Thursday, January 28, 2010
McDonnell laments growing debt
The new Virginia governor delivered the GOP response to the president's address.
Associated Press
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell waves to the crowd as he prepares to deliver the GOP response to the State of the Union address.
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RICHMOND -- For perhaps the first time in his young term, Gov. Bob McDonnell removed the bipartisan cloak he has draped himself in and attacked the White House and national Democrats in his response to President Obama's State of the Union address Wednesday night.
Instead of restoring prosperity, McDonnell said the "massive new federal spending" in last year's stimulus package has only increased the deficit and created new government bureaucracy.
"The circumstances of our time demand that we reconsider and restore the proper, limited role of government at every level," McDonnell said shortly after his opening comments, calling current debt practices "unsustainable."
McDonnell, a Republican, delivered his remarks before a crowd of roughly 250 inside the House of Delegates chamber in the Virginia Capitol and countless others watching on national television.
McDonnell criticized Obama's push to revamp a health care system "most Americans do not want to turn over ... to the federal government" and claimed congressional Republicans have offered more affordable alternatives.
And McDonnell smacked the White House decision to try in civilian court the Nigerian accused of attempting to ignite a bomb on an airplane Christmas Day, saying that approach has bred "serious concerns" about the administration's approach to national defense.
McDonnell's remarks weren't all red meat, however.
He offered several bromides on why Republicans' low tax, pro-business philosophy is the best way to revive the nation's flagging economy.
"We must enact policies that promote entrepreneurship and innovation, so America can better compete with the world," McDonnell said. "What government should not do is pile on more taxation, regulation and litigation that kill jobs and hurt the middle class."
Energy was another topic McDonnell covered as he continued his call to drill for natural gas and oil off Virginia's coast.
The governor's plan to fix state roadways is partly hitched to drilling royalties, which now will be delayed by at least another year after federal officials recently decided to postpone a lease sale of offshore parcels that tentatively had been slated for 2011.
And as he did on the campaign trail last year, McDonnell found time to praise Obama's support for expanding charter schools, a concept the governor agrees with.
McDonnell's selection to deliver the response comes not long after his landslide victory in Virginia in November and is a symbol of his rising stock within the GOP.
Similarly, former Gov. Tim Kaine had just been elected when he was picked to give the Democratic response to then-President Bush's 2006 State of the Union address.
Absent from Wednesday night's audience were some state Democratic leaders whose invitations to the speech -- they didn't come until Wednesday afternoon -- caused a minor brouhaha earlier in the day.
Even before those perceived slights, some Democrats offered fighting words of their own.
During a speech in the state Senate earlier Wednesday, Sen. Donald McEachin, D-Richmond, zinged McDonnell for taking time to deliver a partisan speech while Virginia faces a budget shortfall in excess of $4 billion.
Focusing on national politics amid tough economic times in his own state "fails to meet the standards of leadership that Virginians deserve out of their governor," McEachin said of McDonnell.
