THOMASVILLE — State Rep. Austin Scott of Tifton did not sugarcoat his words while speaking at Tuesday’s Thomas County Republican Party meeting. The gubernatorial candidate simply stated what he believes to be the bitter truth about a party that lost its national bearings, resulting in huge election setbacks in 2006 and 2008.

“Let’s face it. We didn’t balance the budgets when we had the responsibility to do it in Congress,” he said during a noon gathering at The Plaza. “We also let the debt in this country escalate and, quite honestly, when we got into power at the federal level, we just put on the same shoes as the Democrats and kept walking down that road.

“We never did the things we said we would do when we were elected.”

Scott thinks the GOP can win again nationally by rebuilding on the values it used to hold dear — individual freedoms, lower taxes and limited government. He is opposed to secession talk — spurred by Congress’ recent penchant for bailouts and stimulus packages — that is stirring among four of his campaign rivals, including front-runner John Oxendine.

“As a young Republican — I’ll be 40 shortly — it bothers me that our party is talking about leaving the union,” he said. “As Republicans, we can’t let the fact that we lost one election force us to abandon this country. It’s not going to happen under our administration.

“We are not going to be blackmailed by the federal government, but at the same time a Scott administration is not going to talk about taking the Georgia star off the United States flag.”

Initially elected to the Georgia House of Representatives at 26, Scott vowed to promote a gubernatorial agenda that is friendly to small businesses. He believes that is a key to reviving the state’s slumping economy and serious budget crunch. State tax revenue for April was down 20.6 percent from the previous year.

“The revenue situation that we find ourselves in as cities, counties and the state is in part caused by allowing the government to grow and get into things it never should have been involved in to start with,” said Scott, who owns an insurance business. “But another part of it is that Americans have changed the way they do business, and the tax code has not progressed with those changes.”

Scott discussed the possibility of taxing Internet purchases but promised to reduce or eliminate state taxes that inhibit small businesses.

“I can’t promise you I can turn the economy around — no one person can — but I promise I will simplify your compliance with the government,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be as complicated as it is.”

Scott touted his service in the legislature as an advantage over other GOP candidates.

“I’ve been through the appropriations, and Ways and Means process that is going on right now,” he said. “I understand how a small change over here can have rippling effects that can be detrimental on the other end.”

Scott, endorsed by state Rep. MIke Keown during his introduction, closed his speech by asking the spectators for their vote and financial support.

“We’ve got to find a better way to do what we are doing,” he said. “We’ve squeezed this (taxpayer) turnip about as hard as we can squeeze it. One out of 11 in this state is in the criminal justice system and almost a million in this state are on food stamps. That’s about 25 percent of the population that is not contributing to the tax base.

“When you take the 18-year-olds and others out who aren’t working, you’ve got a very small percentage that is left taking care of the whole load. We’ve got to spread that load or we are going to suffocate those who are bearing the burden.”