Cape Fear region GOP lawmakers pan speech

Republican U.S. congressional representatives in the Cape Fear region were less than impressed by President Obama's State of the Union Address Tuesday.

An area Democratic representative gave the speech high marks.

"President Obama's speech was the same act we've seen for the last six years," Republican Rep. David Rouzer said. "Give everything away and make hardworking taxpayers foot the bill. Americans deserve a government that is effective, efficient, and accountable. Not more of the same."

Rep. Renee Ellmers, another Republican, agreed.

"The overarching theme of tonight's speech - and the president's time in office- can be summed up as: let's spend more of your hard-earned taxpayer dollars creating expensive federally-run programs and supporting government-knows-best policies," she said.

Republican Rep. Richard Hudson said the State of Union made it clear that Obama isn't listening to the people.

"The President laid out a vision tonight that can only be described as a 'war on the middle class,'" he said. "Instead of proposing ideas to work with Congress, the President has chosen to double-down on the same old failed unilateral policies that hurt middle class families and hold our economy back."

Democrat likes plans

On the other end, Rep. David Price, a Democrat, said he was happy to hear what the President had to say about his plans for the middle class.

"I am pleased that he has reconfirmed his commitment to the middle class, offering a new pathway to affordable higher education with his community college proposal and protecting incomes with a major tax overhaul," he said. "The President recognizes that growing and strengthening the middle class is the best way to ensure that the historic economic growth of the past couple of years continues and that the positive benefits of that growth are felt by all Americans, not just the wealthy."

Obama urged Congress to build on economic gains by raising taxes on the nation's wealthiest to pay for reductions for the middle class.

"We can't put the security of families at risk by taking away their health insurance or unraveling the new rules on Wall Street or re-fighting past battles on immigration when we've got a system to fix," Obama said. "And if a bill comes to my desk that tries to do any of these things, it will earn my veto."

Ellmers said Congress stands ready and willing to work with the president, but said he's spent the last few weeks threatening to veto "most of the pro-growth legislation that Congress has passed - including Keystone and legislation to restore the 40-hour work week. This leaves us, instead, with a president who cares to prioritize government intervention and costly regulation ahead of job creation and economic growth."

The president called for increasing the capital gains rate on couples making more than $500,000 annually, to 28 percent.

The president's tax plan would also require estates to pay capital gains taxes on securities at the time they're inherited and slap a fee on the roughly 100 U.S. financial firms with assets of more than $50 billion.

Much of the $320 billion in new taxes and fees would be used for measures aimed at helping the middle class, including a $500 tax credit for some families with two spouses working, expansion of the child care tax credit and a $60 billion program to make community college free.

"We have to do more to help Americans upgrade their skills," he said.

Obama also asked Congress to pass a new authorization for military action against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, as well as for legislation to boost U.S. defenses against cyberattacks.

He also pressed lawmakers to lift the half-century-old economic embargo against Cuba. He promised to veto any legislation that would impose new sanctions on Iran in the midst of nuclear negotiations with the Islamic republic.

"I also applaud the President for giving us a sober assessment of the foreign policy challenges we face and a credible plan for confronting them," Price said. "In particular, I want to underscore his warning that rash congressional action on Iran could threaten the diplomatic balance in the nuclear negotiations. A comprehensive nuclear deal with Iran is a matter of national security, and we have to give our negotiators the ability to finish the job."