Walker says bold leadership needed nationally

Walker: Time for tough decisions

MADISON, Wis. — Governor Scott Walker said in the weekly Republican radio address that it’s time to make tough decisions to deal with the nation’s economic struggles.

Walker was tapped to deliver the national address on Saturday, less than two weeks after he became the first governor in U.S. history to withstand a recall election.

Walker was targeted for recall largely because he effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers as part of his budget-balancing plan.

Walker said in the radio address that “In Wisconsin, we made the tough decisions to tackle our economic and fiscal crises. Now it is time to do the same for America.”

Walker said that bold leadership is needed on the national level that confronts special interests and scales back the size of government.

“Thirty years ago, the national unemployment rate was 10.8 percent, but once President Ronald Reagan’s reforms went into effect, we saw one of the greatest economic booms in U.S. history,” said Walker.

Wisconsin’s governor criticized how the President Obama has handled the economy.

“We need that kind of bold leadership again today to get our fiscal house on track and to get our economy back in order. But more big government is not the answer, as the president contends.”

In his own address, President Obama said Congress was to blame.

“But on most of the ideas that would create jobs and grow our economy, Republicans in Congress haven’t lifted a finger,” said the president. “They’d rather wait until after the election in November. Just this past week, one of them said, ‘Why not wait for the reinforcements?’ That’s a quote. And you can bet plenty of his colleagues are thinking the same thing.”