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Former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker III kicked off Sen. Orrin Hatch's annual "Conference for Seniors" by warning that the country's most important task is to cure its political dysfunction.

Baker believes the country's economy will be able to rebound by rekindling civil debate, bipartisanship and true compromise.

"This really is a critical point in the history of our country," Baker told the crowd of aging Utahns, who gathered Monday at Salt Lake City's Little America Hotel. "We've got some humongous problems."

However, the talk of America's decline is overblown, Baker added.

"We have a dysfunctional political system," which makes it increasingly difficult to govern, Baker said, noting that it's still "better than any other system in the world."

"Some consider compromise to be a dirty word," Baker said. "It isn't. It's the way you get things done. Bipartisanship facilitates the passage of politically difficult, if necessary, legislation."

In addition to bridging the gap between the right and the left, Baker said the country must also "restrain its appetite for more spending and more debt" and refrain from overextending its resources with wars of choice rather than wars of necessity.

Baker spoke fondly of his friendships and work under former Republican Presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.

After the divisive national election in November 2000, Baker led the legal team that oversaw then-candidate George W. Bush's fight to gain Florida's electoral votes and thereby win the presidency. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ended that battle in Bush's favor with its Bush v. Gore decision.

Before concluding his remarks Monday, Baker put in a plug for Hatch, calling the embattled six-term senator a "principled pragmatist."

Baker believes Republicans have a good chance of regaining control of the Senate in 2012, which he said makes re-electing Hatch of prime importance.

"The people of Utah need to send Hatch back in 2012" to take the reins as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Baker said.

Salt Lake City Democrats Rebecca Raybould and Michele Stuart attended the conference for the first time Monday.

"My husband is a former soldier," said Raybould, who came to learn more about veterans' benefits in one of the day's break-out sessions.

Stuart, who attended Monday's event to learn more about health care for the elderly, acknowledged being concerned for the country.

"What bothers me is that everyone's got their own camp and no one is willing to compromise," Stuart said. "[Baker] brought that out also ... for politics and reform to continue, they have to find common ground."

Hatch and his wife, Elaine, have hosted the conference for 24 years.

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James Baker III

Chief of staff, then treasury secretary under former President Ronald Reagan

Secretary of state under former President George H. W. Bush

Senior partner in the law firm of Baker Botts

Honorary chairman of James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University