Pennsylvania’s seating buddies Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey  may have planned to sit right next to each other during President Obama’s State of the Union address tonight, but their reactions to the speech were fairly far apart.

An earlier version of this story reported that the two Senators sat next to each other. It turns out that they walked over together, but couldn’t find two seats side-by-side. They split up during the speech, but met back up and left together as well.

Thanks to Bonnie Squires of the Philadelphia Public Record for pointing this out to PoliticsPA.

Casey supports the President’s calls for bipartisanship and competitiveness. Toomey appreciates the civil tone of the speech, but lambasted the stimulus and rejected the premise that government has anything to do with economic prosperity.

Read the full statements below.

Casey Statement on the State of the Union

WASHINGTON, DC— Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released the following statement after President Obama’s State of the Union Address:

“Domestically, the country faces many challenges to put people back to work, invest in our workers and foster long-term economic prosperity.  We face continued foreign and domestic threats and our fighting men and women are still serving in harm’s way.

“President Obama’s charge to the Congress and to the country offered a roadmap to promote American prosperity and security.

“The challenge we face together is to make America more competitive, prepare workers for the 21^st Century and rebuild our economy for the future.  Investments in our children, workers and infrastructure are vital for our future.  These investments, however, must be combined with a renewed focus on fiscal responsibility and a more efficient government.

“Senator Toomey and I don’t agree on everything, but we do agree on the importance of working together for Pennsylvania and for the country.  I hope the spirit of bipartisanship shown in the discussions on seating arrangements extends past tonight and translates into work by the entire Congress on our shared challenges and responsibilities.”

Senator Toomey Statement on State of the Union

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) issued the following statement today regarding President Obama’s State of the Union address:

“First and foremost, I welcome President Obama’s emphasis on bipartisanship and civility. I hope to work with the president and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get spending under control, to create jobs in the private sector and to encourage a booming economic recovery for all Americans.

“I appreciate the president’s discussion of the need to rein in spending, but I’m concerned about what will actually happen. His proposed five-year non-security, discretionary spending freeze represents less than 20 percent of the federal budget. And he’s proposing to freeze the budget at a very high level of spending after recent unprecedented budget increases.

“Furthermore, the president spoke often about the need for new taxpayer-funded investments.  It is important, however, to remember that ‘investment’ is what the administration called the stimulus—the $800 billion spending bill that failed to create jobs and piled more deficits on the backs of the American people.

“The message from the American people is clear: we need substantial spending cuts and budget reforms now. We can’t afford to wait, especially as Congress faces a critical vote on the debt ceiling in the coming months.

“The president also spoke about jobs, but the government can’t create jobs. If the president wants to spur hiring and innovation in the private sector, he needs to remove barriers and reduce onerous regulations. If he wants to make it easier for entrepreneurs to develop the next life-saving patent or the next great invention, I support him. But if his idea of job creation is for the government to favor industries with taxpayer subsidies, that won’t work.

“Pennsylvanians have the talent, skills and ingenuity needed to create jobs, and they can keep our nation competitive if government gets out of the way. If we cut taxes on our businesses, if we rein in our spending, if we remove burdensome regulations, we can prosper again.”