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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The baffling B.S. of U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson
Sen. Ron Johnson at the Newsroom Pub on Wednesday, May 28, 2025 | Photo by Ruth Conniff/Wisconsin Examiner You have to hand it to Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson. As Republicans across the country run in fear from their constituents, refusing to hold town halls lest they be asked to answer for brutal federal budget cuts and threats to health care, nutrition assistance and Social Security, Johnson showed up at a Milwaukee Press Club event Wednesday and appeared cheerfully unperturbed as he took questions from journalists and a skeptical crowd. Not that his answers made sense. People sitting in front of the podium at the Newsroom Pub luncheon crossed their arms and furrowed their brows as Johnson explained his alternative views on everything from global warming to COVID-19 to the benefits of bringing the federal budget more in line with the spending levels of 1930 — i.e. the beginning of the Great Depression, before FDR instituted New Deal programs Johnson described as 'outside [the president's] constitutionally enumerated powers.' A handful of protesters chanted in the rain outside the Newsroom Pub, but overall, the event was cordial and reactions muted. In part, this was attributable to Johnson's Teflon cockiness and the barrage of misinformation he happily unleashed, which had a numbing effect on his audience. Johnson fancies himself a 'numbers guy.' In that way he's a little like former House Speaker Paul Ryan, his fellow Wisconsin Republican who was once considered the boy genius of the GOP. Ryan made it safe to talk about privatizing Medicare by touring the country with a PowerPoint presentation full of charts and graphs, selling optimistic projections of the benefits of trickle-down economics, corporate tax cuts and the magic of the private market. But Ryan couldn't stomach Trump and he's been exiled from the party. Johnson is the MAGA version. While he doesn't dazzle anyone with his brilliance, he does a good job of baffling his opponents with a barrage of B.S. that leaves even seasoned journalists scrambling to figure out what question to ask. Where do you begin? Back in 2021, YouTube removed a video of Johnson's Milwaukee Press Club appearance because he violated the platform's community standards by spreading dangerous lies about COVID, the alleged harm caused by vaccines and the supposed benefits of dubious remedies. But this week he was back, proudly endorsing DHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.'s decision to eliminate federal COVID vaccine recommendations for pregnant women and healthy children. While he hopes Kennedy goes further in rolling back vaccinations, he said, 'at least we're not going to subject our children to them anymore.' A woman in the audience who identified herself as a local business owner seeking 'common ground' thanked Johnson for saying 'we don't want to mortgage our children's future,' but expressed her concern that besides the deficit spending Johnson rails against, there's also the risk that we're mortgaging the future by destroying the planet. Johnson heartily agreed that everyone wants a 'pristine environment.' 'I mean, I love the outdoors,' he declared. But then he added, 'We shouldn't spend a dime on climate change. We'll adapt. We're very adaptable.' He claimed that 'something like 1,800 different scientists and business leaders' have signed a statement saying there is no climate crisis. (The overwhelming consensus among scientists is that climate change is real and caused by people and the statement he referred to has been debunked.) 'So if it's climate change you're talking about, we're just at cross-purposes,' he added. 'I completely disagree.' Most of Johnson's talk consisted of a fusillade of hard-to-follow budget numbers and nostrums like 'the more the government spends the less free we are.' Charles Benson of TMJ4 News tried to get the senator to focus on what it would take to get him to go along with Trump's 'big, beautiful' budget bill. 'So, a lot of numbers out there,' Benson said. 'Can you give me a bottom line? Do you want 2 trillion? 3 trillion?' 'Your reaction is the exact same reaction I get from the White House and from my colleagues,' Johnson chided, 'too many numbers. It's a budget process. We're talking about numbers. We're talking about mortgaging our kids' future.' Like his alternative beliefs about vaccination and climate science, Johnson's budget math is extremely fuzzy. He asserted, repeatedly, that Medicaid is rife with 'waste, fraud and abuse.' But the Georgetown University School of Public Policy has published a policy analysis dismantling claims that there is rampant waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid that concluded, 'This premise is false, and the thinking is dangerously wrong.' More broadly, Johnson claims that balancing the budget and reducing the federal deficit is his No. 1 concern. But he's committed to maintaining historic tax cuts for the super rich. The only way to reduce deficits, in his view, is to enact even deeper cuts than House Republicans passed, increasing hunger, undermining education and rolling back health care — because he's totally unwilling to increase revenue with even modest tax increases on corporations and the very wealthy. Those cuts, not a deficit that could be resolved by making the rich pay their share of taxes, are the real threat to our children's future. 