By J.E. Espino

Five months into the job, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson continues to emphasize the theme of fiscal responsibility in the federal government.

In a meeting Wednesday with The Post-Crescent editorial board, Johnson answered questions about Rep. Paul Ryan's proposal to overhaul Medicare and the country's debt limit.

He was critical of President Obama's leadership in the debate over the national debt. And he reiterated some his 2010 campaign themes, railing against the federal health care reform law and maintaining that the federal government cannot spend its way to prosperity.

Here are excerpts from the interview:

How have things have gone so far — what have you learned and what has surprised you about being in the Senate?

I recognize how broken it's become, how polarized it's become and certainly nothing that I've seen in five months has changed my opinion. The process is pretty well broken.

I'm pretty disappointed by what I would consider a total lack of leadership on (the budget). The president, the Democrats, certainly the Senate spend (time) playing a political game of chicken. "Show us what you've got. Come on. Tell us how you're going to reform those entitlement programs so that we can destroy you politically."

Your contention is that the debt limit might not necessarily need to be raised but that the Obama administration, along with Congress, ought to be working on a contingency budget. Why do you think that's possible?

My point is that it doesn't have to be a crisis. If we don't increase the debt ceiling, what's the effect? We'll have to live within our means. We'll have to live within that $2.6 trillion.

What we should be doing is figuring out how we get by. How do we allocate what money we do have to essential services, to essential spending?

Are there any particular areas that you think are ripe for cuts within the federal budget? I know you said there's a game of chicken going on, but doesn't somebody have to go first?

What I argue for is, let's first do structural reforms, structural caps. … You need to first instill those disciplines.

We first have to cut 2012 to lower the threshold for long-term baseline budget. Every $100 billion you cut, you really save about $1 trillion plus because you have interest on that, in terms of a 10-year plan. That is step one.

I would like to see a constitutional amendment that caps federal government spending to 18.8 percent. That would be my solution. And you would also have a piece of legislation that would put us on the glide path until the constitutional amendment kicks in.

What are your priorities once the caps are established?

Why are, first of all, governments established? Go back in history. (It's the) defense of the community, defense of the nation. Defense is a pretty top priority. Now does that say it can't be touched? I am sure there is all kinds of inefficient, wasteful spending. You need to take a look at defense spending strategically.

We've made promises to seniors that I think we need to honor. Nobody that I know is proposing doing any reforms to any of the entitlement program that are currently retired or about to be retired.

(But) these programs can't continue to function the way they are. They will consume the entire federal budget within a few decades.

Did you vote in favor of U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan's Medicare plan or in favor of his push to start the conversation about what to do next?

Paul Ryan's plan will never be enacted, or it's not going to be enacted this year.

What Paul Ryan is doing is he's laying out ... here's a possible solution to Medicare. You may like it or you may disagree with it but we have to start the conversation. We have to start the debate.

In terms of the Ryan plan, what do you like and don't you like?

What I like about the Paul Ryan plan is it's trying bring a little bit of free- market principles back into Medicare.

If you need subsidized care, we'll give you vouchers. You figure out how you want to spend. You select what insurance carrier you want to use. It's a start.

Some of those free market principles are coming into play and we're seeing the results of those in studies showing that people who need care aren't seeking it because they can't afford it. So, in the long run, isn't that going to create higher costs down the line?

A pair of eyeglasses is one of the areas in health care that people generally don't have insurance for it. There's all kinds of businesses that have opened up, all kinds of storefronts, where you can walk in without an appointment. You can see an eye doctor. You can get eyeglasses in an hour. You can get two for the price of one. The cost of eye surgery, laser surgery, has come down in the last 10 years. That's a free market operating.