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Congressman Bill Johnson talks Fiscal Cliff during visit at Gallipolis Career College
Congressman Bill Johnson talks Fiscal Cliff during visit at Gallipolis Career College
By Michelle Miller
1/9/2013
Photo/ Michelle Miller
Gallipolis Career College President Robert Shirey has a sit down discussion with Congressman Bill Johnson during a tour on Tuesday.
GALLIPOLIS – On Tuesday, Congressman Bill Johnson took an hour to spend with the staff and students at Gallipolis Career College, where he discussed the importance of computer skills, his personal history with computers and discussed information left out in the media regarding the “Fiscal Cliff”.
Johnson started out his tour visiting with a Microsoft Word processing class. No stranger to computers, Johnson said he spent about 30 years of his professional career as an information technology (IT) “geek”. Starting out in 1977 while in the Air Force, Johnson told the class he didn’t know what a computer was when he was told he would be attending college for Computer Science. He continued to discuss with the class the history of computers and how computers are now a part of everyday life.
“There is nothing we do today that is not automated to some degree,” said Johnson. “Enjoy your studies, learn it well and dig in.”
Johnson went on to visit with another member of the staff who discussed the impact the career college has had on the life of its students.
It was following a sit down discussion with GCC President Robert Shirey that the conversation turned to the “Fiscal Cliff” and Johnson had strong words about information being left out by the media.
“I’m so disgusted; I’ve gotten to where I turn the news off. They tell you only the part that they want you to hear, so you will come back and watch their news segment the next hour,” Johnson said about media coverage.
Shirey called in the rest of the staff to listen to Johnson.
“What you’re hearing on television about the Fiscal Cliff is not the whole story. First of all, America doesn’t have problem because we are taxed too little. We have a problem because we spend too much. Our Federal Government has a spending addiction,” said Johnson.
Johnson went on to say President Barack Obama has controlled the four highest deficit years in the Nation’s history and has amassed more debt than virtually all the other Presidents combined. The information Johnson said is being left out of the media includes the fact that the U.S. House of Representatives had passed legislation in July that would have averted the fiscal cliff, would have made tax rates permanently low and would have avoided sequestration and offset sequestration with responsible spending cuts, as well as begin the process of reforming programs like Medicaid and Social Security.
Johnson said the U.S. Senate refused to talk about the legislation. While the legislation process is supposed to be all tax and funding laws beginning in the House, passage of a bill by the Senate, a conference process between the two chambers and then passage of a bill that is mutually agreed upon, Johnson said that process is not currently taking place in Washington.
“That’s not the way our process is working these days, because the Senate will not talk to us about anything,” said Johnson. “It’s going on four years now, since the Senate has passed a budget.”
When asked by Shirey how the Senate can get away with not passing a budget, Johnson said, “There is nothing that holds them personally accountable for not doing their job.”
Because of this, Johnson said he introduced legislation last year and plans to reintroduce the legislation this year that would require both chambers to pass a budget or not get paid.
“That’s a starting point. I don’t think we ought to pay representatives for not doing their job,” said Johnson.
Johnson said the truth is, the passing of bill was actually a decrease, not an increase in taxes. Had the budget not passed, Johnson said there was a looming 4.6 trillion dollar tax hike, plus massive cuts to both healthcare and to the defense structure through sequestration. He also discussed the “Dairy Cliff”, where the Farm Bill would have automatically reverted to 1940s legislation.
Johnson said he supported the bill, not because he liked everything about it, but because the legislation that was in it was helpful to his constituents.
“I supported it because of what was in it, rather than oppose it for what was not in it,” said Johnson. “I couldn’t change what was not in it. That’s the President and the Senate, that’s the consequences of the election.”
According to Johnson, some of that legislation included permanent low tax rates for 99 percent of the American people, a permanent Alternative Minimum Tax patch that was tied to inflation, permanent business capital investment tax credit, froze Congressional pay and made the permanent estate tax limit $5 million, which would have dropped to $1 million had the bill not passed.
“You think of the family farms and private family businesses that would have been impacted by that and the federal government would have basically taken what they had worked a lifetime for,” said Johnson.
Johnson said those are portions of the bill not being discussed in the media.
“The Congressional Budget Office and the American’s for Tax Reform, the big tax hawk, said it is not a tax increase, it is a tax decrease. Had we done nothing, we would have seen a 4.6 trillion dollar tax increase. As a result, we got a 3.7 trillion dollar tax decrease, overall,” said Johnson.
