Scott Walker Addresses Arkansas Crowd

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was in Arkansas last week. I was not able to attend but Arkansas Young Republicans Central Arkansas Chairman Heather Browning was there and passes along this report…

The Arkansas Young Republicans welcomed Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to a crowd of over 400 Tuesday night in Fayetteville for their inaugural Reagan Day Dinner.

“We were thrilled by the support we recieved across the state for this event,” Arkansas Young Republican Chairman Jack Avery said. “This event has been monumental for the Young Republicans and the money raised will be key to ensuring our organization is able to play a large role in the fight to grow the Conservative Majority in this upcoming election cycle.”

The event brought together many elected officials & Republicans leaders, including Senator John Boozman, Lt. Governor Mark Darr, Secretary of State Mark Martin and Republican Party Chairman Doyle Webb. Republican Gubernatorial candidates Asa Hutchinson and Curtis Coleman were also in attendance.

Walker told the crowd the Republican Party needs to “be more optimistic, more relevant and have the courage to stick to our principles” if the GOP has any of hope of strengthening the Party and being successful in the future.

Governor Walker also focused a great deal on the “American Dream” of government independence – a principle, Walker said, that is at the heart of the Republican Party belief system.

“In America, we value independence from the government, not dependence on the government,” Walker said.

Walker was first elected Governor in 2010, defeating Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. Early into his first term, Governor Walker proposed the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill in an effort to balance Wisconsin’s $3.6 billion budget deficit without increasing taxes, massive public employee layoffs or cuts to programs like Medicaid.  The legislature passed the controversial bill in 2011, essentially ending collective bargaining for most public employees.

In the wake of the controversy over the Budget Repair Bill, a campaign to recall Gov. Walker began. On June 5, 2012, Gov. Walker again faced Tom Barrett in the recall election, this time beating him by an even larger margin than in 2010.