LaMalfa Statement on State of the Union Address

Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) today released the following statement in response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress: 

It’s refreshing to hear the President finally ask how to create new jobs in America, and a great start would be to roll back the 5,000 pages of costly new regulations he’s released in the last forty days. Unfortunately, the President ignored the new taxes he’s imposed on every family, the vast increase in the government’s size and the $6 trillion he has borrowed, money our children will need to pay back.

The simple fact is that the President’s policies caused the economy to contract for the first time in three years, and it’s clear that more of the same will further damage to our struggling middle class. Our nation’s economic leadership is a result of letting Americans innovate and invest in their own businesses, not overzealous bureaucracies choosing winners and losers.

Addressing the root causes of crime with a growing economy and opportunities for good jobs will improve safety far more than simply limiting Americans’ constitutional rights. The ineffectiveness of restrictions on the Second Amendment is apparent in the President’s hometown of Chicago, where it is illegal to buy a gun and yet over 500 murders occurred last year.

What America needs is a real plan to get our government back on track and stabilize our economy. Unfortunately, what we heard tonight was the President’s default solution to every problem: bigger government, higher taxes and more borrowing.  

Congressman Doug LaMalfa is a lifelong farmer representing California’s First Congressional District including, Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou and Tehama Counties.