Senator Ron Johnson is frustrated with inaction in Washington. The freshman Senator from Wisconsin is dissatisfied with the glacial pace of the Senate. He’s been in office six months, during which just six laws have been passed. “We spent 16 weeks debating three bills. The total dollar amount of those bills is $20 billion. That’s about half a percent of what this federal government will spend this year,” said Johnson, an Oshkosh business owner who campaigned on the need to reign in federal spending and reduce the deficit.
Johnson’s comments on the floor came as Senators engaged in ‘colloquy’, or conversations, over a non-binding debt reduction bill. “This week we’ve spent 15 hours debate. We called it a ‘sense of the Senate resolution’. It really should be called the nonsense of the Senate. That’s what’s been occurring this week, and it’s a tragedy.” Johnson noted that, as of Friday, it will be 800 days since Congress last passed a federal budget. Johnson’s comments came as President Obama began meeting with congressional leaders on a deal to raise the debt limit.
