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July 09. 2012 9:47PM
In Milford Monday, Congressman Charlie Bass chats with Cirtronics employee Sue Winters and COO Dave Patterson. (Nancy Bean Foster Photo)
Bass visits electronics firm, shares frustrations over budget bill
In Milford Monday, Congressman Charlie Bass chats with Cirtronics employee Sue Winters and COO Dave Patterson. (Nancy Bean Foster Photo)
MILFORD — By inviting politicians like Congressman Charlie Bass to visit Cirtronics, Gerardine Ferlins hopes to foster a sense of civic responsibility in her employees who might otherwise not have a chance to be as involved in the process.
Bass visited Cirtronics, an electronics manufacturing company on Route 13 in Milford, on Monday morning and met with executives, toured the plant with COO Dave Patterson and spoke with around 70 employees in the company cafeteria.
Ferlins, the president of Cirtronics, stood back as Bass walked around the company and smiled as her employees greeted the congressman.
Bass is just the latest in a long list of candidates from both sides of the aisle to tour Cirtronics, Ferlins said, and it's her mission to let the workers have some time to get to know their current and potential leaders.
“I know our founding fathers wanted engagement in the process from the people,” said Ferlins. “But our employees work all day and don't get a chance to meet the candidates at other events, so we invite the candidates here.”
Throughout his visit, Bass shook hands with the workers and asked them about their roles, from printing circuit boards to soldering tiny bits of circuitry to answering calls from customers.
Bass told the employees that being in the company made him want to sit down at the table next to them and start making things like they were.
“When I was a little kid, I used to take everything apart and put it back together,” he said. From playing around with the appliances in the kitchen to messing with the family car, Bass said he got his hands on everything.
Bass, a Republican who represents New Hampshire's 2nd District, bemoaned the fate of the budget compromise he and seven other members of Congress developed but failed to win more than 38 votes in the house.
The failure of the bill will create serious problems for the American people if fixes aren't in place by January, said Bass. Those problems include the expiration of the temporary tax relief measures put in place for the middle class as well as a payroll tax cut, and a failure of Congress to vote on whether to increase the debt limit.
“Never in my political career have I seen a situation where more decisions need to be made in a short period of time that will have a direct impact on the people in this room,” Bass said. “We need to get together and solve these problems.”
Bass also said the new health care law, provisions of which were found Constitutional recently by the Supreme Court, needs to be repealed by Congress. Though he said he didn't feel the health care system was working properly before the law was enacted, Bass said the new law is going to be hurtful to businesses like Cirtronics.
“This new law puts a 2.3 percent tax on medical devices like the ones you make here,” said Bass. “What this amounts to is a sales tax on medical devices just because Congress needs money to pay for this new law.”
nfoster@newstote.com
Bass visited Cirtronics, an electronics manufacturing company on Route 13 in Milford, on Monday morning and met with executives, toured the plant with COO Dave Patterson and spoke with around 70 employees in the company cafeteria.
Ferlins, the president of Cirtronics, stood back as Bass walked around the company and smiled as her employees greeted the congressman.
Bass is just the latest in a long list of candidates from both sides of the aisle to tour Cirtronics, Ferlins said, and it's her mission to let the workers have some time to get to know their current and potential leaders.
“I know our founding fathers wanted engagement in the process from the people,” said Ferlins. “But our employees work all day and don't get a chance to meet the candidates at other events, so we invite the candidates here.”
Throughout his visit, Bass shook hands with the workers and asked them about their roles, from printing circuit boards to soldering tiny bits of circuitry to answering calls from customers.
Bass told the employees that being in the company made him want to sit down at the table next to them and start making things like they were.
“When I was a little kid, I used to take everything apart and put it back together,” he said. From playing around with the appliances in the kitchen to messing with the family car, Bass said he got his hands on everything.
Bass, a Republican who represents New Hampshire's 2nd District, bemoaned the fate of the budget compromise he and seven other members of Congress developed but failed to win more than 38 votes in the house.
The failure of the bill will create serious problems for the American people if fixes aren't in place by January, said Bass. Those problems include the expiration of the temporary tax relief measures put in place for the middle class as well as a payroll tax cut, and a failure of Congress to vote on whether to increase the debt limit.
“Never in my political career have I seen a situation where more decisions need to be made in a short period of time that will have a direct impact on the people in this room,” Bass said. “We need to get together and solve these problems.”
Bass also said the new health care law, provisions of which were found Constitutional recently by the Supreme Court, needs to be repealed by Congress. Though he said he didn't feel the health care system was working properly before the law was enacted, Bass said the new law is going to be hurtful to businesses like Cirtronics.
“This new law puts a 2.3 percent tax on medical devices like the ones you make here,” said Bass. “What this amounts to is a sales tax on medical devices just because Congress needs money to pay for this new law.”
nfoster@newstote.com