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Understanding the problem with the nation’s deficit and debt is the solution to fixing it, according to U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. And Johnson is making it his mission to help the American public understand the problem. Johnson stopped in Superior on Monday to share what he learned by looking at the numbers. “What I’ve been trying to do is I go around Wisconsin and a little bit around the country as well is just describe the problem,” Johnson said. “I’m obviously working in a United States senate that, unfortunately, is not accomplishing a whole lot. I think the thing to do between now, and hopefully when we have a real leader, is start addressing these issues and informing some of the people here in Wisconsin about what the problem is.”

The Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act set off a steady stream of local reaction Thursday with lawmakers calling for the bill’s repeal, health care providers scrambling to implement its provisions and residents expressing relief and doubt about the law’s sweeping health care reforms. U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., whose opposition to the bill inspired him to run for office in 2010, lamented the court’s decision, but said it will energize Republicans ahead of the November presidential and Congressional elections. "I guess from a practical standpoint of elections, our base is certainly going to be energized by the challenge facing us now that the Supreme Court didn’t invalidate the law," Johnson said during a teleconference with reporters Thursday. "So now we have to work on it in the political world, so I think it energizes our base. But again, I don’t say that with any joy. I wish the health care law would have been repealed or stricken down."

The shocked tea partiers who gathered outside the Supreme Court on Thursday to hear the court’s ruling on President Barack Obama’s health care reform law struck a defiant tone immediately after it was announced that that the law will be upheld. “A message to the IRS,” tea party leader Keli Carrender of Seattle screamed into a microphone. “We will not comply with this unconstitutional tax. So you might as well just come over and get me now. Because I ain’t paying it.” The crowd began to chant, “We will not comply, we will not comply.” Others told The Daily Caller that they were shocked that the justices upheld the individual health insurance mandate as a tax law. Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillip, carrying a ball in his hands, expressed disappointment.

Just one day after Wisconsin's Ron Johnson proposed a failed amendment to separate the Senate's version of the farm bill into two separate measures--one for agricultural related policies and the other for food stamps and social programs--the freshman lawmaker said he could not bring himself to vote for the entire package on Thursday. The Oshkosh Republican has been critical of how massive and broad the spending package has gotten to be in recent weeks, and says he has a problem with only 20-percent of the funds going toward things like crop insurance, commodities and conservation. "The farm bill is a great example of what's wrong in Washington," Johnson said. "Decades ago someone realized that combining food stamps and agriculture programs together in one bill is a great way to pass both with a minimum of debate and controversy. That's the only reason these unrelated provisions are linked today."