Scalise rallies state's Republicans

Louisiana congressman extols Trump’s tax cuts, deregulation

BENTON -- The U.S. House of Representatives' minority whip called on conservatives to fight for the Republican Party in a speech Tuesday at a Saline County fundraiser.

The event, the Lincoln Day Dinner, featured Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., as its keynote speaker. Steve Lux, the Saline County Republican Committee chairman, said he expects the fundraiser to take in about $15,000 to go toward supporting Republican candidates.

Lux said about 250 people attended the dinner, which the group has tried to put on yearly for nearly 25 years.

Lux invited Scalise to the event because he said he knew the congressman would draw a crowd.

"Well obviously the way you sell tickets is you have the folks people in central Arkansas want to meet and hear," Lux said.

In his speech, Scalise denounced the Democratic-backed Green New Deal, heralded President Donald Trump as reviving the economy and warned against socialism.

"The biggest battle we're seeing right now is the battle between freedom and socialism," Scalise said.

Scalise railed against the Democrats, who he said "want to control every aspect of your lives." He noted that Trump has reversed many of the environmental regulations that former President Barack Obama implemented.

Scalise said this, tied with Trump's tax cuts, have boosted the economy. He repeatedly heralded the tax cuts as beneficial for Americans of all classes. Critics of the cuts have said that they will only benefit high-income taxpayers.

He claimed the Democratic Party is increasingly moving further left.

"You used to have moderate Democrats, and [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi made them extinct," he said.

Many people first learned of Scalise after a gunman shot him while he was attending baseball practice with fellow members of Congress in Virginia in 2017.

"There definitely were miracles on that ballfield," Scalise said. "There definitely were heroes on that ballfield."

Numerous state Republican officeholders attended the event.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson used the event to tout his victories throughout the state legislative session.

Hutchinson said the crowd needs to "make sure we keep Arkansas and our nation going in the right direction."

The sentiment became a recurring theme throughout the night.

"We cannot rest in 2019, and we cannot rest in 2020 because the Democrats are out to win," Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said.

Scalise also drove the point home.

"And believe me this is going to be the most critical election of our time," Scalise said about the 2020 election.

Metro on 04/24/2019

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