WASHINGTON, D.C. (WTAQ-WLUK) – Sen. Ron Johnson has some strong words about the proposed debt ceiling bill, calling the debt limit deadline a phony crisis.
The Wisconsin Republican believes the federal government has more than enough money to pay its bills, claiming President Joe Biden and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen simply need to get their spending under control.
“We have more than enough revenue. I mean, way more than enough revenue to service our debt, to pay our interest, to pay for Social Security, to pay for Medicare if we would just responsibly prioritize the spending.”
Johnson tells FOX 11 he will “probably” vote no on the debt ceiling bill.
Touting his financial and accounting background, Johnson said he looked at the numbers — something he claims most in Washington don’t do — and they aren’t adding up. He believes the government is overspending and needs to return to some baseline based on population, growth and inflation.
“Right now, we’re slightly under $32 trillion of spending, but as soon as that debt ceiling bill is passed, all those extraordinary measures will be borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars to fill up those coffers and so we’ll spring over $32 trillion,” said Johnson. “And what’s really, I think, offensive about this debt ceiling deal is we’re not increasing the debt ceiling — we’re just suspending it.”
“I mean, it’s a very dishonest approach,” argued Johnson. “If you’re going to increase the debt ceiling, do it by a dollar amount so at least the American public knows how much more you are going to spend that we don’t have.”
FOX 11 reached out to Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin for comment on the deal. Her staff says she is still reviewing the legislation.
With bipartisan support, the bill passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday evening.
U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-8th District, voted in favor of the bill, saying the bill “enacts commonsense reforms.”
U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-2nd District, voted against the bill, though, saying that he had been asking House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to “put a clean debt ceiling bill on the floor.”
Pocan said the bill “critically undercuts the appropriations process” and he could not in good conscience vote in favor of the bill.
