Sad state of the Republican message

The state of the Republican message delivered by Sen. Joni Ernst following President Obama's State of the Union was sad. The best Republican leadership would provide the nation was their most inexperienced senator delivering a vacuous message suggesting it's OK for kids to grow up with plastic bags on their feet. The one "big" idea was passing legislation to provide a federal permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline.

Will we be surprised to find the Saudis have effectively killed the economic incentive to mine the oil which would flow through that pipeline? The best current projected long term oil market price of $65 per barrel is less than it costs to produce oil from tar sands. Who's going to pay to build that pipeline until tar sands producers are guaranteed a long term market price high enough to turn a profit for themselves and the pipeline?

Republicans should start demanding some real solutions to real problems from their leaders. Myopic insistence on recycling time tested and failed platitudes with continuous attacks on higher education can only lead our nation to decline.

Arthur P. Malm

Elgin