Cruz: An Effective President Governs by Consensus and Persuasion, Not with a Pen and a Phone
WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Sen Ted Cruz, R-Texas, released the following statement in response to President Obama's State of the Union address:
"This evening, President Obama delivered a speech that shows he has lost the support of the American people. He is going it alone because, after five years of failed economic policies and broken promises, the public and their elected representatives aren't willing to go with him anymore.
"We've heard it before. The promises President Obama made to increase opportunity tonight are as empty as his promises that if Americans liked their plan they could keep it, that he would hold the IRS accountable for the illegal targeting of conservative groups, and that he would get to the bottom of what happened in Benghazi.
"Under President Obama, economic inequality has increased. The rich have gotten richer. And those struggling are hurt the worst.
"The millions of Americans who have lost their jobs know that, under President Obama, the real minimum wage is zero.
"Today, we have the lowest labor force participation in decades -- not since 1978 have this many Americans been out of the workforce.
"President Obama is abusing his executive power because his economic policies have failed, and he is unwilling to change.
"Because Congress is not willing to make things worse -- to reduce jobs and economic growth even more -- the president has declared his intention to ignore the constitutional limitations on his power and simply go it alone. Everyone --Republican, Democrat, Independent, or Libertarian -- should be concerned about an imperial presidency, because unlimited power, without checks and balances, threatens the liberty of every American.
"'I have a pen, and I have a phone,' is not how laws are made under our Constitution.
"A strong president governs by consensus and persuasion, not with a pen and a phone.
"Americans deserve a President who will work in good faith with their elected representatives to follow the law of the land and to pass laws that reflect the will of the people.
"The State of the Union would be far stronger for it."
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