'I'm just a guy from Oshkosh who's trying to save America,' Johnson said at the Press Club event. He recapped, in heroic terms, his lone stand against the 2017 tax cut for America's top earners, which he blocked until he was able to work in a special loophole that benefitted him personally. He told the panel of Wisconsin journalists he will also block Trump's 'big, beautiful' budget bill unless he sees deeper cuts, which he insisted would be easy to make. The 40 states that have taken the federal Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (which Johnson still calls 'Obamacare') are 'stealing money from federal taxpayers,' he declared. Slashing Medicaid will be easy, he suggested, since 'nobody would be harmed other than the grifters who are sucking down the waste, fraud and abuse.' Grifters? Wisconsin has 1.3 million Medicaid recipients. One in three children are on BadgerCare, as Medicaid is called here, along with 45% of adults with disabilities and 55% of seniors living in nursing homes. Our state program faces a $16.8 billion cut over 10 years under the House plan. During the Q&A session, I asked Johnson about this — not just the numbers, but the human cost. I brought up Shaniya Cooper, a college student from Milwaukee and a BadgerCare recipient living with lupus, who spoke at a press conference in the Capitol this week about how scary it was to realize she could lose her Medicaid coverage under congressional Republicans' budget plan. 'To me, this is life or death,' she said. She simply cannot afford to pay for her medicine out of pocket. When she first learned about proposed Medicaid cuts, 'I cried,' she said. 'I felt fear and dread.' What does Johnson have to say to Cooper and other BadgerCare recipients who are terrified of losing their coverage? 'I'll go back to my basic point,' Johnson replied. He quoted Elon Musk, whom he said he greatly admires for his DOGE work slashing federal agencies. 'If we don't fix this, we won't have money for any of this [government in general],' he said Musk told him. 'Nobody wants the truly vulnerable to lose those benefits of Medicaid,' Johnson added. 'But again, Obamacare expanded the waste, fraud and abuse of Medicaid, you know, expanding the people on it when, you know, when a lot of these people ought to be really getting a job.' Some of Johnson's Republican colleagues are worried about withdrawing health care coverage from millions of their constituents. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri called it immoral and 'political suicide.' He said he won't vote for the Medicaid cuts that passed the House because they will put rural hospitals out of business, and because too many hard-working, low-income people rely on the program for health coverage and simply cannot afford to buy insurance on the private market. But Johnson remains untroubled. He's pushing for bigger and more damaging cuts. And when asked what he can tell his constituents who are afraid they're about to lose life-saving health care, his answer is simple and unapologetic: Get a job. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Sen Ron Johnson suggests he may not run for re-election in 2028
GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin indicated that he does not want to run for a fourth Senate term, but he isn't ruling it out. Johnson, who is serving his third six-year Senate term, said during remarks at a Wednesday event hosted by the Milwaukee Press Club and that he learned from his run for a second term that "you can't say … never." In a 2022 Wall Street Journal piece, Johnson explained his about-face on seeking another term. Us Officials Delayed Warning Public About Heart Inflammation Risk From Covid Shot: Report "During the 2016 campaign, I said it would be my last campaign and final term. That was my strong preference and my wife's. We both looked forward to a normal private life," he said. "I believe America is in peril. Much as I'd like to ease into a quiet retirement, I don't feel I should." The senator, who has been vocal in objecting to the Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act that most in the House GOP voted to pass last week, said during his remarks on Wednesday that he would like to place America on a "sustainable course" and return home. Read On The Fox News App Elon Musk Criticism Of Trump Tax Bill Frustrates Some Republicans: 'No Place In Congress' "I don't covet the position," he said. But while he's not slamming the door on the possibility of running for Senate again, he flatly ruled out the prospect of a presidential bid. Succeeding Trump: 6 Republican Potential Presidential Hopefuls To Keep Your Eyes On In 2028 "No, God, what an awful job," he said when asked whether he'd ever run for the presidency. He said he wouldn't want to make the decisions that a commander in chief must article source: Sen Ron Johnson suggests he may not run for re-election in 2028
