Today, Congressman Peter Roskam (IL-06) released the following statement on the president's State of the Union Address:
"Four years after President Obama's first State of the Union speech, our country is still under a cloud of economic uncertainty. In 2009, we were recovering from the housing market collapse and bank failures that shook our nation to the core. Now in 2013, what's holding us back is fear of what is to come: a crushing $16 trillion national debt that will only expand to $26 trillion under the president's policies; the coming bankruptcy of vital entitlement programs that so many rely on; and implementation of a government healthcare overhaul that threatens to increase the cost of care for every American and cause many to lose their current health care plans.
"For families struggling to make ends meet, tonight's rhetoric did little to allay their concerns for the future. What they got instead was another campaign-style speech touting government spending as the engine of our economy, and no real plan to ensure a strong private sector that will grow jobs and make America globally competitive again. Now is the time for both parties to find common ground on a platform of growth, competitiveness, debt reduction and accountability from a bloated and inefficient government. Doing so will do more to address the "unfinished task' of reviving the economy for the middle class than the tax and spend rhetoric of the last four years."