Following is a statement from U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-3) in response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address:

“The president made it clear tonight that the era of big government is back, and that means continuing to spend money we don’t have that ultimately puts at risk the future fiscal security of our nation. It is clear after four previous State of the Union Addresses that the liberals in the White House and Senate are more than willing to ignore our $16.5 trillion national debt. While the president tonight paid lip service to job creation and the need to revitalize our middle class, budget-busting proposals like Obamacare and the stimulus package have done nothing to reduce the deficit or put people back to work. If anything, the president’s economic vision for our country has been a complete and utter failure, and it is the American people who are suffering. Americans deserve real solutions to the problems facing our nation like the ones offered by House Republicans. These solutions include responsible budgets and more than 30 pieces of legislation that would reduce our debt, cut government spending and provide opportunities for families and growth for small businesses. While we’ve heard flowery speeches from this president before, his actions fail to live up to his rhetoric. At the end of the day, we need more than speeches to turn our nation around. You don’t pass speeches, you pass budgets.”