Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jim Risch made the following statement in response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address:

“The president has a different view of America than most Idahoans. He thinks his job is to use government to move assets and income from some groups of Americans to others based on his personal views of who should have how much. This has never been an acceptable use of government power in America. This is a fundamental difference in opinion of the proper role of government.

“What I heard from the president was the same old, tired plan to continue a legacy of more federal intervention, more regulation, more taxes, more spending, and more borrowing. Our national debt continues to grow at unprecedented levels, from ten trillion to eighteen trillion under this president, threatening the future of our children and grandchildren, and indeed the future of our great nation.

“The glowing picture painted by the president ignores the most important number to families today and that is that they earn three thousand dollars less per year now than when the president took office. This is not acceptable. The more the federal government intervenes in the economy and private sector, the worse things get for the American people. This is not the American dream. I’m here to fight on behalf of the Idahoans who elected me to push back against this view of the role of government and I will continue that fight.”