Republicans and tea partiers aren”t buying it.
Immediately following President Obama”s State of the Union address Tuesday night, a local Republican and tea party member offered skepticism of the president”s commitment to bipartisanship which would be echoed by national figures in those parties all through the night and into this morning.
Nan Lott, chair of the Lowndes Republican Party and a member of the Mississippi Republican State Executive Committee, and Terry Fulgham, chair of the executive board of the Starkville Tea Party and a member of the Mississippi Tea Party Board of Directors, agreed Obama”s tone was sufficiently conciliatory but viewed his concessions to conservatives as empty.
“To start off, you really wouldn”t know if he was conservative or liberal until the latter edge of the speech,” said Fulgham. “But to me, actions speak louder than words. We”re going to have to see more action.”
“I like what he said about streamlining the government,” said Lott. “I don”t know whether he meant that or not.”
Claude Simpson, a Columbus Democrat and member of the Mississippi Democratic Executive Committee, heard the opposite from the president.
“I thought he was more than conciliatory enough. I thought he went too far toward appeasing (conservatives) with tax cuts to wealthy people,” said Simpson. “I think he offered everything he should have offered.”
As Republican and Democratic legislators sat next to one another at the Capitol during the speech in a display of unity — one which underwhelmed all three locals — Obama pledged his openness to considering legislative improvements from both sides of the aisle. Lott agreed with his calls to simplify the tax code. Fulgham cosigned Obama”s concession to reform medical malpractice laws.
However, the conservative minds were more impressed by the president”s lack of specific policies to address border security, entitlements, and how he”ll fulfill his promise to bring U.S. troops home from the Middle East by July.
“I”m not sure that”s going to work,” said Lott, who felt the exit strategy was one of several promises she”d heard before from Obama. “At another point in the speech he said he would veto anything that came across his desk with pet projects (attached). He said that when he was running for president. Just like he said he would be transparent. That didn”t mean anything either.”
Simpson remains optimistic Obama will lay the groundwork to provide high-speed rail access to 80 percent of the country within 25 years as he pledged, and stand by his five-year freeze on discretionary spending.
Fulgham agreed in principle with Obama”s calls to reduce spending and rejuvenate education, but again criticized the president for not offering specific recommendations.
Lott flatly rejected Obama”s promises to cut spending.
“I don”t think anything he had to say tonight was about saving money,” she said.
Despite their views on his policies, the commentators applauded Obama”s calls for unity; albeit with skepticism.
“I know it”s politics, but maybe he realizes you”re not going to get anything done unless you work together,” said Lott.
“(I expected) he would offer an olive branch to the Republicans to quit messing around and start working together. I believe he did achieve that,” said Simpson. “If it doesn”t happen it won”t be his fault.”
As far as legislators sitting together, the effect fell short. The one unanimous standing ovation for the president — in response to his call for supporting U.S. troops — was underscored by countless glimpses of scattered applause throughout the remainder of the speech.
“It looked about like I thought it would,” said Fulgham. “I actually saw Republicans stand one time and Democrats sat down when he was talking about simplifying the tax code.”
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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