The Hill News

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) plugged Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's (R) controversial budget-fix plan Thursday on Twitter.

Barbour, who formerly chaired the Republican Governors Association (RGA), tweeted: 

@GovWalker is showing the leadership it takes to turn our country around. He's standing with taxpayers & keeping his word.

Barbour, a potential 2012 Republican presidential candidate, is one of several to support Walker as union workers and their supporters have engaged in massive protests against the plan. 

The debate over the plan has consumed the state and captured national media attention as a proxy war over spending at the national level.

Under the proposal, public employees would be forced t! o pay for some of their pension and healthcare benefits and would be stripped of some of their collective bargaining rights.

Barbour previously announced his support for the RGA's "Stand with Scott" initiative. 

“Republican governors across the country are making tough decisions about state budgets, and I commend Governor Walker for dealing with government sector wages and benefits," he said in a statement Tuesday. "It’s good to know Governor Walker is watching out for the whole state, especially the people stuck with the bill: the taxpayers."