Avoyelles political party leaders react to State of Union

“Unity” was the theme of President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address on Jan. 30. The fact the federal government has been polarized into two immovable camps for most of the past 20 years -- and has dragged the American public right along with it -- leads many political observers to question whether that call will go unanswered, or even if the number has been disconnected.

While national leaders of both parties took turns praising, condemning and spinning Trump’s speech, local leaders of the two major parties shared their opinions on the commander-in-chief’s address and what it means to Avoyelles Parish and its people.

Van Kojis of Bunkie, who represents this area on the Republican State Central Committee, was asked to present the GOP response to the speech. Avoyelles Parish Democratic Executive Committee Chairman Dr. Walter Laborde of Longbridge was asked to represent the nation’s oldest political party’s view of the address.

“Our President proposed several changes, as well as noting things he has completed,” Kojis said. “In my opinion, how can they (Democrats) in good conscience not work with President Trump,” he continued. “It’s time to unify, not divide, and make America great again.”

“On the positive side, President Trump did a good job of identifying the needs and problems facing this country,” Laborde noted. “But, as is often the case with Republican Party people, they do a good job of elaborating on the problems and most of the time won’t identify or discuss any specific solutions to those problems.”

Trump told Congress and the nation that politicians need to “summon the unity” to address major issues facing the country.

Those include upgrading a crumbling infrastructure, revising its immigration policy and handling threats from North Korea.

He spoke at length on the tax overhaul plan signed into law in December, saying it will “provide tremendous relief for the middle class and small businesses.”

During the speech, Republicans applauded enthusiastically while Democrats’ responses were more muted.

In fact, a group of 20-30 Democrats remained seated at all times, refusing to applaud at all, casting doubt that at least those elected officials will line up for a ticket on Trump’s “unity” train.

Kojis was particularly upset by the Democrats’ reaction to the speech.

“”What outrages me is how the Democrats were so unaccepting of anything he said or proposed,” Kojis said. “House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi acted in such an arrogant manner to all of the heroes that were introduced.

“I became ill watching her facial expressions and lack of applause or standing in respect,” he added.

Kojis said Pelosi was Speaker of the House when the Democrats were in the majority. The speaker is third in line to the Presidency. Should the President and Vice President both die or be incapacitated, that representative becomes the nation’s leader.

“We surely don’t want an individual who acted as she did back in this position,” Kojis said.

VIEWS ON MAJOR ISSUES

A CNN poll following the televised address found that 48 percent of viewers had a “very positive” response and 22 percent had a “somewhat positive” opinion of Trump's speech. The network said that is the lowest approval of a State of the Union since it started taking those polls in 1998. Barak Obama received 57 percent “very favorable” in the poll following his first State of the Union in January 2010.

Here are a few of the major issues addressed in the State of the Union with comments from the two local party leaders.

TAX OVERHAUL

Trump said approximately 3 million workers in America have received bonuses since the tax overhaul was adopted. He noted that several airlines, telecommunications, consumer electronics and retail companies have announced one-time payments in response to the adoption of the new tax law.

“The recent tax cuts will benefit every working person in the U.S.,” Kojis said. “The new tax plan will cut the average household taxes $1,000 to $2,000, corporate tax rates will be reduced from 30-plus percent to 21 percent, allowing businesses to hire more people and pay higher wages.”

Laborde said the GOP-backed tax revisions are another example of Republicans looking at a politically popular action without looking at the long-term effects of that action.

“You just cut taxes, which we would assume would result in less revenue coming in, and his answer to a problem is to spend more money to solve it,” Laborde said. “Of course, he did not elaborate on how Congress will be able to do that.”

INFRASTRUCTURE

Laborde cited Trump’s comments on addressing the nation’s infrastructure as an example.

“Trump went to great lengths to identify all of the problems with the nation’s infrastructure,” Laborde continued, “and ended his remarks on that issue by saying Congress will have to appropriate more money to solve all of those problems."

Kojis said Trump “wants to repair our crumbling infrastructure by proposing a program of repairing roads, bridges, railroads and airports by spending$1.5 trillion with the government and private sector working together.”

IMMIGRATION

Perhaps no other issues have divided the Democrats and Republicans more than those dealing with immigration.

Trump repeated his promise to offer 1.8 million young immigrants a “path to citizenship” as part of a compromise with Democrats for their support of increasing funding for border security -- including what some are calling the “Great Wall of Trump” along the border with Mexico.

That deal also seeks to replace the “lottery” method of granting visas with a “merit-based” system that gives skilled workers preference and limiting the “family sponsorship” for legal immigration of family members to spouses and non-adult children.

“The President not only offered to reach across the aisle to work with Democrats, he actually offered to allow more than 1.5 million illegal immigrants a pathway to legal citizenship instead of the 800,000 that the Democrats asked for,” Kojis said.

He said Trump’s plan requires those immigrants to remain law-abiding and follow all rules to gain citizenship.

“The President is all for immigration, but just wants to do it legally,” Kojis said.

Laborde said Trump’s remarks on immigration reform “were typical of the way he approaches issues. He says, ‘Build a wall between America and Mexico and that will solve all of our illegal immigration problems.’ He doesn’t say how much it will cost or how exactly it will solve our problems.

“He says restrict immigration,” Laborde continued. “It has been pointed out that immigration has been good for the United States throughout its history. We have opened our doors to people with good backgrounds and college educations and to those who just wanted a chance to live free and work hard to make a better life for themselves and their families.”

Laborde said the “merit-based” policy would disqualify many good people who don’t have a college degree or work in a skilled trade.

“The President wants to run background checks on everyone applying for a visa,” Laborde said. “That is a very good idea, but again he did not elaborate or explain how much that would cost and how this country can pay for that.

“It’s just loose talk that looks good on paper,” he added.

NORTH KOREA

The major foreign policy issue in the speech was the tense situation with North Korea.

Trump said North Korea’s “reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles could very soon threaten our homeland" and said his administration is “waging a campaign of maximum pressure to prevent that from happening."

“Everyone agrees on disarming North Korea of its nuclear weapons,” Laborde said. “It is apparent that the sanctions imposed on North Korea are beginning to tell because they seem to be backing off.

“There has been pressure from all over the world, so Trump can't take the credit for calming Kim Jong Un down,” he continued. “I do have to give the President credit,” Laborde said. “His stance has been firm. He has not been wishy-washy. That’s good.”

Kojis summed up his reaction to Trump’s foreign policy comments by noting the President “wants to make sure our country is defended against all who would do us harm by strengthening our military,”