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WBS Penguins fall in Rockford, 2-1

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MAC Freedom Men’s Basketball: Wilkes gets crucial win over Misericordia

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Depending on which side of the aisle you were sitting on Tuesday night, your reaction to President Donald Trump&#8217;s State of the Union address might differ.</p><p>Such is the case for area members of Congress &#8212; two Democrats and two Republicans &#8212; who came away from Trump&#8217;s speech with almost opposite evaluations.</p><p>U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, said the president should have pledged &#8220;no more shutdowns&#8221; and committed to taking additional steps to help the 820,000 federal employees recover from the adverse impact of the recent government shutdown.</p><p>&#8220;He also missed an opportunity to speak to America&#8217;s middle class families who are struggling to make ends meet,&#8221; Casey said. &#8220;He could have committed to a substantial tax cut for those families.&#8221;</p><p>Casey went on to say that Trump could have talked to working parents about a comprehensive agenda for their children &#8212; investing in education, safeguarding their health care, rebuilding their schools and protecting them from violence.</p><p>&#8220;Unfortunately, he used his platform to reinforce the same talking points and to double down on his corporate agenda,&#8221; Casey said.</p><p>Pennsylvania&#8217;s other senator, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, said Trump&#8217;s second State of the Union showed the economy is the best it&#8217;s been in decades.</p><p>&#8220;Economic growth has accelerated, unemployment has dropped to record lows, middle-class wages are rising, and for the first time there are more job openings than there are people looking for a job,&#8221; Toomey said.</p><p>Toomey said Trump also made a reasonable case for enhancing security at our southern border.</p><p>On trade, Toomey said he continues to believe that the administration is taking the country down the wrong path.</p><p>&#8220;Tariffs on products imported into the United States are taxes, paid by American consumers, that harm American families and workers,&#8221; Toomey said.</p><p><strong>Cartwright, Meuser</strong></p><p>U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, said it&#8217;s time for the president to add substance to his words of bipartisanship and unity by working with Democrats to rebuild the nation&#8217;s transportation infrastructure and bring down the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs.</p><p>&#8220;As we recover from the longest federal government shutdown in history, I was accompanied during the State of the Union by my guest Allen Fritz, an air traffic controller from Pennsylvania and a member of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association,&#8221; Cartwright said. &#8220;He was one of thousands who worked without pay last month.&#8221;</p><p>U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Dallas, said the president laid out a bold, yet realistic, agenda and outlined the remarkable accomplishments of the past two years.</p><p>&#8220;The president highlighted the urgent crisis at our southern border &#8212; which must be secured &#8212; and offered a solution to fix our broken immigration system with high fences and wide legal gates,&#8221; Meuser said.</p><p>Val DiGiorgio, chairman of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, said he felt Trump gave an outstanding speech.</p><p>&#8220;Whether it&#8217;s his concern for keeping Americans safe, advocating for innocent life, or his strenuous defense of liberty and American interests, President Trump demonstrated why he should be re-elected,&#8221; DiGiorgio said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Casey </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL022018Casey1CMYK-1-.jpg</photo0><caption0>Casey </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Casey, Toomey, Cartwright, Meuser differ on Trump’s State of Union