Newspaper Page Text
R,
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23,2013
Woodall talks fiscal
cliff, debt ceiling
Congressman addresses two GOP groups
By Alyssa Laßenzie
alarenzie@forsythnews.com
A majority of hands went up when
District 7 U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall
asked a breakfast gathering of
Republicans on Saturday how many of
them were willing to pay higher taxes
and go over the so-called fiscal cliff.
“Who'd have thought it'd be Forsyth
County Republicans that would raise
their hands to say, ‘Let’s have the
largest tax increase in history,’”
Woodall said.
“You're just dealing with the princi
ple. If your principle is just taxation,
you'd never end up with that. If your
principle is saving the land of oppor
tunity, maybe you do.”
Woodall, a Republican from
Lawrenceville whose district includes
the lower half of Forsyth, addressed a
joint meeting of the Forsyth County
Republican Party and Republican
Women of Forsyth County at a
Cumming restaurant.
GOP Chairman Ethan Underwood
said they invited him to speak primar
ily on the recent vote regarding the
fiscal cliff, as Woodall was the only
current local representative in the
House at the time of the Jan. 1 vote
on a deal to avert the automatic com
bination of tax increases and spend
ing cuts.
On the deal that passed, Woodall
cast a ‘no’ vote along with about two
thirds of House Republicans.
Though Republicans hold a majority
in the chamber by 17 representatives,
Woodall said enough GOP members
agreed with the fiscal cliff proposal to
end the battle.
“We knew there was a cave com
ing,” he said. “We cannot expect those
17 Republicans who have given up a
Republican majority to vote like we
would vote in the 7th District of
Georgia. They couldn’t get elected if
Lanier rises couple feet
following week of rain
Level up considerably since year began
considered to be in a
moderate drought.
“It’s a small chance [of
rain],” Lynn said.
In December, the lake
dropped to 1,056.3 feet,
the lowest it’s been since
Jan. 16, 2009.
The storm was a pro
longed event that sta
tioned itself over north
Georgia for several days,
Lynn said.
But though the recent
weather helped with
drought conditions in the
short term, water levels
remain down in the long
term, he said.
The state still has areas
of severe to exceptional
drought in the southern
and central regions,
according to the U.S.
Drought Monitor’s latest
report.
The: reports are
released Thursdays, but
they cut off collecting
By Sarah Mueller
FCN regional staff
Lake Lanier’s level has
shot up 2 feet since last
week’s rainy weather,
and it has actually been
on the rise since early
January.
The lake was at
1,061.95 feet above sea
level Tuesday, according
to the U.S. Geological
Survey. That’s still a lit
tle more than 8 feet
below the winter full
pool of 1,070.
The Forsyth County
area received more than
3 inches of rain last
week, said Brian Lynn, a
meteorologist with the
National Weather
Service in Peachtree
City.
However, he said the
region’s next chance at
rain won’t be for another
week and the area is still
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they voted like we vote
[in this district] ...
They don’t believe
what we believe.”
The lesson that came
from the fiscal cliff
debate, Woodall said,
is that House Speaker
John Boehner plans to
bring future issues to
f ’@* }
g
Woodall
the floor instead of going “toe to toe”
with the president.
The next big vote, he said, will be
on the issue of the debt ceiling, in
which he hopes Republicans will hold
the president to his promise of spend
ing cuts to accompany the tax increas
es.
Woodall said the strateflis to let
the U.S. Senate take the lead because
otherwise the body won’t move to a
vote.
He would support a two- or three
month extension to raise the debt ceil
ing, and then revisit the issue at bud
get time in April.
“If we fail to raise the debt ceiling
in the third week of February, we’re
going to lose those 17 Republicans,”
he said.
That extension likely will come
attached with an amendment that
Congress won’t get paid until it passes
a budget, said Woodall, eliciting
applause from the group.
The financial future of America is at
stake, and this is the time to take a
stand, according to Woodall.
“We don’t have many arrows in the
quiver, and this debt ceiling arrow is
the biggest one we have,” he said.
“There is a heartfelt feeling that the
end of America is upon us.
“If the true debt ceiling, which is
when our creditors will no longer lend
us money, is coming, if the inflation
ary death spiral is coming, it’s OK to
pull that catastrophic arrow out of the
quiver.”
the information on
Tuesdays, so it’s unclear
what the total effect of
the rain will be on the
drought conditions.
The U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers continues to
allow reduced releases of
650 cubic feet per second
from Buford Dam in
order to conserve as
much storage as possible
in Lanier.
That allows for a mini
mum of 650 cfs, but
more can be released
when needed to meet
downstream needs. The
average release rate so
far in January is 756.9
cfs.
The flow reductions
are likely to stay in place
until the end of April as
the Georgia Department
of Natural Resources
requested, corps spokes
man E. Patrick Robbins
said.
Season no factor in
stadium opposition
Lawmaker cites budget, lack of support
By Jennifer Sami
jsami@forsythnews.com
Mike Dudgeon’s stance on a new
football stadium in Atlanta would not
have changed had the Falcons won the
NFC Championship on Sunday.
“I don’t make a S3OO million deci
sion based on results of a game or
two,” said Dudgeon, a Republican
from south Forsyth who represents
District 25 in the state House of
Representatives.
“If the stadium is built, four years
from now who knows what the team is
like then? They can be 0-16 or 16-0.
