Congressman Buck McKeon and Senator Barbara Boxer viewed President Obama’s State of the Union Address from the protective perch of a Committee Chairperson.

(Photo Courtesy CNN)

McKeon, from the 25^th District, who serves as Chairman of the Armed Services Committee focused on defense cuts. He says Obama proposes eliminating the jobs of 80 thousand servicemen and women from the Army and 20 thousand from the Marines. A year from now McKeon predicts another 100 personnel being cut and another half-trillion being eliminated from the military budget.

“If something doesn’t happen to reverse that, a year from now we’re looking at, over the next 10 years, cutting a $100 billion a year out of defense,” said McKeon.

California Senator Boxer who serves as Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, which has responsibility for legislation related to America’s transportation systems focused on financing to rebuild America’s infrastructure.

“I will do everything I can to bridge the partisan divide and we can start right away by passing a bipartisan surface transportation bill that saves or creates millions of jobs,” said Boxer.

Typically during the State of the Union Address Republicans will not stand or applaud when the president is a Democrat and the opposite is true when Republicans hold top office.

From one statement Boxer and McKeon seem ready to put partisan politics aside.

“I welcome his call to action for us to work together to strengthen the middle class, create clean energy jobs, help responsible homeowners stay in their homes, protect the environment from toxins such as mercury and rebuild America’s infrastructure,” said Boxer.

“If the President is willing, I know that my colleagues and I would welcome the opportunity to work with the President to pass legislation that is good for our families, our businesses and our country,” McKeon said.

In the next breath, partisanship reared its political head.

“I know he can’t run on his record, he’s been there three years, but he talked like he was just dropped from another planet and was taking over the country. He didn’t even mention Obamacare, and that was supposedly his crowning achievement,” said McKeon.

“The President’s eloquent optimism stands in marked contrast to the angry tone Americans have been hearing on the campaign trail from his opponents,” Boxer said.

The state of the union in from the State of the Union Address would once again seem to be a matter of Committee Chairperson perspective.