AVON, Colorado — If you think things in Washington are really, really broken, Sen. Michael Bennet will tell you it's not that bad. It's worse.

Bennet, a Democrat, was appointed to replace former Sen. Ken Salazar when President Barack Obama named Salazar to a cabinet post in 2009. Bennet was elected to a full term last year. On Monday, Bennet hosted a full house in the Avon library's community room and had a chance to talk about what's right and wrong — but mostly wrong — in the capitol.

Before taking questions, Bennet talked for a few moments about life in Washington, saying that the current political tone is “trivial” compared with other issues.

“The challenges are enormous,” Bennet said, including “income inequality,” job growth and median family income in his list of problems facing the country.

“Even before the recession, we were facing the first decline in median family income ever,” he said.

Bennet also said the country's debt as a percentage of gross domestic product — the overall economy — is now higher than it's been in 30 years. Meanwhile, tax collections, as a percentage of the economy, are the lowest they've been in 30 years.

The answer, he said, is a combination of cuts to discretionary spending, more tax revenue and changes to the country's entitlement programs — Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

Entitlements now make up nearly two-thirds of all federal spending, Bennet said. And that can't continue.

In response to a question about how to reform Medicare, Bennet didn't offer any specifics but said changes need to be made.

“We need to protect the people receiving benefits now,” he said. “But I'm 46. ... I'm not going to get the same deal people do now.”

Responding to another question about government inefficiency, Bennet said he favors looking for ways to make government more cost effective. He said President Ronald Reagan brought in private-sector experts to look for efficiencies during his administration and said he'd like to see that done again.

The same goes for federal regulations. Bennet said he looked at city regulations when he was chief of staff for then-Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.

“We wanted to pare down the regulations but keep the ones that still made sense,” he said.

Bennet tried to take as many questions as possible, which made him late for another Monday meeting in Carbondale. And he praised the crowd for the largely civil tone of the meeting.

“If we had 100 Coloradans in a room we could solve these problems in a day,” he said.

Presley Ilieva took time off from work to come to the meeting, although she just listened to the questions and answers.

“I enjoyed it,” she said. “It was great to connect with someone who represents the state.”

Rod Bucker lives in Dallas and was vacationing in the valley but came to hear what Bennet had to say.

“The problems in Texas are the same as they are here,” Bucker said. “But it was a good, civil discourse. I appreciate the way he handled the people here.”

Former Eagle Valley Middle School Principal Jerry Santoro and his wife, Robin, came to the meeting, too.

“He seems like an open-minded individual,” Santoro said of Bennet. “I wish there were more of them looking for a middle ground.”

Business Editor Scott N. Miller can be reached at 970-748-2930 or smiller@vaildaily.com.