You've got to make a better economic
decision than just one season.”
Dudgeon’s comments fojlowed his
visit Monday afternoon with the
Rotary Club of Johns Creek, during
which he talked about the Falcons’ sta
dium proposal, as well as other issues
likely to come up this legislative ses
sion.
With a portion of Dudgeon’s district
now in northern Fulton County,
including a chunk of Johns Creek,
Rotarian Marc Litt said it was nice to
hear from him.
“It was informational for all of us to
hear what’s going on,” Litt said. “It
gives us a better perspective for what’s
going on.” ¥
Dudgeon talked about how difficult
it will be to balance the state’s budget,
since there are “not a lot of easy things
to cut.”
He also touched on his support of
ethics reform and how plans to deepen
the port of Savannah could have a pos
itive impact on the state.
Dudgeon told the gathering that he
plans to introduce two measures that
would expand the availability of tech
nology in schools.
“Digital learning is taking off,” he
said. “Some of the best material avail
able to schools is online.”
According to Dudgeon, the lack of
access to technology in poor, rural
school districts is an economic devel
opment problem.
He also talked about the unlikeli
hood that a Milton County will be cre
ated.
“It may happen, but what’s more
likély going to happen is you're going
to see more reforms in Fulton County,”
he said. “Milton County is still a long
way away.”
Dudgeon cited trust as a reason why
voters rejected a July referendum on a
1-cent sales tax to fund regional trans
portation improvements in Fulton,
Forsyth and surrounding counties.
“I think it failed really badly
because of trust,” he said.
The issue of trust resurfaced when
the lawmaker addressed the proposed
new stadium for the Falcons.
“There’s not a lot of public support,”
Dudgeon said. “And it goes back again
to trust.”
The proposal would use S3OO mil
lion in hotel-motel taxes to help pay to
build a $1 billion retractable roof sta
dium.
m I CONSTRUCTION |
A JOINT YENTURE
REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS
“The Turner / Winter Joint Venture will accept Qualifications until 12:00 p.m., Friday,
January 25, 2013, for the following on the Forsyth County Courthouse and Detention
Center Project:
Design Assist Preconstruction Services for Mechanical and Plumbing
Design Assist Preconstruction Services for Electrical
Design Assist Preconstruction Services for Security Electronics |
Design Assist Preconstruction Services for Concrete Structure
Design Assist Preconstruction Services for Detention Equipment
Design Assist Preconstruction Services for Precast Parking Deck
|
D a Ract is bt licited at this &
The RFQ may be downloaded from the Forsyth County Procurement Department. Please
visit the website, www.forsythco.com, on the right hand side click on “Bids & Results™
and follow the directions provided. The RFQ may also be picked up Monday thru
Friday, between the hours of 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM at:
Turner / Winter Joint Venture
3560 Lenox Road, Suite 1100
Atlanta, GA 30326.
The envelopes containing responses to the RFQ must be sealed and delivered to Turner /
Winter at the address above by 12:00 p.m., Friday, January 25, 2013. E-mailed
submissions will not be accepted.
Qualifications received will become the property of Turner / Winter.
All questions are to be directed to Gary Chichester (gchichester@tcco.com; Fax 404-504-
3719). All questions are to be received not later than seven (7) days before the due date of
the Qualification.
Gary Chichester
Procurement Manager
Turner / Winter Joint Venture
forsythews.com | FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS
‘l've become
A
sort of the P
spokesman for il
the people "%
who aren't
comfortable with taxpayer
money for the Falcons’
stadium.”
Mike Dudgeon
District 25 state representative
The Georgia World Congress Center
Authority would own the facility, but
Dudgeon said it's unlikely there would
be a direct return on investment.
Supporters say the Falcons’ current
home, the Georgia Dome, and the
World Congress Center account for a
$22 billion economic impact.
Dudgeon said he sees little public
support for state involvement in a new
stadium project.
Given Georgia’s tight financial situa
tion, it would be difficult to explain to
taxpayers that budget cuts remain nec
essary, but then “with a straight face,
turn around and say, ‘Oh by the way,
we can build a new stadium to replace
a 20-year-old dome that’s already a
state-of-the-art facility that’s having no
problems.””
“It’s more complicated than that,
but I see it in those bigger picture
terms and that’s why I’m so passion
ate about it,” Dudgeon said. “I've
become sort of the spokesman for the
people who aren’t comfortable with
taxpayer money for the Falcons’ sta
dium.”
Though the hotel-motel tax is large
ly funded through tourism dollars,
Dudgeon said it’s still paid for “by
Americans and other states use that
hotel-motel tax to fund other things
that are more important.”
That said, Dudgeon said if the deal
were to go through, the hotel-motel tax
should be the funding source to limit
the burden on Georgia taxpayers.
There is fear that Falcons owner
Arthur Blank would pull the franchise
out of the state if he doesn’t get fund
ing.
“It’s happened around the country,”
Dudgeon noted. “Franchises can use
that threat to get really good deals out
of governments because they’re always
worried they’re going to leave. But |
just don’t want to play that hostage
game. And I will say that so far, Blank
and the Falcons have been good about
not threatening to leave.
“It’s just bad timing, it’s one of
those things where the public doesn’t
particularly want it ... and the Georgia
Dome is only 20 years old. It’s still in
great shape.”
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