By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
On Saturday August 22, Wisconsin Governor, and 2016 Republican Presidential candidate Scott Walker was in Talladega for the Alabama Republican Party’s Summer luncheon at the motor speedway.
Walker thanked Alabama Republicans for the support he’s received when union opponents tried to recall the Governor shortly after his election. “So many of you helped us out. Senator Shelby you stepped up in your caucus and said we have got to help this guy.” Walker said that he had $80 million in contributions from people in all 50 states. The average contribution was just $75.
Walker announced that State Senator Greg Reed (R-Jaspar) would be his Alabama campaign chair.
“Y’all have got some great reformers from the State of Alabama.”
Gov. Walker said, “My dad was a Baptist preacher in Iowa.” A farmer named Chuck Grassley represented us in Congress. Paul Ryan lived just a few miles away.
“America is a can-do kind of country,” Gov. Walker said. “Washington is 68 square miles surrounded by reality.”
Gov. Walker said at one point had 100,000 protestors in the state capital trying to interfere with the Republican majority in the legislature. “I took power out of the hands of the special interests and put it in the hands of the taxpayers. The Occupy movement did not begin in Wall Street it began on my street. They threw a lot of money and resources at us and we won.”
Walker said, “People are standing up and saying I want my voice to be held…The SEC primary is going to be incredibly important.” Walker said that he is the candidate if you want someone who can fight and win without sacrificing common sense or compromising conservative ideals.
Walker said on the Hillary Clinton’s email scandal, “It’s not about emails, it is about national security. We now find out there is top secret information on those emails. It is either illegal or she is incompetent. You can’t put top secret classified material in a place where it is vulnerable. Either disqualifies her to be President of the United States….There is talk that Joe Biden (the Vice President) or Al Gore (Vice President from 1993 to 2001) may run. A voice from the past or a voice from further in the past.”
Governor Walker said, “We need someone from outside Washington. We need someone who has gotten the job done. And that is exactly what we did in Wisconsin. We are now the 25th right to work state. We took a $3.6 billion deficit and fixed it and we cut taxes. Income taxes are down. Property taxes are lower. We defunded Planned Parenthood more than four years ago and we require a photo ID to vote in my state.
Walker said, “It’s not too late for America. As Republicans, we measure success by how many people are not dependent on government. We believe in the dignity of Work.”
Walker said that his dad was a small town preacher. His paternal grandfather was a blue collar factor worker and his maternal grandparents were farmers who did not have indoor plumbing until his mom was in junior high school. “We did not inherit fame or fortune from my family.” Despite that he worked hard and eventually became Wisconsin’s Governor. “That is the American dream and what we are still fighting for today.”
Walker vowed that if elected, he would take the powers of the EPA away and send back to the states where they have to live with the results. Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama, they think you grow the economy by growing Washington. 6 out the top 10 wealthiest counties in America are now in Washington. It is time to get the federal government out of the way.
Walker said that he supports repealing Obamacare once and for all and replacing it with a plan and we actually have a plan to do that. Walker promised to rein in out of control regulations. “Federal regulations are like a wet blanket on the economy.” Walker said that he wants his kids to have clean air and clean water too; but he also wants them to have a job. The Clean Power Plant regulations (recently issued by the Obama Administration) will cost us tens of thousands of jobs. He supports an all of the above energy policy, would approve the Keystone pipeline. “We are an energy rich country we need to start acting like it and use the money to fund the recovery.”
Governor Walker said that in Wisconsin, “We reformed public education and gave parents quality choices. Why? Because I trust parents. Parents should be able to choose to send their children to a traditional public school, a charter school, a private school or too quality home school.” Standards should be set; but no common core. There will no nationwide school board going forward. Education money should not go to Washington where the bureaucrats can skim money off the top and where a bunch of liberal bureaucrats can tell us what to do with our schools.
The conservative governor said that he favors growing the economy and lowering the tax burden on individuals and especially on job creators.
Walker criticized the Obama and Clinton foreign policy which is leading from behind and said that Iran is not a place we should be doing business with.
Gov. Walker said, “The President claimed the greatest threat to future generations is climate change. Mr. President, I disagree. Radical Islam is the greatest threat to future generations. Our enemy is like a virus. Radical Islam is not like the Cold War. Containment is not an option. I want to take the fight to them rather than wait for them to take the fight to us. We need to treat Israel like an ally.”
Walker said that the Russians under Putin probe with their bayonets. Where they find mush they push and where they find steel they back away. “It is time that we have a foreign policy that puts steel in front of our adversary.”
Walker said, “It is an abomination that as great a nation as the United States, has such poor security on our southern border. It is a direct threat to us. We need a leader who is going to secure the borders once and for all, and who will enforce the laws. The law of this land is clear and we need to enforce it.” Walker said that the immigration policies of the United States should give priority to the impact on American families.
Walker said, “The rest of the world needs to know that there is no greater friend and no worse enemy in this world than the United States of America.” Walker said that he opposes nation building and that if we must fight we should fight to win.
The Governor of Wisconsin said, “Everything in my life is about discerning what God wants me to do and I feel a call to run for President of the United States.” Walker said that he did not know if he would win or not.
Alabama Republican Party Chairman Terry Lathan said in a statement:
“Race to 2016 in Talladega was a huge success. On Saturday, a packed house of Republicans welcomed Presidential candidate Governor Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin) as he rode into the building in a race car. With Senator Shelby, Senator Sessions, Congressman Aderholt, Congressman Brooks, Congressman Palmer and Congressman Rogers in attendance with dozens of GOP elected officials and candidates, this was one of the largest gatherings of officials we have had at a special event.”
Governor Walker is just one of seventeen Republican candidates in the field.
