Florida Senator Marco Rubio had the unenviable task of giving the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address tonight. Watch the response above, the response in Spanish below, or reas the transcript at the bottom.
While Obama spoke for over an hour, Rubio had just under 15 minutes to get his point across and to refute as many of the President's points as he could.
Obama cast aside most pretense of bipartisanship, and Rubio's statements echoed the sentiment.
His speech reaffirmed the GOP standard of American exceptionalism, represented in part by a strong military. Rubio sought to place the blame for looming sequestration cuts, which affect defense spending as well as entitlement programs, at Obama's feet, saying, "Tonight, he even criticized us for refusing to raise taxes to delay military cuts -- cuts that were his idea in the first place."
At the same time, Rubio advocated spending cuts in other areas. "The real cause of our debt is that our government has been spending 1 trillion dollars more than it takes in every year," he said. "That's why we need a balanced budget amendment."
In fact, Rubio hewed close to a Republican favorite from the 1980s, asserting that government is the problem.
"This idea -- that our problems were caused by a government that was too small - it's just not true," Rubio said. "In fact, a major cause of our recent downturn was a housing crisis created by reckless government policies.
And the idea that more taxes and more government spending is the best way to help hardworking middle class taxpayers -- that's an old idea that's failed every time it's been tried."
The Rubio channeled Ronald Reagan. "More government isn't going to help you get ahead. It's going to hold you back," he said.
"More government isn't going to create more opportunities. It's going to limit them. And more government isn't going to inspire new ideas, new businesses and new private sector jobs. It's going to create uncertainty. Because more government breeds complicated rules and laws that a small business can't afford to follow. Because more government raises taxes on employers who then pass the costs on to their employees through fewer hours, lower pay and even layoffs."
Rubio painted Obama as a liberal on the offensive against the GOP. "Any time anyone opposes the President's agenda, he and his allies usually respond by falsely attacking their motives," he said.
"When we point out that no matter how many job-killing laws we pass, our government can't control the weather - he accuses us of wanting dirty water and dirty air. When we suggest we strengthen our safety net programs by giving states more flexibility to manage them - he accuses us of wanting to leave the elderly and disabled to fend for themselves."
Rubio spent the bulk of his time portraying the Republican Party as champions of the middle class. "I still live in the same working class neighborhood I grew up in. My neighbors aren't millionaires. They're retirees who depend on Social Security and Medicare," he said.
"Mr. President, I don't oppose your plans because I want to protect the rich. I oppose your plans because I want to protect my neighbors. Hard-working middle class Americans who don't need us to come up with a plan to grow the government. They want a plan to grow the middle class."
Time will tell if Americans favor the plan Republicans espouse instead.
The Republican response in Spanish:
The transcript of the Republican response.
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