Republican has strong words for Obama

Former U.S. Senator Dan Coats spoke at Monday night's Allen County Republican Party Bean Dinner.

"Pretty low grade from my perspective," said Dan Coats, former U.S. Senator. 

That's the answer from former U.S. Senator Dan Coats when asked to grade President Obama's first ten months in office.

"I think this president is inexperienced, I think he is biting off far more than he can chew, I don't like a president going around and apologizing for the United States to everyone, and I don't think they have a handle on how to get out of this economic crisis," said Coats.

Coats says he's certainly biting off more than he can chew with this push for sweeping health care reform.

"There are things that can be done short of turning this over to the government, I don't know a government program that has ever been more efficient and more effective than the private sector," said Coats.

The Republican Party took a big hit after last year's election. Coats says now more than ever the party has to make its way back.

"We have to return to some of our basic principles and live up to those principles, we strayed during the last several years and we paid the price for it," said Coats.

Coats believes the Republican Party is on its way back. But he says it needs to announce what it stands for, letting people know why that is better for America's future.

"Controlled spending, limited government, our government is trying to do too much and we can't afford it and it's not efficient when the government does do it," said Coats.

Coats says the next time a Republican is elected president, it's likely he will be a high ranking cabinet member.