President Joe Biden delivered his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Mar. 7, provoking varied reactions from observers (Image courtesy of the White House, via Facebook).
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Where you stand on President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address of Mar. 7 to members of Congress apparently depends on where you sit.
From the comfort of their armchairs here, the Utah Democratic Party gives the president’s speech a solid thumps up!
“Tonight, President Biden once again demonstrated his dedication to safeguarding the well-being of Utahns,” according to a prepared statement released by the Utah Democratic Party.
“(He) is determined to improve the lives of our state’s families, while Donald Trump’s primary focus seems to be degrading our most sacred values – liberty, equality and justice.”
Having watched the same address from a ringside seat in Congress, the opinion of U.S. Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT) was somewhat different.
“I was expecting President Biden to use tonight’s State of the Union address to find common ground and inspire a shared vision for America,” Moore said. “Instead, the President delivered a divisive campaign speech.”
Many observers shared Moore’s observation that Biden’s address sounded more like a stump speech. At the outset, he invoked the memory of President Franklin D. Roosevelt launching a national crusade against Adolph Hitler and other fascist dictators at the outset of World War II.
“Now, it’s we who face an unprecedented moment in the history of our union,” Biden said, with the obviously intended comparison of Trump to Hitler left unspoken.
In point of fact, Biden never mentioned Trump’s name in the more than an hour-long speech, referring to him only as “my predecessor.”
Local Democrats, however, were by no means that circumspect.
“As Donald Trump …” they said, “doubles down on his pledge to be a ‘dictator on day one’ and make the wealthy richer off the backs of hardworking Utahns, (Biden) has remained committed to defending democracy and building our economy from the bottom up and the middle out …”
Even while criticizing Biden’s speech, Moore’s comments were much less hyperventilated.
Moore said that he agreed with the President’s comments about supporting military service-members, finding a solution to foreign aid for the Ukraine and bolstering America’s workforce, all issues that the Utah congressman believes that lawmakers from both side of the political aisle can agree need to be addressed.
But he called out Biden for repeating the same tired refrain that Republicans are to blame for the crisis on the southern border.
“Rather than wasting time with convenient political posturing,” Moore argued, “President Biden could and should reinstate the many effective, data-driven border policies from the Trump-Pence administration and end the most catastrophic border crisis our nation has ever seen.”
But Utah Democrats insist that the difference between President Biden’s aspirations for our nation’s future and Trump’s alleged plans to drag the county back to 2020 couldn’t be more apparent.
“Utahns understand the stakes in this election,” the Democrats said. “(They) know that the only way to keep building on all the progress we’ve made is re-electing President Biden and Vice President (Kamala) Harris to a second term in November.”
In Washington, Moore said there’s considerable doubt about the Democrats’ definition of the term “progress.”
“I am working with my colleagues on the House Ways and Means as well as the Budget committees to reform our broken federal budgeting process; reverse our crippling national debt and deficits; and craft pro-family tax policies …
“Although we live in a time of divided government and hyper partisanship,” he added, “I remain confident that we can come together to build meaningful solution to the many challenges we face.”