As far as an increase in spending, Johnson said to his knowledge, no new government programs were included in the bill and that any increase in spending is in the tax policies that were in effect on December 31, 2012 and were extended, like Earned Income Tax Credit and Childcare Tax Credit.
“Had we gone out there and tried to cherry pick which of those credits we were going to take out or leave in, again Washington picking winners and losers, without a look at overall tax reform, you would have hurt some groups and helped other groups, so the only logical way to do it, would be to keep tax policies that were in place,” said Johnson.
Overall, without the passage of the bill, Johnson said there would have been a 50 percent increase in the tax rate for the lowest tax bracket.
“The media is not going to tell you in a positive light what we averted, because the alternative would have been everybody in this country would have experienced, not only tens of dollars, but hundreds of dollars a month in increased taxes,” said Johnson.
Johnson said he visited Gallipolis Career College for two main reasons: they are his constituents and they are working hard to provide opportunities for the people of Gallia County.
“As they put it, it’s the kind of education where you can go out and get a job. They teach you a skill. A trade. That’s what a lot of people are looking for these days; ways that they can go out and get a job. That’s what it’s all about,” said Johnson.
Shirey also said the visit went well and gave them a chance to discuss what the college, that celebrated its 50th year last year, has done for the community.
According to Shirey, the college has around 300 students, within 20 miles of the school working.
“We do more here than just teach a skill set. We teach self-esteem, self-reliance and how to do jobs and be good at it,” said Shirey.
Admissions Director Bo Shirey said Johnson seemed to really care about what was going on at the school and really touched base with the students.
“His visit was contagious with the staff,” said Bo Shirey.
Having Johnson visit the school afforded them the opportunity to not only discuss the school, but to discuss how changes at the government level have affected them. One of those changes occurred when Ohio Governor Ted Strickland was in office; a change that required the career college to be approved by the Ohio Board of Regents before their students could be eligible for certain grants.
“We did it. We got approved by them, so that put us on a level playing field. We did it for our students, so they could qualify for that financial aid,” said Shirey.
Shirey said they are held to a stricter, higher standard than public schools, but in the end, Shirey said it also makes them work harder and makes a better product, which benefits the students.
When asked about any changes in Washington that could affect the Career College, Johnson said the one thing he wanted American people to know, especially in the Ohio 6th District, was that everything in Washington affects citizens’ daily lives and that citizens should work to hold Washington accountable for its actions.
By Michelle Miller
1/9/2013
Photo/ Michelle Miller
Gallipolis Career College President Robert Shirey has a sit down discussion with Congressman Bill Johnson during a tour on Tuesday.
GALLIPOLIS – On Tuesday, Congressman Bill Johnson took an hour to spend with the staff and students at Gallipolis Career College, where he discussed the importance of computer skills, his personal history with computers and discussed information left out in the media regarding the “Fiscal Cliff”.
Johnson started out his tour visiting with a Microsoft Word processing class. No stranger to computers, Johnson said he spent about 30 years of his professional career as an information technology (IT) “geek”. Starting out in 1977 while in the Air Force, Johnson told the class he didn’t know what a computer was when he was told he would be attending college for Computer Science. He continued to discuss with the class the history of computers and how computers are now a part of everyday life.
“There is nothing we do today that is not automated to some degree,” said Johnson. “Enjoy your studies, learn it well and dig in.”
Johnson went on to visit with another member of the staff who discussed the impact the career college has had on the life of its students.
It was following a sit down discussion with GCC President Robert Shirey that the conversation turned to the “Fiscal Cliff” and Johnson had strong words about information being left out by the media.
“I’m so disgusted; I’ve gotten to where I turn the news off. They tell you only the part that they want you to hear, so you will come back and watch their news segment the next hour,” Johnson said about media coverage.
Shirey called in the rest of the staff to listen to Johnson.
“What you’re hearing on television about the Fiscal Cliff is not the whole story. First of all, America doesn’t have problem because we are taxed too little. We have a problem because we spend too much. Our Federal Government has a spending addiction,” said Johnson.
Johnson went on to say President Barack Obama has controlled the four highest deficit years in the Nation’s history and has amassed more debt than virtually all the other Presidents combined. The information Johnson said is being left out of the media includes the fact that the U.S. House of Representatives had passed legislation in July that would have averted the fiscal cliff, would have made tax rates permanently low and would have avoided sequestration and offset sequestration with responsible spending cuts, as well as begin the process of reforming programs like Medicaid and Social Security.
