The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: In weekly GOP address, Sen. Ron Johnson says big government is at the root of the economy's problems
By Craig Gilbert
Delivering the national GOP's weekly radio address, freshman Senator Ron Johnson said that “big government is blocking job creation, not helping it,” and called on the President to offer a “serious” plan for spending cuts.
Speaking as a political newcomer to a national audience, Johnson introduced himself as a first-time candidate in 2010 who thought “it was time for citizen legislators to come to Washington” to do something about the “bankrupting of America.”
“As a manufacturer, I have learned to identify and attack the root cause of a problem, not spend my time addressing mere symptoms. Huge deficits, slow economic activity, high unemployment, and woefully inadequate job creation are severe symptoms of the problem. They are not the root cause. The ever expanding size, scope, and cost of government is. This is what we must address. This is what I hope the President has come to realize,” Johnson said.
Johnson complained of overregulation of business and an over-complicated tax code. He said when Congress is asked to raise the debt ceiling a few months from now, it “will be the moment of truth when talk and rhetoric must be turned into action and tangible results. Real reductions must be part of the solution.”