Op-Eds and Blogs

In the News: Blog 11/19/2013
Congressional delegation supports rural telecom needs
Thank you to Sens. Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin, Reps. Paul Ryan, Mark Pocan, Ron Kind, Gwen Moore, Jim Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri, Sean Duffy and Reid Ribble for their bipartisan support of rural telecommunications providers. Too much news from Washington, DC is about gridlock and partisan disagreements. In stark contrast, the Wisconsin delegation recently united on issues important to rural telecommunications providers and the communities they serve. On October 24, 2013, our entire delegation signed a letter (tinyurl.com/Wis2013FCC) to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) encouraging changes to 2011 FCC reforms that are stifling rural broadband investment. The Wisconsin State Telecommunications Association conducted a survey in 2012 and found that half of Wisconsin’s rural providers are delaying or canceling broadband projects due to the regulatory uncertainty introduced with the 2011 FCC reforms.
In the News: Blog 11/6/2013
Bipartisan call for DHS Deputy IG Edwards to resign
Two senators have called for acting Homeland Security Inspector General Charles Edwards to resign amid allegations of misconduct and abuse of power by the official. Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who head the Senate subcommittee on financial and contracting oversight, said Wednesday they are planning a hearing to take place before the end of the year, and will find a replacement candidate to recommend to President Obama. "The position is too important to be left to partisan politics," Johnson said. The subcommittee is investigating nine claims against Edwards, including allegations of nepotism, withholding information about the Secret Service's Colombian prostitute scandal, using official resources for personal business, and requiring subordinates to do his homework for graduate school. The inspector general's office on Wednesday declined to comment on the matter.
In the News: Blog 10/31/2013
What They Are Saying: If you like it – you can keep it “President Obama promised”
Washington, D.C. – Senator Ron Johnson introduced the If You Like Your Health Care Plan, You Can Keep It Act Wednesday with 39 cosponsors. Senator Johnson intends to make sure President Obama keeps his promise to the American people. Click here to see Senator Johnson’s floor speech in which he introduced the new bill. National Review: Sen. Ron Johnson to Introduce the ‘If You Like Your Health Plan, You Can Keep it Act’ “Senator Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) announced today that next week he will file legislation that will allow Americans to keep their previous health-insurance plans, as President Obama promised. The proposed bill, entitled the ‘If You Like Your Health Plan, You Can Keep It Act,’ would, according to Johnson’s statement, amend the Affordable Care Act ‘to make Obamacare live up to the promises of the politicians who sold the plan to the American public.’ ” [more]
In the News: Blog 09/19/2013
Ron Johnson May Sue Over Obamacare Ruling for Congressional Staff
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said Thursday he is laying groundwork for a court challenge to an Office of Personnel Management decision that will permit congressional staffers to continue receiving employer contributions for their health care. The OPM’s August ruling was intended to remedy a drafting error in the 2010 health care law that would require all Congressional staffers to pay for the full cost of their insurance without employer contributions. Johnson, who last week filed a formal comment to OPM urging the agency reconsider its rule, said he and his staff did so in order to create a legal case against the administration.
In the News: Blog 09/19/2013
GOP: Unite against Obamacare
What can be done about Obamacare? For the majority of Americans opposed to Obamacare, it is a sad fact that as long as President Barack Obama is in the White House and Majority Leader Harry Reid's Democrats control the Senate, repealing or defunding this monstrosity is next to impossible. Elections have consequences. The 2008 election gave ideologically extreme Democrats the White House, a House majority and a filibuster-proof Senate, which allowed Reid to jam through Obamacare the morning of Christmas Eve 2009. In 2012, Obama won another term and Reid maintained an iron grip on the Senate. That is a reality that cannot be ignored as strategies are developed to prevent Obamacare from taking firm or permanent root.
In the News: Blog 08/13/2013
Watertown Daily Times
Senator speaks to business roundtable By: David Brazy U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson says he is a man on a mission. That mission brought him to the Watertown Municipal Airport Monday afternoon to spread his message about what he has learned about the federal budget and convey that information to voters. The Republican senator from Wisconsin said a major component of the nation's economic and budgetary problems is not enough people understand the depth and cause of the problem. "From my standpoint, the root cause of our cultural and economic problems, by the way I think our cultural problems are driving our economic problems, is truthfully the size, scope, all the rules, all the regulations and all of the government's intrusions into our lives and the resulting cost and debt," Johnson said.
In the News: Blog 08/12/2013
The Wall Street Journal
With traditional avenues for negotiating budget deals collapsing on Capitol Hill, the White House is reaching out to a band of Senate Republicans who are mostly newcomers to the worn trenches of fiscal warfare. The group of eight Republicans has been meeting regularly with senior White House officials to hash over major fiscal issues as fall deadlines rapidly approach, including four times in the two weeks before Congress began its August recess. The group runs the gamut from former presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) to a freshman tea-party ally, Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.), but is notably lacking in top-ranking party officials and budget experts who have been regular fixtures of past fiscal confrontations.
In the News: Blog 08/5/2013
New CRS Memo Shows HHS Secretary is the IPAB-of-One
Op-eds 07/24/2013
USA Today: Say no to Detroit bailouts
<b> Originally published in USA Today, July 14th, 2013 </b> The dominoes have been falling for years: 36 municipalities have gone bankrupt since 2010. Last Thursday, the biggest domino yet fell. The City of Detroit – with debt of $18 billion-- filed for protection to reorganize under Chapter 9 of the federal bankruptcy code. American taxpayers need to watch their wallets. Next will come a call for a federal bailout to alleviate Detroit's pain. Congress should act now to ensure taxpayers aren't forced to pay for decades of mismanagement by liberal politicians and public sector unions.
Op-eds 05/15/2013
Wall Street Journal: How to Prevent Another Benghazi
<b> Originally printed in The Wall Street Journal, May 15th, 2013 </b> In January, for the first time since the Benghazi terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2012, Hillary Clinton faced the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to testify about the attack. In response to my persistent questioning about what the State Department knew about the nature of the attack, the former secretary of state famously exclaimed: "What difference, at this point, does it make?" New testimony by State Department whistleblowers and an Interim Progress Report prepared by five House Committees show what a huge difference it makes when members of the administration ignore repeated warnings of growing danger, deny requests for additional security and then attempt to cover up their negligence. That dereliction of duty ultimately resulted in the death of four Americans.