Op-Eds and Blogs

<b>Originally printed in USA Today, January 25th, 2013 </b> During her Senate testimony, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that approximately 25 Americans who were on the ground or who witnessed the terrorist attack in Benghazi were immediately evacuated. Secretary Clinton also revealed that neither she, nor her senior people, debriefed or spoke with those people immediately after the attack, or for months afterward, to understand what happened. She stated that she didn't want to be later accused of playing politics.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson anticipates the approach to dealing with the nation’s financial problems will continue to be a series of small deals instead of a grand bargain. “I’d like to do it with a grand bargain, with a large deal that we actually solve the financial situation in this country. I don’t see the desire on the other side of the aisle there to actually do that,” the Oshkosh Republican said Friday after a presentation at a Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce board meeting. Johnson’s day included visits to a handful of Northeastern Wisconsin businesses, where he planned to talk more about the budget, deficits and legislative deadlines.

As the debate over raising the country’s debt ceiling starts to heat up, Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson is calling for new budget cuts in all federal agencies as a way to rein in spending. “I’m happy to start cutting agencies,” Johnson said in a phone interview with The Daily Caller last week. “I think pretty much across the board is how you do it,” the Republican lawmaker said. “I truly believe that any of these agencies could easily withstand a 10 or 20 percent across the board cut and still be able to perform their function.” Johnson said that “an awful lot of these” agencies “probably have a harmful effect on the economy anyways, so I don’t necessarily want to maintain their function.”

Washington, D.C. – Senators Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin (WI) today announced a friendly wager with Senators Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar (MN) on the outcome of this Saturday’s Packers-Vikings playoff game. “Wisconsin is known for its fine cheeses and other dairy products, but our state produces many great beers as well,” Johnson said. “Senator Baldwin and I are proud to offer a selection of microbrews and traditional labels against the best that Minnesota has to offer.” “This has been an exciting week,” Baldwin commented, ”but it’s only going to get better when the Packers beat the Vikings and put an end to this trash talking from my Minnesota colleagues.”