Flagship Enterprise Center

| 2701 Enterprise Drive | Anderson, IN 46013 | 765.622.0100

Madison County business owners and leaders gathered Thursday afternoon to hear what U.S. Sen. Dan Coats had to say about the work and goals being pursued by the federal government.

The forum, held at The Flagship Enterprise Center, drew more than 50 people who wanted to know how decisions in Washington, D.C., could affect them locally.

Coats, a Republican, served in Congress from 1981 to 1999 and then returned to the U.S. Senate representing Indiana in January.

John Weymouth, president of Medisurg, a new and used medical equipment broker located at the Flagship, asked the first question.

“What is it that you are focusing on, what are the hot buttons, and how are you moving in the direction we need to move?” Weymouth asked Coats.

“I am trying to encourage colleagues to pass legislation that will put us on a path to a better fiscal future,” Coats said.

Coats said there are five problems that the federal government needs to solve.

First of all, he said, government spends too much money, has too much duplication and too much bureaucracy.

Additionally, Coats said, reforms are needed in entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare. The programs that people depend on need to be preserved, but with changes. “We will either have to tax younger generations at a rate that will have a negative effect, or we will have to severely cut these benefits,” he said. “We have to take the politics out of this.”

Third, Coats said, there needs to be a comprehensive tax reform so taxes don’t favor certain groups, have lower rates and are much simpler for citizens to understand.

His fourth idea is that regulations that don’t make sense in a poor economic climate need to be reformed.

To round it all out, he said that changes and reforms have to be enforced, and politicians need to commit to them.

Weymouth said after the forum that he has become more politically active because he has realized politicians do listen.

“If the senator wants to be a true leader, he should go to President Obama, take the politics out of it and talk about a solution,” he said. “It’s time for someone like Dan Coats, who is clean and shiny, to create a conversation. He is not beholding to anyone.”

Marcy DeShong asked Coats what he thought of the idea of pushing back the retirement age and its respective benefits.

Coats said he thought that a lot of the discussion on that topic was politically driven and a scare tactic used on elderly people. No one would vote for anyone who would say they would cut back on Medicare, he said. The issue is a sensitive one and needs to be treated through sensible steps to avoid a calamity, he said.

“Most people work longer than they used to,” DeShong, who owns Midwest Luxury baths, as well as a nursery and tanning salons in Madison County, said after the forum. “I don’t even want to retire. I think people think the age should be pushed back. It makes sense.”

One man asked what Coats thought of President Barack Obama’s student loan forgiveness plan, which would cut student loans and make paying them back cheaper.

“If you borrow money at very reasonable rates for school, you need programs to pay them back,” Coats said. “There would be some discretion, like if you don’t have a job. You have to pay them back, that’s the whole idea of loans. If not, you will put a lot of banks and lenders out of business.”

The forum was sponsored by the Flagship Enterprise Center, the Madison County Chamber of Commerce and the Corporation for Economic Development.

Flagship president Chuck Staley said the center tries to host politicians and candidates whenever possible so the business community can interact with them.

“We are wanting to know what can be done to improve commerce and the business climate,” Staley said. “We want to hear from local businesses, especially small businesses, about the problems they are facing.

“These events are not only for us to listen,” Staley said, “but for the senator to hear from local businesses.”

Contact Melanie Hayes: 648-4250, melanie.hayes@heraldbulletin.com