ROBY: President Obama "Not Serious" About Solving Nation's Debt Problem
By: Stephen Crews
Updated: February 13, 2013
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.