Fox News
4 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Sen Ron Johnson suggests he may not run for re-election in 2028
GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin indicated that he does not want to run for a fourth Senate term, but he isn't ruling it out. Johnson, who is serving his third six-year Senate term, said during remarks at a Wednesday event hosted by the Milwaukee Press Club and that he learned from his run for a second term that "you can't say … never." In a 2022 Wall Street Journal piece, Johnson explained his about-face on seeking another term. "During the 2016 campaign, I said it would be my last campaign and final term. That was my strong preference and my wife's. We both looked forward to a normal private life," he said. "I believe America is in peril. Much as I'd like to ease into a quiet retirement, I don't feel I should." The senator, who has been vocal in objecting to the Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act that most in the House GOP voted to pass last week, said during his remarks on Wednesday that he would like to place America on a "sustainable course" and return home. "I don't covet the position," he said. But while he's not slamming the door on the possibility of running for Senate again, he flatly ruled out the prospect of a presidential bid. "No, God, what an awful job," he said when asked whether he'd ever run for the presidency. He said he wouldn't want to make the decisions that a commander in chief must make.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Ron Johnson suggests he might not run for reelection
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) on Wednesday suggested that he might not run for reelection in 2028, possibly resulting in a race for an open Senate seat in a notable battleground state in a few years. 'I learned in my second run, when I absolutely meant 'second and final,' you can't say never, never, okay?' Johnson said during a Milwaukee Press Club event on Wednesday when asked about a 2028 run. 'I don't want to,' he added. 'Yeah, I'd like to dig my heels in now, set this nation on a sustainable course and then go home.' In the 2022 midterms, Johnson narrowly won over his Democratic opponent Mandela Barnes. Johnson's race had been seen as a chance for Democrats to take down a sitting Senate Republican in a state that former President Biden had narrowly clinched two years prior. Johnson first became a senator in the wake of a 2010 election in which he made his way to victory on a Tea Party-fueled wave that assisted in Republicans securing the House that year. Discussion about both major parties' strategies for the 2026 and 2028 elections began swiftly after the 2024 elections and President Trump's dramatic second clinching of the presidency, following much controversy in the years prior. During the Milwaukee Press Club event, Johnson said he doesn't 'covet' his role as a Senator. 'I don't revel in the, 'You know, I'm a U.S. senator,' Johnson said, adding later that he is 'just a guy from Oshkosh, just trying to — literally trying to save this country.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Ron Johnson suggests he might not run for reelection
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) on Wednesday suggested that he might not run for reelection in 2028, possibly resulting in a race for an open Senate seat in a notable battleground state in a few years. 'I learned in my second run, when I absolutely meant 'second and final,' you can't say never, never, okay?' Johnson said during a Milwaukee Press Club event on Wednesday when asked about a 2028 run. 'I don't want to,' he added. 'Yeah, I'd like to dig my heels in now, set this nation on a sustainable course and then go home.' In the 2022 midterms, Johnson narrowly won over his Democratic opponent Mandela Barnes. Johnson's race had been seen as a chance for Democrats to take down a sitting Senate Republican in a state that former President Biden had narrowly clinched two years prior. Johnson first became a senator in the wake of a 2010 election in which he made his way to victory on a Tea Party-fueled wave that assisted in Republicans securing the House that year. Discussion about both major parties' strategies for the 2026 and 2028 elections began swiftly after the 2024 elections and President Trump's dramatic second clinching of the presidency, following much controversy in the years prior. During the Milwaukee Press Club event, Johnson said he doesn't 'covet' his role as a Senator. 'I don't revel in the, 'You know, I'm a U.S. senator,' Johnson said, adding later that he is 'just a guy from Oshkosh, just trying to — literally trying to save this country.'
