Marathon Pundit: Boehner: President Obama “Has a decision to make” tonight

This morning House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) was interviewed on NPR. The complete audio is here.

Below you'll find excerpts of Boehner's remarks, which are centered on tonight's State of the Union address by President Obama.

Appearing on National Public Radio this morning, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) laid out the choice before President Obama for his first State of the Union address: either listen to the American people and begin to work with Republicans in the bipartisan way he promised during the campaign, or double down on the job-killing policies that are making matters worse. Boehner says that with the trillion-dollar 'stimulus' not working, we need to take a new and bipartisan approach to creating jobs. The Republican Leader also calls President Obama's proposed 'spending freeze' a "very modest step in the right direction," but says much more needs to be done to reverse Washington Democrats' unprecedented spending binge.

BOEHNER SAYS "THE PRESIDENT HAS A DECISION TO MAKE" FOR HIS FIRST STATE OF THE UNION:

"The President has a decision to make on Wednesday night: Either listen to what the American people are saying, begin to work with Republicans in a bipartisan way, and keep his campaign promises or to ignore them, and to continue to go down this very liberal path."

BOEHNER SAYS BIPARTISAN EFFORT TO CREATE JOBS IS "THE MOST IMPORANT THING THAT WE CAN BE DOING":

"We've reached out over the last year, and we're going to continue to reach out, but there has been no reaching back from the White House or from our Democrat colleagues, but that doesn't mean that we're going to give up. We believe that bipartisan solutions to the question most Americans are asking, 'where are the jobs?' is probably the most important thing that we can be doing."

BOEHNER SAYS "WE NEED TO TAKE A NEW APPROACH" TO CREATING JOBS:

"Their trillion-dollar 'stimulus' plan from a year ago clearly has not worked. So I believe that we need to take a new approach. We didn't take that new approach in the House when they passed their second 'stimulus' bill in December, it was all the same kind of spending. I believe that if we’re going to get the economy going again, we have to allow American families and small businesses to keep more of what they earn. Until there is more money in their hands, we're not going to see the economy rebound quickly.

BOEHNER SAYS PROPOSED SPENDING FREEZE IS "A VERY MODEST STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION":

"The President is expected to announce a $15 billion spending reduction that would be in effect over the next three years. I applaud the President for taking a step in the right direction but I have to say it's a very modest step in the right direction. If you look at discretionary spending here in Washington over the two years, it's increased over 20 percent. And in addition to discretionary spending, why don't we end TARP, why don’t we stop the 'stimulus' money that hasn't been spent, and put that money back in the bank to pay down the debt that's still over a trillion dollars."