On Sunday, West Michigan area US Congressional representative Pete Hoekstra of Holland appeared on the WOOD TV 8 politics show “To the Point.” Hoekstra–who is up for reelection this fall–commented primarily on President George W. Bush’s recent State of the Union speech, which Hoekstra said largely fell flat for the majority of people in the audience. Hoekstra further said that he doubted President Bush would accomplish the majority of the goals that he hopes to achieve over the next eleven months.
Not surprisingly for Hoekstra–who has made attacking so-called “radical Islam” a major focus–said that he was disappointed that President Bush did not spend more time in his speech talking about “the threat from global jihad.” Hoekstra said that he would have preferred to hear Bush discuss why he believes this to be a long-term threat and to use the speech as an opportunity to position the war against “global jihad” as a struggle that will continue well into–and quite likely beyond–the next administration. He said that while Bush defended his specific decisions in Iraq, he did not take the opportunity to help the US see “…to see what this threat from radical jihad really is.” Of course, Hoekstra did not help the viewers of To the Point understand the threat either. He simply made assertions and used the terminology of “jihad” without explaining them.
Following his comments on Iraq and the “War on Terror,” Hoekstra was asked about his opinion on the recent economic stimulus package that passed the House of Representatives and is being debated by the Senate. Hoekstra said that there are real questions about whether the package will actually stimulate the economy. He expressed serious concern about the “uncertainty” in the economy coming from a lack of business investment, concern about taxes, and job numbers. Hoekstra did not mention that despite his concerns, he voted for the bill. Similarly, Hoekstra said that there needs to be discussion on taxes, although he said that he was not calling for an extension of Bush’s tax cuts. However, on January 29 he called for exactly that in a statement issued to the media:
“The bipartisan stimulus package will help in the short term, but we need to work for long-term economic stability. Congress needs to make current tax cuts permanent, streamline regulations and create greater flexibility with federal funds so that we continue to create job opportunities in the free market economy.”
Hoekstra also said that there is a need in Washington to control spending, particularly on Social Security and Medicare. Hoekstra asserted that the Congress needs to look towards the “radical middle” to make compromises in order to “fix” Social Security. Such a fix would–according to Hoekstra–be a boon for the economy. Hoekstra said that he “…might be willing to give up a few things to get to a compromise.”
Finally, he criticized President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act, which he voted against and said that Bush’s mention of it last week “fell flat.” Hoekstra said that Bush “blew his opportunity on education” by passing a law with government mandates and no new government spending. Hoekstra predicted that there is “no way it will get reauthorized this year.”
View the Video of Hoekstra’s Interview:
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