Having served in the Nevada State Legislature for 16 years, three terms in the Assembly and three terms as a Senator, Barbara Cegavske is now campaigning to win a seat in the U.S. Congress as the Republican representative in the newly formed Congressional District 4.

She visited Mesquite last week and held a Meet and Greet with local citizens, providing information about her stance on issues and answering questions.

Saying she only had one Legislative Session left because of term limits, "when CD4 came about it was a great opportunity to leave and for our party to pick up one more Congressional seat so we would have three in the State of Nevada."

Describing her years as a state lawmaker, Cegavske said "one of the areas I'm truly thankful for is the rural areas because I've learned from living in Las Vegas that not everything is about Vegas."

"It's important when you're voting for people to make sure they are looking at the whole state and not just their area," she told the audience. "We are a very diverse state."

Outlining her campaign platform, she began with the idea of having balanced budgets, not just at the State level but also at the Federal level. "there isn't anything in D.C. that says you have to have a balanced budget. I would go and support absolutely a Constitutional amendment that says we have to have a balanced budget. This game-playing they're doing right now is wrong. We need to make that change. I would be there to do that."

"I also believe in less government," she continued. "I believe that the people can govern themselves the best. It's bad enough that you have state regulations and state laws that tell us how we're supposed to think and behave, but when you see the bureaucracy coming out of D.C. that's something we need to curtail. We need to say enough is enough. We know in our areas and our communities, what's best for us."

"Don't dictate or tell us what we should believe," she added.

"I have also been very concerned over the economy and the loss of jobs," Cegavske said as she further laid out her governing philosophy. "That to me is one of the high priorities of what we need to be doing, not only state-wide, but also nationally."

To highlight her point, she described a constituent one of her campaign volunteers had met whose husband had "taken his life." The man had lost his construction job three years ago. "I had to go to her house and talk to her," Cegavske said. "It really hit me because I have a family member who's been out of work. She was grateful we were there. That's what happens when you're out there and actually seeing what's happening to the people. It's

not what you think should be done. It's not what you and the other elected officials are saying needs to be done. It's what the people want and need and what's going on."

"The economy and jobs are extremely important. We've got to turn this around. It comes to the BLM land. We need to make sure we get our land. We have some great opportunities in Vegas to bring some businesses in. Why won't some of the businesses come," she asked rhetorically. "Because we have an unstable tax system right now. The taxes fluctuate and they [businesses] aren't sure what's going to happen."

She described the multitude of taxation initiatives being placed on voting ballots in Nevada. "Businesses don't want to come here if they don't know what's going to happen and what the tax future is going to hold for them."

Describing Nevada as "unique," Cegavske remarked that "we're not like anyone else. When they keep comparing us to everybody else, I'm always kind of bewildered by that. We have a lot of things going for us. Right now the worse thing we have going for us is the mortgage [situation]. I concerned about the banks and what's not happening and that's communication."

"I think that's what has happened with people in their homes. They'll tell you they've talked to three or four people at a bank. Nobody knows who anybody is. Nobody knows where the paperwork is. Just in our own state and community, those are some things we can have some influence on," she remarked.

"Those are some things we can do together. That's why I'm excited about potentially having a Republican in CD4. There's going to be a lot of money in these races."

Outlining the last principle of her platform, Cegavske said, "I also want to make sure that our Social Security [program] is protected. I want to make sure that the people that have paid in get back out what has been paid in. Do we have to make some adjustments for the future," she asked. "Yes. Those are some of the things we need to look at. I want to make sure we're protecting the Social Security and the Medicare and that the benefits are provided to the people who have paid in to them."

"I can't even imagine how complex the Federal budget is," Cegavske quipped as she concluded her introduction. "It all comes down to balancing your budget. And I think that's very simple and not a complex way to go if you can do that. Right now, we have no balanced budget. They're just spending money. There's no cutoff. No one's saying, 'this is all the money that has come in. No more.' We don't get that," she concluded.

Tomorrow - Questions and answers by Cegavske.