Scott Walker: Get Power Out Of Washington D.C.

Governor Scott Walker is highlighting to federal officials that it’s crucial to transfer power from the federal government to the states, and to increase accountability in local elected officials.

“As much as I like coming here, I like going home even more,” Walker said in Washington, D.C., calling it, “68 square miles surrounded by reality.”

Walker made his remarks during a speech at the American Action forum, repeatedly calling for a transfer of power out of Washington and back to local governments.

Walker said that the American people are “craving something new, something fresh and something dynamic.” He’s calling for “big, bold ideas” for reform.

“We, to transform America, need to really transfer power, power from our nation’s capitol in Washington, back to the states, back to the cities of this country where the hard working people of this country can actually hold their government accountable, at the state and local level,” he said.

To press home his point, Walker citied a quote from Ronald Reagan about the states creating the federal government, not the other way around.

Walker explained how he used conservative ideas to reform the government in Wisconsin to improve services and save taxpayers money. That conflicted with special interests in Washington, he admitted, but in the end he won the fights.

“In Washington, it’s kind of this top down, government knows best,” he said. “It’s a tired old approach, that hasn’t worked in the past and I don’t think will work in the future.”

Reporters who attended the speech were disappointed that Walker failed to mention any possibility of running for president in 2016, and had no reaction to Mitt Romney’s announcement hours earlier that he would not run for president.

“We’ll put a statement out,” he said, when asked about Romney.