Senator Ron Johnson Does Not Sound Crazy (Yet)

It’s not often that an esteemed member of Congress like freshman Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, actually asks to appear with Imus, who noted, “Usually when we call and invite people, they try to figure out some way to get out of being on.”
 
Though he acknowledged he was wading into dangerous waters, Johnson was eager to participate in today’s show, telling Imus that what drives him “nuts” about the debt ceiling debate is the lack of seriousness about cutting spending.
 
“Nobody talks about real numbers in this town,” he said. “They talk about cuts off the baseline—they’re really not cuts. They’re just reducing the rate of growth.”
 
He stressed the need to cut around $100 billion in the first year of any plan that hopes to cut $1 trillion over ten years, and indicated that the “political class” in Washington has yet to come to grips with the results of the 2010 election, which ushered him and scores of other Tea Party-backed candidates into office.
 
“I know the media template is we’re a bunch of crazies, but we’re not, Don,” he said. “We’re patriots. We love this country. We realize we are bankrupting America, and we’re just coming to this town trying to figure out what is going off, and how we can fix it.”
 
Johnson recalled that during his campaign, following one speech or another, people would approach him “with tears in their eyes” because of how much they love this country. “You’d see people putting their fingers in your chest, and they’d say, ‘Don’t you change, don’t let Washington change you,’” he said. “That’s what you have in this freshman class. We all went through the same experience, we all saw the passion in the American people trying to save this country.”
 
As such, he is demanding from Congress a more substantial plan for slashing the deficit and raising the debt ceiling. “We’re talking about a $3.7 trillion a year budget…and you’ve got a couple of individuals negotiating that behind closed doors?” Johnson said. “That’s absurd.”
 
In the end, he does not want the U.S. to default, and predicted a short-term deal will be struck so that lawmakers can then debate a “real solution,” as he put it. “And honestly,” Johnson continued, “there is a real solution out there: it’s called Cut, Cap, and Balance.”
 
The plan, which the House passed last week, would cut spending by $100 billion the first year; cap the rate of growth in spending; and require a constitutional amendment that limits the size of government and requires a balanced budget. “I don’t ever see the political will in this town to prevent bankrupting American without that kind of constitutional limitation,” Johnson added.
 
Raising taxes would do little to create jobs, in Johnson’s view, and he therefore sees no reason to include such a stipulation in any deal. “Most people in town here are happy to take a look at real tax loopholes, and close them,” he reported, though he does not think now is the time to address tax reform.
 
Happy with Johnson’s debut appearance, Imus concluded, “It may just be me, Senator, but you don’t sound totally crazy.”
 
Not to worry: “crazy’ doesn’t usually kick in until a guest’s fourth or fifth round on this program.
 
-Julie Kanfer