Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in Lakewood

but how many people are in Medicaid and unemployment and food stamps and other benefits I don't know about all of you but to me I was raised in the household with a measure of success is how many people are no longer dependent in the government where we should live in a society and I I'm afraid that for a lot of people they feel it's Out Of Reach I don't believe it should be nor is it but we need to turn things around because I was taught as a young man by my parents and those that were around me and my family that if you work hard if you play by the rules America was one of the few places left in the world where you could be and do anything you want that the opportunity was supposed to be equal for all but the outcome was still up to each and every one of us individually that's the kind of America I want for my children that's the kind of America I think not only my children but your children your grandchildren deserve and that's why that's why I'm at a point now where I look at what's happened in my state with my family over the last four years and I just look at this and believe firmly um that God doesn't let things happen by act uh that there was a reason we went through the battles we went through there was a reason not just in terms of winning elections but with the threats and the abuse and the pressure that we were tested and I believe that there's a reason for that and to me I look at that and part of what I've been trying to do is decipher that means that that's a calling um because I I say this only half jok and I told the media when they ask if I'm running for president I said the closer I get to being in a position to run for president the more I realize you you got to be crazy you want to be president of the United States you look at their pictures before you look at their pictures after you look at what does not just to them physically but to their family and their close Circles of friends and you realize no one who is sane should want to be the president of United States the only way you should run is if you feel called to do it I know that I feel about this country and about our impact not only here domestically but in this world the same way I felt years ago when I was worried about the future of my state for no other reason than the future of my children I share that same concern again now and I think it's one of those things where it's up to me and others around me that can help support us to figure out that calling going forward and so one of the things we have specifically done we'll talk about all sorts of other things we can talk about Israel and everything else here tonight in our discussion but but we have set up unlike other campaigns I'm a little uh unconventional uh so instead setting up a political action committee a pack uh like most do to promote themselves and elect other candidates we've set up what's called the 527 what's different about that is it allows us to focus on ideas this will not be the sole idea of a potential campaign but it will be the foundation I believe as I look not only at my state but I look at other states that have been successful over the past four years particularly with common sense conservative leadership is that we can replicate that but the optimism I have for the future this country is get the power in many cases the money out of Washington and so the idea of this 527 called our American Revival is to revive this state again to give it or this country again to give it lifeblood again to give it a focus is to do what our Founders intended which is to take the power out of the hands of the big government special interest in Washington and start bringing it back to the states and the local governments where the people can actually hold folks account for how it's F where the people of this country can actually be in charge of it and so we're going to be talking over the next several months uh not only about those ideas but we're going to be hiring staff with this our America Revival to go out and get organized at the Grassroots level we think it's a compelling message it's part of a larger plan and I think really I think our our next nominee should be talking about three things and I'll end with this and then open the questions this is a key part of it I think it's simple three things growth reform and security I'll spend a minute or two on each and then Mak you open the question when I look at the future of this country I think there's there's endless opportunity we should only be limited by how hard we want to work uh and and uh and the talents and skills that God has given us not by this top down approach from government that tends to smother entrepreneurship and Enterprise and other things of that nature and so to me I think part of that is is looking at saying we need the rain in dramatically reduce and put in place a a lower flatter fair tax it says we're going to put more money back in the hands of the American people cut it at the individual level take the employer tax that I think is an incredible burden and and discouragement from investing here in America reduce and eliminate or or even eliminate that to bring American jobs back from overseas to where our fellow citizens be put back to work again um to to re in things like Obamacare which has been abysmal ially for small businesses and not just go back to where we were before but go go in the opposite direction towards a patient centered Market driven approach allows us each to have skin in the game to to make decisions that that ultimately will control our lives and Healthcare cost under control do do think it's as simple as having some of you heard me say this on on handy today to have an all the above energy policy that allows us to be dependent here on our allies and oursel and this continent and not about parts of the world that really don't care for us much um and so it's also not only a domestic but a national security issue all those things riging in the EPA other things like that are part of growth and opportunity for everyone for every person in this country to live their peace of the American secondly reform and that's the part I talked about with our American Revival we're laying the groundwork for that and that is I think you take things like healthcare and Medicaid you take things like Transportation infrastructure you take things like education funding and instead of sending a dollar to Washington which they skim off without without any value added money that gets stuck in Washington and send it back to us as though we're grateful for sending it in the first place I'd say keep that money in our states and our local communities where we can make better decisions about health care for those in need where we can make better decisions about how to fix pot holes in our streets and we can definitely make better decision about how to educate our sons and daughters than the bureaucrats in the federal government I think that's the kind of Reform that we need we're going to take our country back and finally I I I just think it's it's simple we need grow an opportunity we need to reform and take the power away from Washington put it in the hands of the hardworking people of this country and finally I just believe we need a more secure country we need to to worry about our Securities as I just mentioned the fact of the matter is we've got a president aaser um I think the for all the talk about foreign policy experience I believe today in the last 35 years Rabbi and I were talking a little bit about Reagan on the way in uh but I believe the most significant foreign policy decision in the last three and a half decades came from someone whose only experience in foreign policy was being a governor because the ultimate thing you do to be successful in foreign policy is lead when Ronald Reagan in 1981 fired the air traffic controllers because they violated the law that wasn't just a domestic issue that sent a powerful message around the world this guy was serious sent a message to our allies that he would stand with them he sent a message equally not more importantly to our adversaries ironically in the Soviet Union and Iran it's like a deja vu all over again is Yogi be would have said right um we're back at that again but he sent a powerful message this guy was to be taken seriously that combined with the upgrades in the Department of Defense are amazing because when you think about it as tough and strong as Ronald Reagan was Ronald Reagan's tenure as our president was one of the times in recent history we've had the least amount of military engagements why I believe that people are afraid of you if they take you seriously they're not going to mess with you I believe in contrast we've said a horrible precedent with this President you draw a line in the sand with Syria and you're not afraid to act on it you've just guaranteed that every one of your foes is going to start messing with you again in the future my boys are 19 and 20 but when they were young tonette and I had a pack that if one of us punished one of our children the other one would never undermine that one of our kids was grounded for the next 3 days because of something he did he wasn't going to get a different answer from his other parent why you all know his parents CU you do they play one off the other and suddenly they don't take you seriously we've done that on a much more critical basis with our foreign policy and so I just think it's one of those where we need to have a strong leader in Washington that sends a message around the world that we're not going to wait for the fight to come to us we're going to be prudent and we're going to be reasonable but we're going to be firm and we're going to be steady and we're going to re exert that kind of strength and power that we've had in the past not because we want to get engaged in combat because we don't um and if we do that effectively I believe we'll have a knowledge more secure and Safe America I believe we'll have that for our allies be it in Israel or Britain or Germany or Japan or elsewhere around the world we need once and for all a leader who doesn't stand for appeasement for all the talk about those who say let's not get into World War II they forget that World War II didn't start through somebody pushing power they pushed through appeasement we need to stand up and make sure that any of those your Bowers in the world know that there's leadership in this country that's not going to take it and so I think we talk about growth we talk about reform we talk about security I think those are the issues we should be talking about not only in the respective presidential campaign but we should be living by over the next few years from 2017 on when I think there's no end to the good that we can do in this country and so apprciate you give me your ear for a few minutes and Rich if it's all right we'll take some questions [Applause]