Yesterday, I held two more town halls in Southern Utah to hear from residents about the issues they are having in their communities.  The smaller event in Beaver turned into a great dialogue about a range of issues affecting Beaver County.

We started off discussing tax reform and why it seems like the system is stacked against middle- and working-class Americans.  The tax code is an abomination and any comprehensive plan to address our deficit and national debt must also include fixing our tax code to make it easier to comply and less burdensome on average Americans.  I support both a flat tax and a national sales tax.  While there are different ways of implementing either of these reforms, they would both be a step in the right direction for growing our economy.

Beaver County residents also discussed enforcing immigration laws, defunding ObamaCare, Social Security reform, as well as land issues like PILT and prairie dogs.  At one point the mayor of Beaver stood up and said that if towns like his were required to balance their budgets each year, so should the federal government.  I think that’s basic common sense.

From Beaver, I travelled to Cedar City for a town hall at Southern Utah University.  It was standing room only in the Church auditorium on campus and I took more than two dozen questions during the 90 minute event.  I was glad to see a range of attendees, From seniors concerned about spending to students afraid of our growing debt and veterans asking about our various entanglements overseas, it was a robust and rapid-fire session on broad topics concerning Utah and the country.

An SUU student asked an interesting question about bipartisanship in Washington and why there wasn’t more of it.  I said the best way to ensure we come to bipartisan solutions is to focus on doing what is right rather than what might be in the interest of one’s particular party affiliation.  Neither side has a monopoly on solutions, but there is a right and a wrong way to fix a problem.  Some times my party gets it dead wrong.  

In Washington, some can become fixated on compromising for the sake of compromise.  But I will not compromise on doing what is right to reduce our debt, end perpetual deficit spending, stabilize our economy, and reduce the burden of the federal government on the lives of Americans.  Standing on principle is not the same as obstruction, and it is an important distinction to make.

So far the town halls in Fairview, Beaver and Cedar City have been incredibly productive.  I have heard from directly from hundreds of Utahns about the issues they care about most and I plan to take that back to Washington and work on them.

I have a town hall in St. George tonight at the City Council Chambers (175 East 200 North). At 7:00 pm  I hope to see you there.