President Obama's State of the Union speech last night is getting a cautious reaction from members of Maine's congressional delegation.
Maine's two Republican senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both say they were pleased that the president focused his attention on jobs and the economy.
"Clearly, the President's address was an attempt to recalibrate his administration's agenda to reflect the increasing demand of the American people to fully focus not on growing government, but rather on growing our economy," Snowe says in a statement. "The Administration and Congress must push past partisan rancor and reach common ground on the paramount issue of creating an environment that will nurture job creation and preservation."
Collins says she supports Obama's efforts to create an independent commission to develop a plan to get rid of the nation's burgeoning deficit, and said she hoped his proposal would succeed in Congress.
Maine's two represenatives, 1st District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree and 2nd District Congresssman Mike Michaud, both Democrats, also commended the president for focusing on jobs and the economy.
Both said they were pleased that Obama pledged to continue to push for health care reform. "When it comes to health care, I believe that it's time to end the political jockeying," Michaud said in a statement. "I remain confident that we can pass smart policies that will help families and small businesses buy affordable, quality health insurance. Not doing so simply kicks the can further down the road and will make our current problems even worse."