Rep. DesJarlais Says State of the Union Fell Short

Tennessee Freshman Republican Representative Scott DesJarlais says President Obama fell short at last night’s address.

Congressman DesJarlais says the President’s speech made it sound like America is doing better economically than it actually is. He liked the President’s promised to veto legislation containing earmarks or special lawmaker spending requests. But DesJarlais says the President wasn’t aggressive enough in stressing deficit reduction.

“Felt like there were a lot of mixed messages there. There are some good things but a lot of unfundable things. Didn’t see a lot about shrinking government.”

President Obama called for a five-year domestic spending freeze. But he also spoke about investing in clean energy and technological innovation. And many Republicans and some Democrats expressed concern about new spending.