STEVE INSKEEP, Host:
It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.
ARI SHAPIRO, Host:
And I'm Ari Shapiro. President Obama used his State of the Union speech to prod lawmakers to work together and to work with him.
BARACK O: Washington may think that saying anything about the other side, no matter how false, no matter how malicious, is just part of the game. But it's precisely such politics that has stopped either party from helping the American people.
SHAPIRO: He made sharp remarks about obstructionist Republicans and problems left behind by the last administration.
INSKEEP: So what did you think of the speech?
JON KYL: Well, you know, it's customary to say, well, the rhetoric was good, but maybe he needed more substance. That's the usual assessment of State of the Union speeches. I found this one to be A, too long, B, too political, and if he had an intention to reach out to Republicans, I can tell you it did not achieve the objective, nor did I think it was as much an assessment of the state of the nation or union as it was a political tirade.
INSKEEP: What do you mean too political?
KYL: You know, he has created a huge deficit as a result of his spending. Now, he said, well, it was necessary to get us out of the mess. It wasn't. The $800 billion stimulus bill has been shown not to have provided the benefits that he said it would. So there's just a lot of disingenuousness in this political speech tonight.
INSKEEP: We're talking with Republican Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona. And senator, I want to play a little bit of the president's speech last night that seemed to be aimed quite directly at you and other Republican leaders.
OBAMA: And if the Republican leadership is going to insist that 60 votes in the Senate are required to do any business at all in this town - a supermajority - then the responsibility to govern is now yours, as well. Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it's not leadership.
INSKEEP: Is the responsibility now on your shoulders, Senator Kyl?
KYL: The president blames Republicans for saying no to his bill, when if he listened to the American people, he would appreciate that they wanted us to say no to his bill. And that's precisely what the Massachusetts election results revealed.
INSKEEP: Can you give me an example? I mean, you've asserted that you're not saying not to everything. Is there a major issue in the last year where you've been able to work with the president?
KYL: But the really big things - like health care, for example - do take 60 votes. There has never been an example of something as big as this health care legislation getting through with a pure partisan vote. And that's something that a very moderate Republican senator has remarked upon. I'm talking about Olympia Snowe from Maine.
INSKEEP: Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, thanks very much.
KYL: You're very welcome.