President Obama addresses the nation after the fiscal cliff deal was reached by a vote in the House of Representatives. Read Lenny McAllister’s statement on the current deal and its impact on the nation.

WASHINGTON, DC (January 1, 2013) — Lenny McAllister, upon hearing President Obama’s remarks concerning the completion of the fiscal cliff negotiations tonight, issued the following statement:

“It is with a sense of national relief and political disappointment that we watch the end result of the fiscal cliff negotiations: an agreement in place that raises taxes on all Americans, raises income taxes on some Americans, and further raises anxiety about America’s spending problems. Increases to spending that add trillions to the nation debt should not be the result of a negotiation that was designed to address America’s ongoing deficit woes as well as our spending problems.

“Tonight is not a congratulatory moment, nor is it a cause for celebration. Instead, we watched collectively as a nation as we witnessed yet again the failures from political stubbornness, a reality in status quo partisanship that yields the low levels of confidence Americans have in government and even lower approval ratings our countrymen give Congress today. The tone must change if we are going to reverse the trends we face as a nation.

“I am disappointed that President Obama, equipped with the power of renewed political capital by way of his November victory, was unable to commandeer a long-term, bi-partisan solution. Creating situations where America and her economic partners around the world will have more opportunities to watch beltway bickering under another grueling deadline a few mere months away is not leadership that instills confidence during rocky times, especially when the threatening problems of spending and sequestration still loom on the immediate horizon.

“Once again, we heard from President Obama a limiting vision, one that focuses too much on economic investment and spending coming from the American federal government, not from the innovative American people. We need legislative solutions that empower both the American middle class through tax policy and our private sector of potential innovators, future business leaders, and resource investors through legislative encouragement so that we can turn around this economy effectively. Policies that focus primarily on increased taxing and spending simply will not be enough to defeat the economic crisis that everyday Americans have faced for years now. We need policies that encourage investment and innovation that stem from a diversity of sources, in a plethora of arrangements and partnerships, which spans the diversity that makes us the strongest and most talented nation the world has ever seen. If President Obama is serious about moving forward (as his re-election campaign slogan suggested), we must move past the notion in Washington that government will lead us out of these economic woes through increased taxing and spending – and we must move past this notion quickly for the sake of struggling Americans, working together as one big team.

“Happy New Year to America with the hopes of doing better as a nation, from Washington, DC to the four corners of the country. May God bless you and may He bless the United States of America.”

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Political commentator and community advocate Lenny McAllister is the “Working Man’s Conservative” currently seeking office in Illinois’ vacant 2nd Congressional District seat.

For more information, go to LennyForCongress.com or call 773-492-0509.

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