Lieutenant Governor Greg Bell has a close relationship with Emery and Carbon counties and was excited to come and speak at the Holiday Inn in Price on Tuesday.
Both he and Governor Herbert have remained in good standing with  Price Mayor, Joe Piccolo, who is a proud supporter of the pair. “Both of them are hard workers and mean every word they say,” said Piccolo as he introduced Lieutenant Governor Bell.
Bell was pleased to be in the area and expressed how impressed he was with transition from CEU to USU Eastern. Utah State outreaches across the state, with no enemies, and Carbon County will benefit from the merger, according to Bell. He still believes that applied technology certificates are just as important as getting any other degree and was very impressed with how Mayor Piccolo an Price City has endorsed both programs.
One of the biggest issues associated with the 2012 election is Obamacare and exactly where US citizens’ taxes are applied. Lieutenant Governor Bell has a strong belief that those who work hard and prosper should be rewarded. While he also believes that the disabled and elderly should be getting the help they need, he wants the federal government’s programs to be more selective in who may receive assistance.
“Our government has reached its maximum. It cannot be funded any longer” he stated, followed by a quote by Margaret Thatcher, who said “Socialism is great, until you run out of other people’s money.”
With Obamacare, Medicaid has gone from six to seven percent of the government’s budget to an escalating 20 to 25 percent. The current health care system is causing medical supplies to escalate, making it hard for some establishments to get the supplies they need to take care of issues. Not only are these issues in light, but insurance companies are predicting that premiums will be increasing significantly by 2014.
When Governor Herbert entered into office in 2009, the unemployment rate was at 8.3% in Utah. Since then, he has lowered it to 5.4% by creating jobs that will last.. At the time of announcing our 5.4% unemployment rate, 26 states were actually having increases in their percentages.
It is believed by Herbert and Bell that with the current system of borrowing money and handouts, citizens have become uninspired to look for jobs the way they had in the past. Through the views of Herbert and Bell, the work force will remain attainable and desirable in Utah.
Lieutenant Governor Bell also highlighted the importance of rural Utah. “We need to keep in the minds of legislatures the importance of rural Utah,” he stated. “We have never forgotten this place and we never will.”
Bell stressed the importance for small communities whose economies thrive from coal production to keep that fire alive. Herbert and Bell strongly support and advocate mining and clean coal initiatives.
Among these issues, the question of how the possibility of the Gooseberry Road dam would work and according to Bell; the likelihood of this dam happening is in a complicated state for the moment. The state does have a water right and Governor Herbert wants to use it, however it’s all a matter of designing it correctly so it doesn’t affect the citizens of Carbon County.
As far as the proposed nuclear energy plant in Green River, he wanted to let everyone know that the amount of accidents and spills from a nuclear plant are very low. The only time it is ever an issue is when there is a large explosion. Little accidents can happen without huge repercussions. Utah has large supplies of Uranium and Bell believes it is time that source is used.