Gov. Walker: Federal Government Needs to Avert Fiscal Cliff

Editor’s Note: Each week Gov. Scott Walker delivers a weekly radio address. This week he addresses the Fiscal Cliff. 

Hi, this is Scott Walker.   

This week, I had the honor of joining a bipartisan group of Governors to meet with President Obama about the fiscal challenges facing our federal government. 

For more than a decade, the federal government has been spending a lot more money than it has been taking in.  Because critical debt benchmarks were surpassed, in the near future our nation is facing what often is referred to as the fiscal cliff.  If our federal government fails to take action to avert this fiscal cliff, we could experience a massive economic downturn, which would affect states all across the nation. 

I joined other governors, three Democrat and two other Republican, to discuss what the impact on states would be if the federal government continues down the path of massive deficits and increasing debt.  As we look to the federal government in the coming months, I hope we will receive the flexibility necessary to not only help solve the federal deficit, but also provide relief to the states.  Compare Washington’s budget problems to what we did here in Wisconsin—we turned a $3.6 billion budget deficit into a surplus and for the first time ever, deposited money in the state’s rainy day fund in two consecutive years.

I am hopeful politicians in D.C. will be able to solve the fiscal problems facing our federal government so the next generation is not buried under a mountain debt.  I appreciate having the opportunity to speak directly with President Obama on this important issue. 

The state partnered with the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association to produce and distribute brief radio address once a week.  Audio files and a written transcript of this radio address can be accessed on http://www.wi-broadcasters.org and http://walker.wi.gov/Weekly-Radio-Addresses.  To download an mp3 file, you can right click the radio address link and click “save link as.”