David Leavitt - running for U.S. House Rep. District 3

Last night I had the opportunity to go to a meeting to hear David Leavitt. He is running for U.S. House of Representatives. To be fair, I must mention that I arrived an hour late, but according to his campaign staff, they started late and I hadn't missed much of the Q&A. Since I missed the beginning I also stayed after to listen to individuals questions and David's responses.

Here are his literature facts:

• David is married to Chelom and they have 7 kids (currently live in Nephi).
• David was an elected county attorney for 8 years (Juab county).
• He practiced law in the private sector.
• Has international experience (American Bar Association asked David to spend a year in Kyiv, Ukraine assisting the Ukrainian government in converting its criminal justice system from a Soviet based system to one that more closely approximates the American criminal justice system).

Issues that were talked about:

• Government Budget
• Social Security
• Tax Reform
• Immigration
• Why running
• Iraq
• Vouchers
• Protecting Families
• Welfare
• Trade
• Committees he'd like to seek appointment

BUDGET: He feels that the government needs to be fiscally responsible. Entitlements are earmarks are only a small part of the problem. It's not the role of government to fix every persons problems.

SOCIAL SECURITY: He feels that those who are 50+ should have Social Security that is underwritten by the government. Those that are younger than 50 years old should have the option to have Social Security through private companies.

TAX REFORM: He likes the Fair Tax, but there is not much enforcement. The Flat Tax makes sense. It would be easy to collect.

IMMIGRATION: He feels that the current program is broken. He feels that the Rule of Law needs to be instated: If we don't have law we don't have order. He thinks that those who are here illegally should go to the border and then come back. He thinks that the Smartcards should be issued at the border, thus enforcing that they all go back to the border and centralizing where they will be issued. This would make it so our local offices won't be bogged down with issuing the Smartcards, which would likely be done at our post office. Says the Law of Mercy should also be used. Saying they can come back, and allowing those that haven't broken the law the same right to be here. He thinks that there shouldn't be a line, so that one wouldn't be punished by having to go to the back of the line. He also says that the building of the fence is a farce. He says that we should spend that money in enforcing the laws. We don't do any favors to those here illegally by not enforcing the laws. He also feels that if you are here illegally and you have a child here, than that child is now also here illegally. (Foreign Diplomats children, who are born in the United States are not citizens of the United States)

WHY RUNNING: He says that you should replace those with seniority on the downside of their cycle. He says that the benefit of Seniority is gone with Chris Cannon. He feels like there are two types of congressmen - ones who are voters and ones who are influencers. He thinks that Chris Cannon is a voter and we don't need voters. He says that we need influencers, those who have the ability to change the entire body. He thinks that you need to be able to persuade voters through logic and civility.

IRAQ: He thinks that regardless of how we got there we are there and we need support our troops. We need to stay until it's solidified or the Iraqi government asks us to leave.

VOUCHERS: He thinks that our public schools need to be able to compete at a better level. He thinks that perhaps the private sector would do it better than the government. However, he doesn't think that the government should just hand people a check to go to whatever school. He ultimately voted for vouchers, but as a way to voice that the government needs to look into it and do something.

PROTECTING FAMILIES: He thinks that the government has the responsibility in protecting families. They need someone with the courage to enforce the laws that protect us. All people want safely when they follow someone.

WELFARE: He thinks that the welfare system should be administered by the states. He feels that the states would manage the money better. He feels that people on welfare need to have accountability and understand that it is a two part system, that the government isn't going to continue to support you forever.

TRADE: He feels like we are in bondage. Half of our trade deficit is to China and feels like this is a serious threat to us.

COMMITTEES: He would like to seek appointment to any of the following committees - Constitution Revision Committee, Appropriation Committee, Rules Committee, Finance Committee.