HOT SPRINGS - Jan Morgan, a Hot Springs small business owner and national 2nd Amendment advocate announced her candidacy to become the next governor of Arkansas on Sunday night. Morgan, a Republican, made the announcement at a sold out event in Hot Springs on New Year’s Eve.
The longtime Fox News analyst, used the Arkansas state motto – REGNAT POPULUS (the People Rule) as her platform in announcing her candidacy. If elected, Morgan would be the first woman governor of Arkansas.
Here’s the entire text of her speech:
“As we embark on the dawn of a new day and new year in Arkansas, I am excited about the future potential of our beautiful state and her people. I am excited because I have discovered the skeptics were wrong when they said the people of Arkansas are not educated on the issues in their state, and fall for the lies of their polished career politicians who are taxing them in to poverty, regulating them out of business and enslaving them with government entitlements. I KNOW the skeptics are wrong. I know this because I’ve spent the past six months traveling across this state speaking with and more importantly LISTENING TO people from all walks of life. I have addressed record crowds as a speaker at Republican Party Reagan Dinners in county after county at the request of Republican Party chairmen. I have addressed TEA Party Patriots at the statewide convention and spoken to TEA Party groups large and small across Arkansas. I straddled my Harley, and took advantage of the scenic winding roads to meet with folks in those small town cafe’s and rural areas most politicians ignore, those places where a man’s word still means something and a handshake seals the deal. What I learned on this listening tour of the state is this: Though our citizens are divided on many levels and our problems, immense, the people of this state by the thousands have told me they are aware of the waste, fraud, and abuse in their state government. They are ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work making Arkansas the best state in America to live and work.
Before we can seize the opportunities for the future, we must recognize our failures of the past and present. The pathway to recovery begins at our State Capitol, not because our government is the SOLUTION to the problems, but because our government is the SOURCE of our problems.
First, we must identify, expose, and replace politicians who ran as Republicans to get elected then once in office, began to legislate like democrats to please a progressive governor and his big corporate donors . I called out these misrepresenting representatives and fought them for YOU last year when I delivered a blistering admonishment in House Judiciary. Over a million people have viewed that video shot by the Arkansas Times. Many Arkansans say that was the alarm clock that opened their eyes to the dirty political games being played on the taxpayers dime. We must replace career politicians with citizen legislators and hold them accountable for their actions .
We will accomplish this by transparency in our government. We must demand roll call votes on all issues in House and Senate Judiciary. Legislators should not be allowed to hide behind group voice votes where there is no record of how they voted while representing their constituency. Transparency and accountability in our state government are not optional.
The next step to recovery is to reduce the size of our state government.
Republicans are supposed to be the party of LIMITED government, yet, our current leadership has been busy over the past three years feeding the government beast and expanding it in size with our tax dollars. There are currently ninety-five state agencies and forty-nine professional regulatory boards, including a catfish promotion board.
Big government costs big money. Under Asa Hutchinson’s leadership we have seen record government spending, supporting over 300 million in tax increases. The governor will tell you he has cut taxes but the truth is, while he cuts taxes on one side of the pie, he redistributes and raises taxes on the other side of the pie. No matter how you slice it, the pie is getting larger rather than smaller.
We must cut waste in state spending. This does not mean sacrificing essential services to the poor, elderly, sick and disabled. Nor does it mean cutting badly needed funds that our counties depend on.
This tax burden is overwhelming the people of this state. While Arkansas ranks in income, among the poorest in the nation, the tax burden on our people is the highest among competitor states and 17th highest in the nation.
Arkansas uses ALL the major tax instruments available to states including income, sales, and property taxes while a number of our neighboring states have no state income tax.
The Corporate tax rate is also the second highest among Arkansas’s competitor states.
That giant sucking sound you hear is Texas, Tennessee and Florida sucking our jobs, companies, college graduates, and affluent citizens out of our state. No wonder the governor has to go to China and offer millions of dollars, tax breaks, and job training money to get foreigners to open companies here. (Imagine what Arkansas business owners could do with that kind of government help)
When we reduce the size of government, it will increase economic freedom. I want to put more money and freedom back in the hands of the people. We can do this by modernizing and simplifying the Arkansas tax code. We must make the Arkansas tax laws competitive with other states in order to attract businesses to the state. This will stimulate job creation in Arkansas .
And, we must ensure fairness to all individuals and entities impacted by the tax laws in this state.
The governors discretionary fund is a perfect place to start. That fund which was over 20 million dollars, is nothing more than corporate welfare and redistribution of the wealth to the governor’s business buddies. Capitalism works best when the government stays out of the game.
Healthcare is another problem that is becoming a financial nightmare for this state. A wrong move by leadership has lead to skyrocketing insurance premiums, (assuming you can even find insurance) less access to quality care and services. Socialized medicine is not the answer. Do you really want an entity that brought you the post office and $750 hammers to be in charge of your health?
Do you know what I think is the best thing professional politicians can do to improve healthcare?
NOTHING! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
We need to get the government OUT of our healthcare and let the free market do what it does best.
The people of Arkansas have also told me that they want their state to be safe again. Crime is an increasing problem across this state. Little Rock was recently number one per capita for crime in the nation. That is unacceptable! I am pro-law enforcement and will make sure police in this state have the tools they need to be tough on crime, put the criminals behind bars, and stop the revolving doors of our corrections systems which just recently, released a two time murderer from jail.
On that note, an armed society is a polite society. Arkansas is a Constitutional Carry state per Article two of the Arkansas State Constitution. The current governor says that is not inconsistent with a licensing program selling permission slips to the citizens to carry and that state law is subject to the interpretation of every prosecuting attorney in every county in the state.
That is the most egregious statement made by an elected Arkansas politician this year. He is wrong! I will make it right. That is a promise!
Education also made the list of top concerns of people in this state. Arkansas has the lowest education scores in America. I come from a long history of public school educators in my family. I know what teachers are up against in our schools. Educators in this state want Little Rock politicians out of their schools and parents want the right to choose where their kids go to school. Competition among schools equals better educations for students.
In addition, companies need a skilled labor force. Parents want vocational training programs again for students who want that option.
And finally, I believe it is important for the Governor of this state to stay connected with the people. There are counties in this state where the people say they have not seen or heard from the governor since he ran for office the first time. I believe town hall style meetings around the state are a great way to stay on top of the issues that matter most to the people.
In closing, people of this state, by the thousands have asked me to be their voice, to fight for them and the future of the state. I have heard you. I care about you. It would be my greatest privilege and highest honor to serve you
I too dream of freedom from over regulation and the burden of excessive taxation. I too dream of a state where government, education, industry, organizations and the people work together as a team, determined to compete with every other state, a team that is racing to the top of the national ranks in every area rather than racing to the bottom.
I am committed to fight for you, but I can only do so much from the position of citizen activist. If you want me to be your voice, I need a better position to fight from. Strategically speaking, that would be the governors seat.
I’m Jan Morgan, a born again Christian, a genetically conservative wife, mother, small business owner, certified firearms instructor and yes, like our Vice President of the United States, I ride a Harley!
On this dawning of a new day of the new year, I am officially announcing my candidacy as a Republican for Governor of Arkansas.”