House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan told CNBC on Wednesday that President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address didn’t contain any new ideas and said the president should not be taking credit for the U.S. natural gas boom.
In an interview on “Squawk Box,” the former GOP vice presidential candidate referred to the speech as “small ball,” and added that the president’s promise of executive orders goes against the Constitution.
Obama said in his State of the Union address Tuesday night that he’s “eager to work” with lawmakers. But he vowed to bypass a divided Congress and take action on his own to bolster the nation’s middle class and close the nation’s wealth gap. He promised executive orders on an increase in the minimum wage for federal contract workers, creation of a “starter savings account” and new fuel efficiency standards for trucks.
