Although U.S. Rep. Phil English agreed that Social Security must be saved and Medicare should be strengthened, he criticized the President for his lack of leadership on predatory trade practices and his failure to offer tax relief to the middle class in a public response to the State of the Union address. Many of us who saw the speech tonight are impressed by the President's change of position. Last year, the President demanded that all the surplus be used for Social Security, but now he is only proposing to set aside a part of it. I was very discouraged that the President did not stake out a bold new course on trade issues.
American jobs are at risk because of our weak and vacillating trade policy.
Tonight, the usual rhetoric about trade was in abundance but the President failed to give our trading partners a strong signal that predatory trade practices will no longer be tolerated. The middle class is clearly burdened by a tax system that is too complex, offers too little incentive to save and confiscates their hard earned dollars. While the economy is under enormous pressure, now would be a good time to move away from a policy of high taxes to a policy of stimulating faster growth.