Central Oregon reacts to State of the Union

A new CNN/ORC poll just released shows 53 percent of Americans who watched the President Obama’s speech gave him a thumbs up. Central Oregonians say moving forward, jobs need to the his top priority.

“It is our generations task then to re-ignite the true engine of America’s true economic growth, a rising, thriving middle class,” Obama said Tuesday night in his State of the Union address.

Nearly 50 people watched as the president gave his State of the Union at Silver Moon Brewing in Bend. The event was hosted by the group “Organizing for Action,” a grassroots campaign to help promote the Democrats’ agenda.

“Our country desperately needs jobs,” said Marlene Barnett, “but yet what he presents keeps getting blocked.”

“Getting jobs and education that we need, to be able to support our economy, to get us to the strong point where we were in the past,” said Andrew Curtis.

Many at the watch party agree the economy and jobs should be the president’s top focus.

Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., who spoke with us by satellite after the speech, agrees, but doesn’t see a real clear plan coming from the president.

“What I heard tonight was more; cost more, more regulation, more dictates from the federal government, more picking winners and losers,” said Walden. “I don’t think that’s what we are after.”

Walden says there is a spending problem in Washington, and he is concerned for America’s future.

“I didn’t hear enough about real progress going forward, in terms of getting this enormous debt paid down and stop adding $1 trillion a year to the deficit,” said Walden.

Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden also released a statement:

“President Obama also got it right tonight by highlighting the importance of national infrastructure as a way to create jobs and rebuild our crumbling bridges and highways. You can’t have big league economic growth with a little league transportation system.”