Senator Ron Johnson on Congress's 'Oblivious' Spending Habits and Budget Proposals

The Misuse of Budgetary Terms

• 🎯 Senator Johnson criticizes the use of terms like "cutting" and "slashing" when discussing the budget, stating it plays into the "big spenders' game plan."
• 💡 His focus is on returning to reasonable pre-pandemic spending levels rather than drastic cuts.

Pre-Pandemic Spending as a Baseline

• 💰 In 2019, federal spending was $4.4 trillion, while current spending is projected to exceed $7 trillion, a more than 50% increase.
• 📈 Johnson proposes using inflation and population growth adjustments to pre-pandemic spending levels (Clinton, Obama, Trump eras) as a starting point for budget discussions.
• 📊 This adjusted baseline, excluding Social Security, Medicare, and interest, would fall between $5.5 and $6.5 trillion, with the Senate budget resolution aiming for around $6 trillion.

Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Government

• 🔍 Congress and administration members are described as "oblivious" to the "grotesque levels of waste, fraud, abuse" within federal spending.
• 💼 Johnson advocates for a business person's approach, similar to small businesses combing through their budgets, to scrutinize every line item.

Reforming Federal Benefit Programs

• ⚠️ Medicaid, for example, was not designed for healthy individuals but for the poor and sick, and pregnant women.
• 🛠️ Johnson suggests implementing work rules in Medicaid and other federal benefit programs to encourage people to return to work.
• 📉 Current policies, he argues, make it too easy for people to opt out of the workforce, contributing to labor shortages.

The Budget Process and Tax Legislation

• 📉 The current approach in the House is seen as a superficial "tweak" rather than a substantive reduction, an "arithmetic exercise."
• 🚫 A tax bill is unlikely before Memorial Day, and Johnson suggests a multi-step process for tax legislation, including border funding and extending current tax law.
• ⚠️ He warns that without returning to reasonable pre-pandemic spending levels, a significant number of Senators will not agree to new tax legislation.