Rep. Gardner: Dems have damaged economy

Rep. Cory Gardner doesn’t think Democrats want to deliberately harm the economy. He just thinks their policies are wrong.

The Colorado Republican, giving the weekly Republican address on Saturday, knocked President Obama and Senate Democrats for blocking a package of GOP jobs and energy bills and throwing up too many federal regulations.

{mosads}But Gardner, who’s running for the Senate in a state Obama carried in 2008 and 2012, was careful not to make his attacks appear too personal.

“[T]o be clear, it isn’t that I think President Obama or the Democrats in the Senate are trying to hurt the economy, but their policies have certainly done damage,” said Gardner, who is trying to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Udall.  “And those wrong policies are taking a terrible toll and hurting a lot of people who voted against the President and a lot of people who voted for him, especially those who are struggling to make ends meet.”

Gardner noted that Friday marked the anniversary of TransCanada’s application for a permit to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

“Thanks to the president’s inaction, we are no closer to building the pipeline today than we were six years ago,” he said. “As a result, thousands of Americans are missing out on the good paying jobs the pipeline would create.”

When it comes to energy, Gardner said, Washington could learn from Colorado. The “responsible development” of energy resources has helped fuel the Centennial State’s economy, he said. That includes traditional resources, as well as wind farms and hydropower plants.

“This new energy economy means more jobs, more money for parents to send their kids to college, and more Coloradans feeling certain that the next generation will be left with greater opportunities than their own, Gardner said.

And just days after Congress voted to authorize training Syrian rebels fighting the Islamic militant group known as ISIS or ISIL, Gardner made the link between energy and national security.

Boosting domestic energy production, he said, would help wean the United States off foreign oil from the Middle East while providing resources to allies who are “tethered” to oil-producing nations like Russia.

“Energy independence,” Gardner said, “improves the stability of our families, the safety of our families, and provides economic security from the threat of terrorism by organizations that pose imminent threats to our nation like ISIL and others.”

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has begun using the weekly national address to help raise the profile of Republicans in tough races before the Nov. 4 election. Last week, Boehner tapped Arizona state House Speaker Andy Tobin to deliver remarks; he’s in a tight race with Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.).