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U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Menlo Park, said President Obama threw down a "challenge to the Congress" in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.

"He said to the legislative bodies, 'Send these bills to me and I'll sign them," Eshoo said of the President's references to tax simplification and immigration reform.

"He let Congress off the hook by not calling them a 'do-nothing Congress,'" she said.

"I think it was quite a night, and an exceptional speech.

"The theme of building an America to last is highly appropriate, a confidence-builder for the country, and he pointed out how to do it. He brought forward great examples from our society -- the team that went in to take down Bin Laden -- and how nothing could come between them, which is why they were successful.

"He used that as a powerful analogy to the Congress and to the country."

Eshoo said she found little that was surprising in the speech, adding that she looks forward to hearing what the President promised to announce today (Wednesday) on new remedies for the foreclosure crisis.

She said she was disappointed that Obama did not announce he had signed an executive order concerning the "tsunami of money that's washing through the (political) system" in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 ruling in the Citizens United case that prohibited limits on independent political spending by corporations and unions.

Eshoo has urged Obama to issue an executive order requiring companies doing business with the federal government to disclose their political contributions.

— Palo Alto Weekly staff

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