Thompson Responds to State of Union Address

THOMPSON RESPONDS TO STATE OF UNION ADDRESS

Deficit Spending "Out of Touch" with National Priorities

WASHINGTON, DC - The following is a statement from Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) in response to the President's State of the Union Address. Rep. Thompson serves on the House Budget Committee and is a member of the fiscally conservative Congressional Blue Dog Coalition. He is a combat Vietnam Veteran and served with the 173 Airborne Brigade.

"If you believe that we are better off and more secure today than we were four years ago, it was a great speech. But if you believe we have gotten off track both here and abroad and have become increasingly divided, deeper in debt and more alienated from our historical allies, it left a lot on the table.

I was pleased to hear the President talk about unfinished business and great responsibilities. We should have an educational and health care system that is the best in the world. We should ensure that every American who seeks a job is able to get one.

For a nation at war that is hemorrhaging jobs and is falling deeper into debt, he has offered the privatization of Social Security and more deficit spending. America's greatest leaders have always set a national tone of discipline and sacrifice during our history's most challenging times. Tonight we were given an election-year agenda that says we can have it all just as long as our kids and grandchildren pay the bill. Space exploration is important, but it should not be a priority when our highways have nearly $400 billion in overdue repairs and our soldiers in Iraq aren't getting the
Kevlar vests they need to protect themselves.

I was disappointed that the President's rhetoric did not match the reality of what our service men and women are experiencing in Iraq and Afghanistan. More U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq during the first 10 months of the war than were killed during the first four years of the war in Vietnam. His rosy rhetoric was in stark contrast to Vice President Cheney's comments last week stating that our occupation in Iraq can be compared to another Cold War that will last 50 years and cost hundreds of billions of dollars. The President missed an opportunity to address our failure to secure stability in this region so our soldiers can come home. Instead, American casualties continue to mount and remain nameless to an administration that refuses to allow their returning coffins to be photographed.

The state of our union is strong but I am optimistic that we can make it even stronger by ensuring that all Americans have access to affordable healthcare, quality education, retirement security and the peace of mind that they are not burdening future generations with reckless debt."