President Biden’s State of the Union address Thursday night brought mixed reactions from the region’s federal legislators.
Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., whose “greedflation” bill was mentioned during the address, was pleased with Biden’s message, while U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., called the speech a “campaign stop on the road to November’s election.”
Thompson said Biden “attempted to gloss over the past three years of his policy failures.
“The American people are smarter than that. They know while talking heads suggest the economy is booming, families across the country and throughout Pennsylvania are dealing with budget busting costs at the pump, the grocery store, and for every good and service under the sun,” the congressman continued. “We’re witnessing a catastrophic failure at our southern border, where illegal crossings are causing a humanitarian and national security crisis. There’s no way you can spin that. America needs less lip service and more action.”
On the other side of the aisle, Casey agreed with Biden’s assessment of the economy.
“As the president declared (Thursday night), the state of the American economy is strong, with record high job creation and record low unemployment,” the senator said.
He continued, touting some of the positives from Biden’s administration.
“Landmark investments from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act are bolstering our infrastructure, expanding our manufacturing sector, cleaning up abandoned mine lands, and setting our Commonwealth up for the economy of the future. Seniors on Medicare are paying no more than $35 a month for insulin and over the coming months and years, prescription drug prices will continue to be ratcheted down.”
Progress has been made, the senator said, but there’s so much more to do. Casey mentioned Biden crediting him for his work to take action against price gouging by large corporations.
“We need to keep bringing down costs for working families in Pennsylvania and across the nation, and I’m glad the president shares my concerns about greedflation, shrinkflation and other ways that big corporations are squeezing hardworking Americans,” he said.
He continued, “We need to support our allies in Ukraine and Israel as they take on threats from Putin and Hamas, while ensuring that all innocent civilians caught in the crosshairs of war get the humanitarian aid they need. Finally, we need to secure our border and stop the flow of fentanyl that is ravaging cities and rural areas alike. Solving these problems shouldn’t be partisan, and I call on Congress to work together and take action in the weeks and months to come.”
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., had not issued a statement in reaction to the address as of Friday afternoon.
