By Craig Gilbert

Freshman Republican Ron Johnson said Wednesday he will be voting against the budget deal that was  struck last week between the White House and congressional Republicans to avoid a government shutdown.

Johnson said the agreement doesn’t go far enough in cutting spending.

“We can do better; we must do better,” said the Senator in a statement.

The 2011 spending measure is designed to cut current year appropriations by just under $40 billion. It was agreed to by GOP congressional leaders in a compromise deal with President Obama, but some conservative lawmakers weren’t happy with that number and the GOP is expecting defections on the measure. Critics have also questioned the use of creative accounting to achieve that level of cuts.

“Are these things real cuts?” Johnson asked Tuesday in an interview.

In his statement he said:

“In order to get the economy growing again we must limit the size, scope, and cost of the federal government. The first step is to establish very hard spending caps. My preference is a constitutional limit on spending married with an identical legislative spending limitation.  Once the spending caps are established, then the hard work of prioritizing spending under those caps must begin.”

View Original Article