Alabama Republican Rep. Mike Rogers boycotts Obama speech

WASHINGTON 
Alabama's largely Republican congressional delegation was not swayed by President Barack Obama's calls Thursday night for bipartisan teamwork to combat unemployment and grow the economy, and one of them even refused to attend.
Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, boycotted the speech and watched on television from his home.
"I refused to be a prop for a campaign speech," Rogers said in a phone interview.
Rogers said he was most disturbed with Obama's proposal to pay for his jobs plan by asking the deficit reduction super committee to come up with even more spending cuts over the next 10 years, increasing their goal of $1.5 trillion.
"To add another $450 billion is pretty unrealistic," Rogers said.
As for proposals to increase spending on constructing roads and bridges and modernizing dilapidated schools, Rogers said he did not believe the president was committed to those ideas.
"He painted the stimulus package as being more infrastructure than it really was. I just don't believe him. I don't trust him," Rogers said.
Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, said the speech lacked details and was overtly political. He also complained that Republicans were not provided a written copy of the speech to follow along.
"I will support the provisions that I believe create jobs and I will oppose provisions that I believe destroy jobs," Brooks said in an interview afterward. "And if there is a lot of each in the final legislation, I'll have to weigh the two."
Brooks said the proposals for infrastructure spending would only treat the symptoms of the weak economy.
"Those kind of jobs are one and done. They are not permanent jobs," Brooks said.
Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, agreed with the Obama's statement that the American people would like to see some cooperation in Washington.
"I think most of us appreciate the president tried to include things that both Democrats and Republicans liked," Aderholt said afterward from his Capitol Hill office.
"I'm sure the whole package would not be something the Republicans could agree to, but there might be bits and pieces they could," Aderholt said.
Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile, was receptive to lowering business and payroll taxes, but not the new spending.
"That said, the door is certainly not closed if the president would like to work with Congress to pass legislation to encourage job creation," Bonner said in a prepared statement.
Rep. Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, was dubious about Obama's call for new spending.
"Spending more money to 'stimulate' the economy has proven several times over to be an inefficient method for growth -- quite frankly, that approach has failed," she said. But in a prepared statement, she called tax breaks a "common ground solution" that may open doors for jobs.
Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, said earlier Thursday that the best way to jumpstart the economy was to streamline financial regulations and eliminate those that are outdated. He said banks are spending more time and energy on compliance with new federal regulations than on lending money to small businesses.
"The blizzard of new rules and regulations ... will unnecessarily eliminate jobs, and given the fragile state of our economy, this is of particular concern," Bachus said.
Obama tried to address that line of attack in the speech itself.
"I reject the argument that says for the economy to grow, we have to roll back protections that ban hidden fees by credit card companies, or rules that keep our kids from being exposed to mercury, or laws that prevent the health insurance industry from shortchanging patients," Obama said.
Sen. Jeff Sessions focused his criticism on how Obama's plan would affect the national debt.
"Saying that something is 'paid for' isn't enough: almost 40 percent of what we are now spending is borrowed money," Sessions said in a prepared statement. "Borrowing even more to spend immediately in exchange for vague promises of distant future cuts means that we are digging ourselves into a deeper fiscal hole and moving quickly in the wrong direction."
Sen. Richard Shelby said, "We have not yet seen the details, but this seems to be nothing more than a son of stimulus proposal that will generate more political rhetoric than jobs. If that is the case, I will firmly reject it."
Rep. Terri Sewell of Birmingham, the Alabama delegation's lone Democrat, had a different view of Obama's speech.
"America's workers need a comprehensive approach, and I believe the president's plan will make strategic investments to stimulate job creation and strengthen economic development," Sewell said in a prepared statement.