2014 State of the Union address: on Government Reform


Cathy McMorris-Rodgers: Grow the middle class, not the government

I came to Congress to help empower people, not politicians. To grow the working middle class, not the government. And to ensure that everyone in this country can find a job.

Because a job is so much more than just a paycheck. It gives us purpose, dignity, and the foundation to build a future.

Source: Republican response to the 2014 State of the Union address Jan 29, 2014

Barack Obama: No one should wait more than a half-hour to vote

Citizenship means standing up for everyone's right to vote. Last year, part of the Voting Rights Act was weakened. But conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats are working together to strengthen it; and the bipartisan commission I appointed last year has offered reforms so that no one has to wait more than a half hour to vote. Let's support these efforts. It should be the power of our vote, not the size of our bank account, that drives our democracy.
Source: 2014 State of the Union address Jan 28, 2014

Ted Cruz: Obama dishonors Constitution by bypassing Congress

Rule of law means that we are a nation ruled by laws, not men. That no one--and especially not the president--is above the law. For that reason, the US Constitution imposes on every president the express duty to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed."

Yet rather than honor this duty, Pres. Obama has openly defied it by repeatedly suspending, delaying and waiving portions of the laws he is charged to enforce. When Obama disagreed with federal immigration laws, he instructed the Justice Department to cease enforcing the laws. He did the same thing with federal welfare law, drug laws and the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

On many of those policy issues, reasonable minds can disagree. Obama may be right that some of those laws should be changed. But the typical way to voice that policy disagreement, for the preceding 43 presidents, has been to work with Congress to change the law. If the president cannot persuade Congress, then the next step is to take the case to the American people

Source: Wall Street Journal editorial on 2014 State of the Union Jan 28, 2014

Ted Cruz: Obama's executive orders is open door for future lawlessness

In the past, when Republican presidents abused their power, many Republicans--and the press--rightly called them to account. Today many in Congress--and the press--have chosen to give President Obama a pass on his pattern of lawlessness, perhaps letting partisan loyalty to the man supersede their fidelity to the law.

But this should not be a partisan issue. In time, the country will have another president from another party. For all those who are silent now: What would they think of a Republican president who announced that he was going to ignore the law, or unilaterally change the law? Imagine a future president setting aside environmental laws, or tax laws, or labor laws, or tort laws with which he or she disagreed.

That would be wrong--and it is the Obama precedent that is opening the door for future lawlessness. Because when a president can pick and choose which laws to follow and which to ignore, he is no longer a president.

Source: Wall Street Journal editorial on 2014 State of the Union Jan 28, 2014

Roy Blunt: Executive Orders bypass Congress and the Constitution

Blunt criticized the White House strategy of using an increasing number of executive actions to allow movement on Obama's priorities without Congress. "The President says he has a pen to sign executive orders and a phone to rally support. The Congress should insist that he find the Constitution and follow it," Blunt said.

Responding to similar comments, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said it should be no surprise that Obama will discuss executive branch actions. "I think it's a pretty narrow view of a State of the Union address to suggest that he's speaking to the members of the Senate and the House alone. They're physically in the room, but millions of Americans are tuning in, and the president's speaking to every American," Carney said. "There are elected representatives and folks across the country sitting in their living rooms or their kitchens and watching a president give his State of the Union address."

Source: Rollcall.com on 2014 State of the Union Prebuttal Jan 25, 2014

Roy Blunt: More government creates inequality crisis of opportunity

Blunt insists that the president's own policies have hurt poor families disproportionately by stifling job creation. "This administration's agenda to create more government, more spending, more taxes and more debt has created an inequality crisis of opportunity in our country," Blunt said.
Source: Rollcall.com on 2014 State of the Union Prebuttal Jan 25, 2014

  • The above quotations are from 2014 State of the Union address to Congress, plus the Republican Response: Jan. 28, 2014.
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2016 Presidential contenders on Government Reform:
  Republicans:
Gov.Jeb Bush(FL)
Dr.Ben Carson(MD)
Gov.Chris Christie(NJ)
Sen.Ted Cruz(TX)
Carly Fiorina(CA)
Gov.Jim Gilmore(VA)
Sen.Lindsey Graham(SC)
Gov.Mike Huckabee(AR)
Gov.Bobby Jindal(LA)
Gov.John Kasich(OH)
Gov.Sarah Palin(AK)
Gov.George Pataki(NY)
Sen.Rand Paul(KY)
Gov.Rick Perry(TX)
Sen.Rob Portman(OH)
Sen.Marco Rubio(FL)
Sen.Rick Santorum(PA)
Donald Trump(NY)
Gov.Scott Walker(WI) 		Democrats:
Gov.Lincoln Chafee(RI)
Secy.Hillary Clinton(NY)
V.P.Joe Biden(DE)
Gov.Martin O`Malley(MD)
Sen.Bernie Sanders(VT)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren(MA)
Sen.Jim Webb(VA)

2016 Third Party Candidates:
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Roseanne Barr(PF-HI)
Robert Steele(L-NY)
Dr.Jill Stein(G,MA)
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Page last updated: Feb 24, 2019