Oshkosh, Wisconsin - Senator Ron Johnson (WI) made the following statement today upon learning that the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, the ‘supercommittee,’ failed to reached a deficit reduction agreement before the deadline:

“Last week, our nation's debt surpassed the $15 trillion mark, and it continues to grow by approximately $100 billion a month.  Add in the unfunded liabilities of Social Security, Medicare, and federal pensions, and our nation's total liabilities equal $99 trillion ($321,000 per person).  When you consider the fact that our $99 trillion liability exceeds the entire net asset base of the United States ($78 trillion), it is easy to see how bad things are.

“Unfortunately, Washington has failed to deal with this by resorting to another round of secret meetings and a ‘special committee.’  I was skeptical of the process from the start, but to encourage success, I submitted to the committee a list of savings totaling $1.4 trillion. Reducing the rate of growth in government spending should not be this hard.

“We need economic growth and real leadership - something that has been absent from Washington for far too long.  America is facing a financial emergency.  It is way past time for us to start acting like it.”

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