GOP response: Rate of jobless 'unacceptable,' says Gov. McDonnell

The jobless rate in America is "unacceptable," newly-inaugurated Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) will say Wednesday evening.

The GOP governor will aim squarely at jobs and economic issues in the Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address.

"One in 10 American workers is unemployed," McDonnell will say, according to a full copy of the remarks posted by the Huffington Post. "That is unacceptable."

"We must enact policies that promote entrepreneurship and innovation, so America can better compete with the world," McDonnell will add. "What government should not do is pile on more taxation, regulation, and litigation that kill jobs and hurt the middle class."

The president is expected to focus acutely on employment and the economic recovery in his first formal State of the Union address this evening. To an equal degree, McDonnell's Republican response takes aim at the heart of Obama and congressional Democrats' top domestic initiatives.

"Today, the federal government is simply trying to do too much," McDonnell says. "Without reform, the excessive growth of government threatens our very liberty and prosperity."

The Virginia governor, who won office last fall in a landslide which saw many of Obama's supporters during the 2008 presidential election switch to support the Republican candidate, will also appeal to bipartisanship.

"We want results, not rhetoric. We want cooperation, not partisanship," he'll say.

To that end, the Virginia governor will welcome elements of the president's agenda, but not without some GOP chiding. 

"The President's partial freeze on discretionary spending is a laudable step, but a small one," he'll say.

"We applaud President Obama's decision to deploy 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan," McDonnell will add on national security. "We agree that victory there is a national security imperative. But we have serious concerns over recent steps the Administration has taken regarding suspected terrorists."

But the address fundamentally strikes traditionally conservative notes about the role of government, in relation to some of the most pressing issues facing lawmakers in Washington. 

The speech will also be the second time an eventual presidential contender could be delivering the Republican response to the State of the Union. 

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), considered a possible 2012 or 2016 presidential candidate, delivered the response last year, a response which was panned for its delivery by observers in both parties.

McDonnell has been promoted as a potential candidate, as well, after having won so convincingly in Virginia, a state increasingly seen as a political bellwether.  

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