In The Spotlight Blog

In the News: Blog 03/26/2013
WFRV: Wisconsin Lawmakers Want To Settle Sequester
Victims of Government 03/26/2013
Victims of Government: The Case of Steve Lathrop
In the News: Blog 03/11/2013
The National Review: Ron Johnson: Obamacare ‘Will Lead to Rationing’ of Health Care
In the News: Blog 03/11/2013
Real Clear Politics: Sen. Ron Johnson: Obamacare "Will Lead To Rationing" Of Healthcare
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) appeared on Morning Joe on MSNBC Monday morning. JOHNSON: Well, it’s obviously the law of the land right now. Obviously, I’m concerned about it. I think that the cost estimate of Obamacare is grossly understated. I think far more Americans are going to lose their employer-sponsored health care, because there are incentives for employers who drop the coverage and make their employees eligible for the huge subsidies in the exchanges. I think it will explode our deficit. It’s going to lead to rationing. It will lead to rationing and lower-quality care. Here is the basic economic problem. BARNICLE: Why will it lead to rationing?
In the News: Blog 03/11/2013
The Hill: Sen. Johnson: Obama health law will ‘lead to rationing’
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) on Monday warned that President Obama’s healthcare law could lead to rationing of medical services. “I think the costs associated with ‘ObamaCare’ are grossly understated,” said Johnson in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “I think far more Americans are going to lose their employer sponsored care because there are incentives for employers to drop coverage and make their employees eligible for huge subsides in the exchanges. “I think this is going to explode our deficit, it’s going to lead to rationing. It’s going to lead to rationing and a lower quality of care,” he added.
In the News: Blog 03/11/2013
The Examiner: Obama: “The American people don’t understand” how Medicare works
The Washington Examiner‘s own Susan Ferrechio got an interesting take on the president’s thinking about entitlement reform from the one Republican senators that attended a a private meeting with President Obama at DC’s exclusive Jefferson Hotel: Medicare is the biggest driver of the nation’s debt, Obama told the group, and it’s costing far more than American workers are pumping into the system through paycheck deductions.
In the News: Blog 03/6/2013
CNN: Obama invites GOP senators to dinner
In the News: Blog 03/6/2013
New York Times: For Obama and Senate Republicans, an Opportunity to Dine and Deal
As President Obama ratchets up his outreach effort to Congressional Republicans on Wednesday with a dinner date at the Jefferson Hotel, his guests will include some of his fiercest critics in the Senate, some conciliators and some lawmakers who hardly have made a ripple in the public debate over how to tackle the federal debt. And for now, the senators on the guest list are taking the White House overture as sincere. “I’ve always said I’m willing to work with anybody who’s willing to acknowledge the problem to solve it. Maybe that got noticed,” said SenatorRon Johnson of Wisconsin, who swept to victory in the Tea Party-fueled wave of 2010 and will have at dinner what he said would be the first substantive conversation of his life with the president. “I’ll certainly give the president the benefit of the doubt.”
In the News: Blog 02/21/2013
The Washington Post: 15 GOP senators call for withdrawal of Hagel nomination
Five days before Chuck Hagel is expected to be confirmed as Secretary of Defense, 15 GOP senators have signed a letter asking President Obama to withdraw his nomination. "While we respect Sen. Hagel's honorable military service, in the interest of national security, we respectfully request that you withdraw his nomination," the senators wrote. "It would be unprecedented for a Secretary of Defense to take office without the broad base of bipartisan support and confidence needed to serve effectively in this critical position."
In the News: Blog 02/18/2013
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Lawmakers call for inquiry into ATF's flawed Milwaukee sting
Lawmakers on Friday asked the U.S. Department of Justice inspector general to launch an investigation into an undercover federal sting operation in Milwaukee that was marred by a series of missteps and failures. The letter was written by U.S. Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and asks the inspector general, an independent entity within the Justice Department, to do its own investigation. The letter comes a day after the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives failed to meet a deadline to respond to questions from an earlier letter from members of Congress to Acting Director Todd Jones. Members of both parties in Congress are demanding answers about what U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D- Wis.) has termed a "failed operation."