Obama's State of the Union address (Screenshot, Neon Tommy)

“The American people don’t expect the government to solve every problem,” Obama said. “They don’t expect those of us in this chamber to agree on every issue. But they do expect us to put the nation’s interests before party.”

With the multitude of controversial topics currently in the spotlight, it’s important to look at how Republican politicians responded to his speech. As expected, fiscal issues were among the most heavily debated, with particular emphasis on tax increases.

In his speech, Obama suggested a comprehensive tax reform that he said would aid small businesses and American workers and a new budget plan that focused on saving and taxing the wealthiest one percent instead of extensive spending cuts.

California Republican Congressmembers argued that the government has to completely change how it has been addressing budget reform in order to be successful.

“Unfortunately, the President ignored the new taxes he’s imposed on every family, the vast increase in the government’s size and the $6 trillion he has borrowed, money our children will need to pay back,” Rep. Doug LaMalfa said.

“We cannot continue spending at our current rate,” Rep. Jeff Denham added. “We need a plan to control government spending, reduce the annual deficit instead of adding to our already more than $16 trillion debt in order to expand opportunity for all Americans without raising taxes.”

“None of us will get a hundred percent of want,” Obama said. “But the alternative will cost us jobs, hurt our economy, visit hardship on millions of hardworking Americans.”

While the administration and California’s congressional Republicans had differing views on taxes and budget issues, Obama's speech was not outright dismissed, in large part because of its emphasis on bipartisan problem solving.

“While the President and I may disagree on specific policies to get Americans back to work, we do agree on the importance of reforming our immigration system,” Rep. David Valadao said. “For too long, the immigration debate has been dominated by extremes on both sides of the aisle.”

Denham also agreed that bipartisan discussion is crucial to effective reform. “As always, I will work to break down party barriers and continue to bring the Valley’s voice to Washington as we work to find common ground on issues that affect our families, our businesses and our communities," he said.

Despite this shared sentiment, however, long-term disagreements still came first and foremost in the representatives’ responses to the speech.

“What America needs is a real plan to get our government back on track and stabilize our economy,” said LaMalfa. “Unfortunately, what we heard tonight was the President’s default solution to every problem: bigger government, higher taxes and more borrowing.”

Reach Staff Reporter Hayley Burgess here.