Op-Eds and Blogs

In the News: Blog 03/27/2013
WHBL: Sens. Johnson, Baldwin vote along party lines for Hagel nomination
WASHINGTON D.C. (WTAQ) - Wisconsin’s U.S. senators voted opposite ways, when Chuck Hagel was confirmed Tuesday as the nation’s new defense secretary. A seven-week battle over his nomination ended Tuesday, when a divided Senate voted 58-41 to confirm the president’s appointment. Democrat Tammy Baldwin voted yes. Ron Johnson voted no – and only four of his fellow Republicans joined Democrats in supporting Hagel, who was wounded twice in Vietnam and later served two terms in the Senate. Johnson questioned Hagel’s qualifications, leaving doubts on whether he has enough experience in foreign affairs and fulfilling military missions. Johnson said that when it comes to national defense, the bar must be, “necessarily high.”
In the News: Blog 03/26/2013
WFRV: Wisconsin Lawmakers Want To Settle Sequester
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
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 03/11/2013
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 03/6/2013
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.”
Op-eds 03/1/2013
Investor's Business Daily: Burning Questions About Benghazi Still Abound
<b> Originally printed in Investor's Business Daily, March 1st, 2013 </b> Over five months ago, terrorists in Libya successfully assaulted the American diplomatic post in Benghazi. Four brave Americans died: Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods. On Jan. 23, I asked then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a simple question: Why didn't she just pick up the phone and call the survivors to determine what actually happened in Benghazi? Instead of providing a simple answer, she displayed exasperation, launched into an indignant reply, and ultimately dismissed my question with one of her own: "What difference, at this point, does it make?"
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."