Inhofe Responds to the State of the Union Address

Statement

Tonight we heard the president praise America's recent economic gains. Our nation's energy industry deserves the credit for the growth we see today. We are experiencing an energy revolution in spite of the president's policies that are intended to stifle the development of our domestic resources.

The president's War on Fossil Fuels and nuclear energy is most evident in his unbridled mandates being issued by the EPA. While he markets these regulations as a means to save us from global warming, a recent NERA study predicts the president's climate agenda would only reduce CO2 concentration by less than one-half of a percent; it would only reduce the average global temperature by less than 2/100th of a degree; and it would only reduce the rise of sea levels by 1/100th of an inch -- or the thickness of three sheets of paper.

In the meantime, the president's agenda will cost our economy $479-billion dollars; we will experience a double-digit electricity price increase; and tens of thousands of Americans will lose access to well-paying jobs over the course of the next decade.

Why the pain for no gain? As theWall Street Journal put it when reporting on just one of the president's many climate regulations - this is a wealth redistribution scheme being imposed by the president thru the EPA. This is the real climate agenda the president chose not to address tonight. It is no wonder because it would impose the largest tax increase in the history of America.

Tonight, the president once again failed to address our national security crisis. Under President Obama's leadership, roughly $1 trillion has been taken out of our military and transferred to his extreme global warming agenda. This has resulted in our military being downsized to levels not seen since before World War II. This is part of his Disarming of America. And as part of this agenda, President Obama blatantly breaks our law to achieve his goals. For example, one of his legacy items is to close Guantanamo Bay and release the terrorists. When he released the Taliban Five -- the most heinous terrorists that were being detained -- he was in violation of the law. This law requires 30 days' notice to Congress before releasing Gitmo detainees. He totally ignored it. Now these men are likely aiding other terrorists today with plans to kill Americans.

The president has released terrorists and decimated our military. We have to work to reverse the president's reputation where our enemies don't fear us and our allies no longer trust us.

In closing, this president has added more to our national debt than Presidents George Washington to George W. Bush combined so that he can advance his goal of wealth redistribution. We can see this in his newly proposed tax package. He wants to undo bipartisan tax relief and says the rich must carry a heavier burden. The truth about his tax package is that it will crush our farmers' and ranchers' ability to stay in business. It's just more of the president's socialist agenda. Let us remember tonight the wise words of Margaret Thatcher: "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."

If we have learned anything over the past 6 years of economic hardship, Americans are resilient. By reining in President Obama's overregulation and by rebuilding a strong national security, we can survive the Obama Administration.

Source