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In the News: Blog 09/27/2012
CNBC: What Did White House Know and When?
According to GOP leaders, the White House knew the Libya attack was an act of terrorism 24 hours after it happened, and chose to deliberately mislead the American people for weeks. So says, Sen. Ron Johnson, (R) Wisconsin, one of eight Republicans who fired off a letter to President Obama saying they were disturbed by statements from administration officials suggesting that the attack was a protest gone wrong rather than a terrorist attack. “Attacking our consulate – if that’s not hostility toward America I don’t know what is. I think it’s pretty apparent the administration must have known,” said Johnson on The Kudlow Report.
In the News: Blog 09/27/2012
CBS News: Republicans demand answers amid ongoing confusion surrounding Libya attacks
(CBS News) Amid conflicting reports over how and when the Obama administration determined that the recent attacks in Libya may have been acts of terrorism, and allegations that the White House may have knowingly mischaracterized the events in their aftermath, a handful of Republican lawmakers are blasting the administration's response and demanding additional information about how the attacks unfolded. The Washington Post on Thursday published a timeline of the White House responses over the last two weeks, from the initial claims that the attacks were the result of protests over the anti-Muslim video, to the Tuesday admission that the four Americans killed in the violence were victims of a "terrorist attack on our embassy," to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's suggestion on Wednesday that al Qaeda or other similar terrorist groups may have somehow figured into the attacks.
In the News: Blog 09/26/2012
Roll Call: Republican Lawmakers Ask for More Details on Libya Attacks
House and Senate Republicans are making a renewed effort to press the Obama administration about the timeline of events leading to the death of four Americans at a U.S. consulate in Libya two weeks ago. The Republican chairmen of the House authorizing and appropriating committees wrote to President Barack Obama this morning, saying they would return from the campaign trail for more detailed classified briefings about the security situation at the American facility in Benghazi, Libya. "While we appreciate your willingness to provide the House of Representatives with an interagency briefing last week, many of the members' questions were left unanswered," the Members wrote. "To that end, we are seeking additional information regarding the intelligence leading up to the attack, the security posture of our embassy, the role former Guantanamo Bay detainees may have played, as well as the way forward in Libya and, indeed, the region."
In the News: Blog 09/26/2012
Politico: Republicans demand answers from White House on Libya attack
Congressional Republicans are cranking up pressure on the Obama administration to release more information about the attack in Benghazi that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three diplomatic aides. Eight Republican chairmen of key House panels sent a letter to President Barack Obama, demanding a briefing in Washington on the attacks as soon as possible. They said the administration has not yet answered all of their questions surrounding the Benghazi assault.
In the News: Blog 09/20/2012
Roll Call: Daniel Akaka Gets Lei From Ron Johnson
In the News: Blog 09/17/2012
Appleton Post Crescent: Food stamp flap at center of farm bill impasse
WASHINGTON -- At the height of the U.S. Senate debate on a new farm bill, Sen. Ron Johnson offered a motion to sever the food stamps section from the rest of the bill and have a separate vote on each piece. “This isn’t a farm bill. This is a welfare bill,” Johnson, R-Oshkosh, decried in explaining the motive behind his motion. “This bill is a great example of what’s wrong in Washington,” the freshman senator continued. “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.”
In the News: Blog 09/7/2012
Fond du lac Reporter: Academy Day set for Sept. 15
U.S. Service Academy Day will be held on Saturday, Sept. 15, at the Experimental Aircraft Association Center in Oshkosh. The event will run 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The seminar is for all high school students in Wisconsin interested in discussing the requirements and procedures for seeking a nomination to the U.S. Service Academies. All necessary qualifications and the procedures for applying to the academies will be explained.
In the News: Blog 08/20/2012
Wausau Daily Herald: Sen. Ron Johnson to speak in Rothschild
In the News: Blog 08/20/2012
The Washington Examiner: Why we must audit the Pentagon
When the typical American family or business faces tough economic times, they tend to do two things. First, they take a close look at their spending. Second, they make hard decisions and set priorities. The American people have such a low opinion of Congress because we often refuse to go through these steps. Instead of making hard decisions, we simply borrow more money and force the next generation to pay the bill. Nowhere is this bad habit more obvious than with Congress' oversight of defense spending. Congress passed a law 22 years ago -- the Chief Financial Officer Act of 1990 -- requiring the Department of Defense to pass an audit. In the 22 years since, Congress has never bothered to force DoD to comply with this law.
In the News: Blog 08/20/2012
National Review Online: Opting Out of Hidden Taxes
In an affront to openness and representative government, the IRS is attempting to rewrite the president’s health-care law to overrule states that lawfully opted out of vast new taxpayer-funded subsidies to insurance companies. Fortunately, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has stepped forward with a resolution, S.J. Res. 48, that would overturn the IRS power grab. If enough of his Senate colleagues sign on, he can force a Senate floor vote, giving the American people an opportunity to see where every senator stands. It might be the only health-care vote in the Senate before the November elections. Insurance exchanges are a central feature of the president’s health-care law. These exchanges are tightly regulated bureaucracies through which the law’s new subsidies and employer tax penalties flow. Throughout the entire tumultuous debate — both before and since the bill was enacted — proponents have responded to charges that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) represents a federal takeover of health care by stressing that its exchanges are state-based.