President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night received high marks from a local Congressman. Representative John Delaney (6th-D) says the nation's chief executive made his case when it comes to the economy. "From a purely economic policy perspective, in other words, things we need to do as a country to make ourselves better positioned to create good jobs, I think his speech was strong in that regard."

During his State of the Union address, the President said the nation has "cleared away the rubble of crisis," and the economy is slowing coming back. He called on Congress to fund job creation programs.

Part of the President's message included increased taxes on wealthy Americans to help bring down the deficit. Delaney says he favors more revenues and less government spending. Regarding taxes, he says he supports a boost in the capital gains tax. "Capital gains rates are almost about half of the rates of ordinary income taxes, and wealthier Americans tend make more of their income through capital gains." He says that "won't hurt middle Americans as much."  Delaney says he would also support a reduction in corporate taxes.

The President also called for an increase in the minimum wage to $9.00 an hour. Many business organizations say this could make it more expensive for employers to hire, and could cost jobs in the long run. Delaney says he's doesn't think it will discourage employers from hiring. He says it's not fair for someone to have a full time job which makes minimum wage and lives below the poverty line. "It's not fair to those people, and it's not smart for the whole of the country because those who are living below the poverty line, they have a hard time thriving in our society," says Delaney, who has a business background.

President Obama also called on Congress to allow votes on common sense gun control measures, including background checks for all gun buyers. Congressman Delaney says he supports that, noting that anyone buying a firearm at a gunshow doesn't have to undergo a background check compared to those who make purchases at a dealer. "And this has nothing to do with infringing on Second Amendments rights. I'm a big believer in the Second Amendment, and I think if people don't have issues in their background, and they go through right checks, they should be able to buy as many guns as they want," he says. "But should have to through a background check. Everyone should have to go through a background check."

But restricting guns shouldn't be the only issue when it comes to dealing with violence in the US, he says. "We have to focus on our mental health system, because that's clearly a problem, and we have to deal with that right now," says Delaney.

Like other people around country, Delaney is calling for a look into the affects of violence in video games, movies and television. But he emphasizes he's not in favor of censorship.