Congressman Johnson gives update on progress in Washington D.C.

United States Congressman Mike Johnson visited the Ville Platte Gazette office on Wednesday to give an update on things happening in Washington D.C.
Right off the bat, the congressman said, “Although the national media doesn’t like to report it, this has actually been a very productive congress.”
The discussion then centered around the hottest topics in D.C., which consist of health care, tax reform, border security, and transportation infrastructure.
When it comes to health care, Congressman Johnson shared, “At this point, I am optimistic that the senate will get the Cassidy bill passed. It will then be sent to us in congress, and we will probably try to amend it a little bit. If that happens then it will wind up in a conference committee where both houses iron out their differences and we can actually get some needed reform in the health care system.”
According to the freshman congressman, under Obamacare, “in Louisiananwe have had an over 123 percent increase in premiums.” He also said that “those numbers were as of May of this year,” and therefore “they have gone up now.”
Congressman Johnson explained, “That’s not a sustainable situation because deductibles are sky rocketing as well. While a lot of people have health insurance policy’s, they are not actually able to benefit from it because everything is coming right out of their own pocket. That doesn’t ultimately solve the problem. It makes it worst.”
Following health care, the congressman moved on to another popular discussion right now, which is roads and infrastructure.
The discussion was focused mostly on U.S. Highway 167.
Congressman Johnson said, “Hwy. 167 is so bad. When I went down there for a town hall meeting in Turkey Creek last year, I tore my car up just driving there. That road has to be in one of the worst conditions in the state.”
The congressman then explained that although he is not on the transportation committee, he sees this road as one that “needs to be priority.”
He also shared that a big infrastructure package will be coming forward, however only those on the committee know what will be in the bill.
The concern however, according to Congressman Johnson is, “how will we pay for it.”
The congressman then provided his personal thoughts on the topic.
Congressman Johnson said, “I believe if we reduce corporate income tax rates from 35 percent to 21 or 22 percent then the economy will take off. Right now we are at three percent economic growth rate for the quarter and if we bring the corporate tax rates down then we can get our economic growth rate to six percent or more.
“The last time we did substantive tax reform was 31 years ago in the 1980s under Ronald Reagan, and the immediate affect was this incredible economic growth. We had so much great prosperity in the 80s because of that. If we get to six percent economic growth, then we will have a lot more money to spend on things like roads and infrastructure.”
When it comes to border security, the congressman shared that $1.6 billion has already been given to build a wall along the border.
Congressman Johnson said, “There is a unanimous agreement that we have to enforce the immigration laws that we already have. I have talked to boarder security and other people working down there and they tell me, ‘I don’t know that we need a wall across the entire thing.’ They actually say that just having drones in some areas would work well.”
According to the congressman, just the idea of a wall being built has already made the percentage of crossings drop.
Congressman Johnson said, “Here is the good news about the wall, illegal border crossings over the border of Mexico are down over 60 percent since January and that’s before we even put a brick in the wall. It’s just the perception that the United States is serious about enforcing the law.”
All in all, Congressman Johnson remains positive about where things are heading for the United States under President Donald Trump.
Congressman Johnson said, “Our president has ideas and as those ideas are implemented things are getting better. We are doing all of the things that on the campaign trail we went around and told everybody that we were committed to do, and that is encouraging.”