Johnson said the U.S. Senate refused to talk about the legislation. While the legislation process is supposed to be all tax and funding laws beginning in the House, passage of a bill by the Senate, a conference process between the two chambers and then passage of a bill that is mutually agreed upon, Johnson said that process is not currently taking place in Washington.
“That’s not the way our process is working these days, because the Senate will not talk to us about anything,” said Johnson. “It’s going on four years now, since the Senate has passed a budget.”
When asked by Shirey how the Senate can get away with not passing a budget, Johnson said, “There is nothing that holds them personally accountable for not doing their job.”
Because of this, Johnson said he introduced legislation last year and plans to reintroduce the legislation this year that would require both chambers to pass a budget or not get paid.
“That’s a starting point. I don’t think we ought to pay representatives for not doing their job,” said Johnson.
Johnson said the truth is, the passing of bill was actually a decrease, not an increase in taxes. Had the budget not passed, Johnson said there was a looming 4.6 trillion dollar tax hike, plus massive cuts to both healthcare and to the defense structure through sequestration. He also discussed the “Dairy Cliff”, where the Farm Bill would have automatically reverted to 1940s legislation.
Johnson said he supported the bill, not because he liked everything about it, but because the legislation that was in it was helpful to his constituents.
“I supported it because of what was in it, rather than oppose it for what was not in it,” said Johnson. “I couldn’t change what was not in it. That’s the President and the Senate, that’s the consequences of the election.”
According to Johnson, some of that legislation included permanent low tax rates for 99 percent of the American people, a permanent Alternative Minimum Tax patch that was tied to inflation, permanent business capital investment tax credit, froze Congressional pay and made the permanent estate tax limit $5 million, which would have dropped to $1 million had the bill not passed.
“You think of the family farms and private family businesses that would have been impacted by that and the federal government would have basically taken what they had worked a lifetime for,” said Johnson.
Johnson said those are portions of the bill not being discussed in the media.
“The Congressional Budget Office and the American’s for Tax Reform, the big tax hawk, said it is not a tax increase, it is a tax decrease. Had we done nothing, we would have seen a 4.6 trillion dollar tax increase. As a result, we got a 3.7 trillion dollar tax decrease, overall,” said Johnson.
As far as an increase in spending, Johnson said to his knowledge, no new government programs were included in the bill and that any increase in spending is in the tax policies that were in effect on December 31, 2012 and were extended, like Earned Income Tax Credit and Childcare Tax Credit.
“Had we gone out there and tried to cherry pick which of those credits we were going to take out or leave in, again Washington picking winners and losers, without a look at overall tax reform, you would have hurt some groups and helped other groups, so the only logical way to do it, would be to keep tax policies that were in place,” said Johnson.
Overall, without the passage of the bill, Johnson said there would have been a 50 percent increase in the tax rate for the lowest tax bracket.
“The media is not going to tell you in a positive light what we averted, because the alternative would have been everybody in this country would have experienced, not only tens of dollars, but hundreds of dollars a month in increased taxes,” said Johnson.
Johnson said he visited Gallipolis Career College for two main reasons: they are his constituents and they are working hard to provide opportunities for the people of Gallia County.
“As they put it, it’s the kind of education where you can go out and get a job. They teach you a skill. A trade. That’s what a lot of people are looking for these days; ways that they can go out and get a job. That’s what it’s all about,” said Johnson.
Shirey also said the visit went well and gave them a chance to discuss what the college, that celebrated its 50th year last year, has done for the community.
According to Shirey, the college has around 300 students, within 20 miles of the school working.
“We do more here than just teach a skill set. We teach self-esteem, self-reliance and how to do jobs and be good at it,” said Shirey.
Admissions Director Bo Shirey said Johnson seemed to really care about what was going on at the school and really touched base with the students.
“His visit was contagious with the staff,” said Bo Shirey.
Having Johnson visit the school afforded them the opportunity to not only discuss the school, but to discuss how changes at the government level have affected them. One of those changes occurred when Ohio Governor Ted Strickland was in office; a change that required the career college to be approved by the Ohio Board of Regents before their students could be eligible for certain grants.
“We did it. We got approved by them, so that put us on a level playing field. We did it for our students, so they could qualify for that financial aid,” said Shirey.
Shirey said they are held to a stricter, higher standard than public schools, but in the end, Shirey said it also makes them work harder and makes a better product, which benefits the students.
When asked about any changes in Washington that could affect the Career College, Johnson said the one thing he wanted American people to know, especially in the Ohio 6th District, was that everything in Washington affects citizens’ daily lives and that citizens should work to hold Washington accountable for its actions.
Watch video coverage here.
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