growing manufacturing hubs, particularly growth as a result of my bipartisan Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act, would serve the country well.
I was likewise pleased to hear the President talk about what a game changer safe extraction of natural gas can be for our economy, transportation, and infrastructure. I hope that he goes beyond the rhetoric and puts his words into action for manufacturing, construction and energy jobs. Between the rising premiums, cancelled health insurance policies and cut wages, I was also expecting to hear more from the President on ways to lessen the blow and help families struggling in very real ways under Obamacare. It was disappointing that the President failed to acknowledge that real problems are impacting workers, families and small businesses because of Obamacare. At the end of the day, it’s the average taxpayer who is hurt most by mandates and poor policy coming out of Washington. At the end of the day, Americans need a job and a steady paycheck to support their families – and they are fairly asking their government to help make that possible. Surely we can all agree to come to the table and join forces for this fundamental task.”

Congressional Candidate Martha Robertson issued the following statement on tonight’s State of the Union Speech:

“After years of years of policies that have benefited the wealthiest citizens and multi-national corporations, I’m pleased to see our focus shifting towards growing our economy from the middle class out. Congressman Tom Reed has more than done his part to exacerbate the growing gap between the rich and everyone else by voting for massive tax breaks for the wealthiest citizens and largest corporations, for unfair trade deals, and against increasing the minimum wage. It has been shown that increasing the minimum wage not only helps increase the wages of middle class earners, but is a proven tool to grow our economy by increasing spending power. Having grown up in a small family business, I know that businesses don’t grow without customers, and working people put their hard-earned wages right into the economy. This is one clear distinction between Tom Reed and me: I support policies aimed at lifting working and middle class families, while Tom Reed’s record has clearly focused on the rich getting richer at the eexpense of the rest of us.”


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