POSTED: Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - 11:18pm
UPDATED: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - 5:03pm
EL PASO- During Tuesday night’s State of The Union Address, both Republicans and Democrats in the Borderland gathered to hear what the president had to say.
As you can imagine, the tone was very different at each of the parties. Democrats say that they couldn't be more pleased. Republicans say that they are disappointed with what they call a "lack of progress."
President Obama spoke on many issues that face the El Paso community.
Republicans like Bob Pena say that the president needs to create more jobs.
"In El Paso, we feel it the worst because we have such a high unemployment rate. We need to have job creation here. We can't have businesses not coming into El Paso because of government regulation,” said Pena.
Democrats like Donald Williams say that President Obama is making the best of what he inherited from the previous administration.
"Obama stepped into a situation that was horrendous, and you cannot look at any statistics at this point in time and tell he is not bring us out of probably one of the most severe recessions since the depression,” said Williams.
Republican and Vietnam war veteran Johnny Pena says that he's concerned about President Obama's views on healthcare.
"Under this healthcare program, where veterans will be shifted out of the special position they have earned,” said Pena.
Democrat Alfredo Longoria says that he's eager for President Obama to allow incentives for new businesses.
"One thing that I really liked that the president said was tax reform for all of the businesses that want to create jobs here in El Paso. So that's a big boom for our economy, and we need jobs,” said Longoria.
Longoria also serves as president of The El Paso Young Democrats.
He says no matter what your political party is, it’s important that young adults in The Borderland get out and vote in the next election.