STATE OF THE UNION: Obama Focuses on Jobs and Guns

February 13, 2013 - 7:11 am | Category: Politics

President Obama once again threw out a challenge to Congress to come together and back his plans to create middle class jobs on Tuesday night in his State of the Union speech, but even as he spoke Republicans offered the usual push back.

Republican House speaker John Boehner, seated directly behind the president, often grimaced as he spoke and issued a statement while Obama was still speaking that said he offered “little more than the same stimulus policies that have failed to fix our economy and put Americans back to work.” The statement continued, “The president had an opportunity to offer a solution tonight and let it slip by.”

In his speech, Obama continued to hammer home the point that Congress has to stop playing politics, noting that Americans want them to “put the nation’s interests before party. They expect us to forge reasonable compromises where we can.”

Perhaps the most dramatic moment in the speech came toward the end, when Obama pointed out that “more than two dozen Americans whose lives have been torn apart by gun violence” were in attendance. He added, “They deserve a vote” on gun control legislation.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s response — or more accurately his awkward grab for a glass or water — was buzzing on the Internet following his speech.