Roby: President Obama "Not Serious" About Solving Nation's Debt Problem

Statement

U.S. Representative Martha Roby (R-AL) tonight responded to President Obama's State of the Union address saying the speech was "not serious" and "based in liberal ideology rather than fiscal reality."

Having hoped President Obama would show a willingness to work with Congress on ways to address the federal government's over-spending problem, Rep. Roby said she is disheartened to hear the President offer a Democratic wish list complete with justifications for more stimulus spending.

"Tonight we heard a speech based in liberal ideology rather than fiscal reality," Rep. Roby said. "It is obvious President Obama is not serious about addressing the nation's debt problem. Instead, he wants to raise taxes again to pay for more stimulus-type spending on government programs."

Rep. Roby said she also had hoped the State of the Union would include a credible plan to replace the President's devastating "sequestration" military cuts with alternative spending reductions based on the nation's budget priorities.

"President Obama, who originally proposed the "sequestration' plan, is now using it as an opportunity to raise taxes even more. But, we can't tax our way out of sequestration. There is a smarter way to reduce government spending than to hollow out our nation's defense forces. We all know the true driver of long term debt is mandatory spending, so any serious plan to solve our debt problem has to include reforms to mandatory spending programs.

"It is a shame that our Commander-in-Chief is using the military as leverage in an ideological crusade for higher taxes."

Rep. Roby, chair of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, voted against the August 2011 Budget Control Act that threatened the sequestration military cut and has repeatedly spoken out about the potential harm the cuts pose to military readiness and national security.

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