WASHINGTON — Tuesday’s State of the Union address will be the first test of whether President Barack Obama’s post-election shift to a more centrist course is more than symbolic, Republicans said Sunday in the lead-up to his speech.
“We’re going to find out beginning (this) week how much of this he really means,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” “It is kind of a trust-but-verify moment. Let’s see if he’s really willing to do it, and if he is, I think he’ll find a lot of help among Republicans in Congress.”
After an electoral “shellacking” in November, Obama embraced a compromise that extended the Bush-era tax cuts, retooled his West Wing to include more moderate voices — such as his new chief of staff, William Daley — and made new overtures to the business community.
His polls have rebounded as well on the eve of his second State of the Union address, passing the 50 percent threshold in a series of major surveys.
Addressing supporters in a video message released Saturday night, Obama said his speech Tuesday would focus on creating jobs and American competitiveness, as well as the nation’s deficit challenges.
Though calling for some budget cuts, Obama also is expected to call for additional spending on infrastructure and education. That raised red flags among Republicans.
“This is not a time to be looking at pumping up government spending in very many areas,” McConnell said.
“When the president talks about competitiveness, sure, we want America to be competitive,” U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., said on “Meet the Press.” “We want to cut and grow. When we hear ‘invest’ from anyone in Washington, to me that means more spending.”
Cantor, leader of the new House Republican majority, said Republicans will press for serious spending cuts in response to the expected vote this spring on raising the nation’s debt limit.
Thursday, a group of conservative House Republicans and Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., unveiled a spending plan that would cut $2.5 trillion from the federal ledger. Republicans more broadly campaigned in 2010 on returning spending to 2008 levels, a proposal that will be debated this week in the House.
First, though, Republicans pushed forward a vote to repeal Obama’s health care reform law. It passed the House on Wednesday, and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., also appearing on Fox, acknowledged that “it’s possible we’ll face that vote,” despite Democrats’ objections, if Republicans move it as an amendment.
If so, said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Democrats would respond by calling for votes on specific portions of the law that are popular.
“In the end, their repeal bill is going to be so full of holes it looks like Swiss cheese,” he said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
Sen. John McCain supported a repeal vote in the Senate, adding that there already was agreement with Democrats on ways to improve the law.
Seating arrangements
WASHINGTON — Don’t look for the Senate’s Republican leader to take a different seat during Tuesday night’s State of the Union address. Democrats and Republicans usually sit with fellow members of their parties during the annual speech in the House chamber.
But with calls for more civility in Congress and less partisanship after Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ shooting, some lawmakers, including Colorado’s House delegation, are pledging to break with tradition during President Barack Obama’s address this year.
Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told “Fox News Sunday” that he will take a seat at the leadership table on the Republican side, as usual.
“If people want to mix it up, they certainly can. We don’t have seating assignments for most of our members,” he said.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he found “this whole thing is a good idea. I think it’s been a bit overblown, but the fact is it’s a good thing to do. Why not?” he told CBS’s “Face the Nation.” He plans to sit with Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M.
He also offered one more suggestion: “It might be nice to cut back a little bit on all the jumping up and down” — meaning lawmakers should stay in their seats more rather than interrupt the speech with standing applause.
The Associated Press
