Collin County Ponders State of the Union

By Zach Markovic, zmarkovic@acnpapers.com
Published: Thursday, January 28, 2010 6:45 PM CST
President Barack Obama gave his first State of the Union speech Wednesday night, and citizens from both parties tuned in.

Some tuned in from the comfort of home, while others gathered at watching parties to cheer or sneer, depending on political leanings.

While the president touched on a wide range of subjects throughout the hour and a half speech, two subjects resonated with citizens in the community: the current dire financial straits and health care reform.

“Of course he spoke on health care, letting people know we are not giving up on them, because we are so close,” said Matt Lagos, a Collin County Democrat. “The tone of his whole speech was on the attack and going out there and getting his message across.”

Lagos said that the message he felt came out of the speech was accountability – and he thought it was aimed at both sides of the aisle.

“He pointed at both parties; I felt that our congressmen, specifically Sam Johnson, will be held more accountable because Obama was talking about everyone in Congress.”

Johnson, Republican Congressman for Texas’ District 3, shared his thoughts on the messages in President Obama’s speech. In response to the president’s call for “if anyone from either party has a better approach” to health care, Johnson said he has set forth a plan that will allow small businesses to pool their resources to increase their health care purchasing power.

“President Obama should listen to the American people who have said loud and clear that they don’t want a government takeover of health care. Republicans in Congress have repeatedly told the White House that we are ready to work together to come up with a common-sense, patient-centered health care reform bill,” Johnson said. “It should include provisions that members on both sides of the aisle agree with; small businesses should be able to enjoy the same benefits that large businesses and labor unions do.”

But others pointed to Obama’s desire to focus on job creation and continued work on the economy, and they said they felt those were important messages for the American people.

Shawn Stevens, chairman of the Democratic Party of Collin County, said the president’s words resonated with him and other members at the watch party at Fox Sports Grill on Wednesday. He said he felt the speech was aimed at the American citizens, not about pitting Democrats against Republicans.

“He spoke eloquently and genuinely and sincerely to every American,” Stevens said. “We are living in times that have a lot of stress and strain and uncertainty for a lot of Americans, and he spoke in a way that recognized the need as a country to work together and to move forward to solve problems.”

Fred Moses, the chair of the Collin County Republicans, said the Republicans watched to see if the president received the message from the voters in regard to the recent Massachusetts election. The election of Scott Brown to a longtime Democrat-held seat was a message from the people, Moses said, that the voters were not happy with the president’s direction in health care and runaway spending.

“He did talk of freezing spending, but continued on in the same speech by talking about spending on job creation and reform, which will require more tax money,” Moses said.

But Moses said Obama’s focus should be on the government coming together and making job creation and the economy the top priorities.

“The president knows the American public is facing real issues,” Moses said. “This administration, I would like to see them get more bipartisan committees working on those issues.”

However, final judgment on whether the speech was successful or not will have to wait. Debroah Johnson, a resident of Plano, said the speech will be viewed on what Obama is able to accomplish moving forward.

“Well, the success is going to come with the following year, with what goes through and what doesn’t,” Johnson said. “With him keeping health reform on the table, we have to look at the outcome.”

Source: Plano Star