Connecticut Delegation Reacts to the State of the Union
WASHINGTON –The Connecticut congressional delegation reacted along partisan lines to President Bush’s State of the Union speech last night.
Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-5) commended Bush’s commitments to the war on terror and health care while Democratic Sens. Joseph Lieberman Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), and Rep. John Larson (D-1) blasted Bush’s stance on spending, taxes and the economy.
In his speech, Bush said that “weapons of mass destruction-related program activities” were still being identified in Iraq and that “the world without Saddam Hussein’s regime is a better and safer place.” Johnson praised Bush’s efforts in a written statement. “We have vigorously pursued the war on terror, and with our allies we have rid the world of a murderous and dangerous tyrant. Saddam Hussein will never again threaten the freedoms of the Iraqi people, deny them the economic opportunity they deserve or threaten the peace and stability of the world,” she said.
Dodd disagreed. “Though all of us were glad to see Saddam Hussein captured, the threat of terrorism continues to loom large and the President has failed to provide adequate resources to our homeland defenders and exert leadership in the world community to combat terrorism more effectively,” he said in a written statement
Bush emphasized finding ways to reduce federal health care costs instead of pouring more money into government-sponsored programs.
Johnson, who helped write the Medicare Prescription Drug Act that Bush signed into law last month, said: “I’m glad the President has injected new thinking into addressing the crisis of the uninsured, moving this important issue to top priority status. Over 250,000 Connecticut residents live and work without health insurance, threatening their health and financial security.”
But Lieberman blasted Bush’s health care and Social Security announcements in a statement after the speech. “After his stealth efforts to privatize Medicare, he’s deceptively trying to sell the privatization of Social Security as if he were just giving workers another 401(k).”
Bush pinpointed the tax breaks Congress enacted at his behest as the reason for the economy’s turnaround. “This economy is strong, and growing stronger,” Bush said.
While Bush maintained that manufacturing activity is increasing, Larson said in an interview, “We continue to shed jobs in this economy.”
Lieberman lambasted Bush’s tax cut and job-growth plans. “There’s still no real plan to create lasting growth and good jobs, just more tax cuts for people who don’t need them — comforting the comfortable and once again leaving the middle class in the lurch,” he said. “The fact is, we have a more realistic chance of finding aliens on Mars than making this fantastical, fiscally reckless plan work.”
Larson agreed that the tax cuts were unfair. “They’re calling to send more money to the wealthiest one percent.”
