Ron Johnson says he gets a big smile on his face when the airplane he is aboard lifts off from Reagan National Airport in Washington and he knows he\u2019s heading to Wisconsin.<\/p>\n
So why not leave a place Johnson calls a frustrating center of dysfunction, stay in Wisconsin, and go back to the life he loved as a businessman in Oshkosh? Mike Gousha, the Law School\u2019s distinguished fellow in law and public policy, posed that question during an \u201cOn the Issues\u201d session Feb. 5 at Eckstein Hall with the Republican senator who is in the last year of a six-year term in office<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t quit, much as I\u2019d like to go home,\u201d Johnson answered. \u201cThe bottom line is this nation is on the wrong course and we\u2019ve got to correct it. This nation is worth preserving.\u201d<\/p>\n
That means Johnson is running for re-election in November. The contest will pit him against Democrat Russ Feingold, who served 18 years in the Senate before Johnson defeated him in 2010. This year\u2019s race is already attracting national attention, both because of the story line of two politicians with very different views engaging in a re-match and because the outcome could be pivotal in determining which party will control the Senate, come next January. Feingold has led Johnson in several recent Marquette Law School Polls.<\/p>\n
Johnson said he was running for re-election for the same reasons he ran in 2010, when he was a newcomer to electoral politics. He views federal deficit as exploding, the health care law popularly known as Obamacare as a failure, and American foreign policy, especially in the Middle East, as weak and wrong.<\/p>\n
In 2010, Johnson said, \u201cI ran because I was panicked for this country. It was on the wrong path. I\u2019ve been there five years. I\u2019m more panicked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Security is a key issue, Johnson said, and not just in terms of foreign issues. He listed income security, job security, retirement security, and health care security, along with national security, as issues on voters\u2019 minds this year. \u201cThere\u2019s such a level of uncertainty, there\u2019s such a hunger for leadership,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
All this said, Johnson said things are turning around in some ways, especially with the Republicans in the majority in the Senate. He became chairman of a major committee \u2013 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs \u2013 after the Republicans gained the majority, and the committee has built a record of approving legislation cooperatively, often on matters that don\u2019t make news, Johnson said.<\/p>\n
The contrasts between Johnson and Feingold were strong in 2010. Feingold took part in an \u201cOn the Issues\u201d session at the Law School on Jan. 26. The back to back sessions with the two candidates showed that their strong differences remain.<\/p>\n
Johnson is highly critical of the Obama administration\u2019s agreement with Iran related to nuclear weapons. He thinks it strengthens Iran, which he says is widely recognized as the largest state sponsor of terrorist acts in the world, when American policy should be aimed at weakening that country. He backs stronger sanctions against Iran, not dropping many sanctions. Feingold backs the Iran agreement.<\/p>\n
Johnson wants to see stronger action against the Islamic group known as ISIS, including involvement of American military forces if done as part of a coalition of troops from other nations. Feingold opposes that, favoring other ways to weaken ISIS, including economic steps and effective use of targeted attacks on leaders.<\/p>\n
Johnson told Gousha the Obama health care reform is \u201ca massive consumer fraud.\u201d \u00a0He said, \u201cIt\u2019s not affordable. It didn\u2019t protect patients.\u201d He said he wants to see individuals have a bigger voice in choosing their health coverage and the government a smaller voice. He said that individuals paid 68 cents of every health care dollar in the 1940s; now that is 14 cents. Feingold\u00a0generally backs the health care law, although he wants to see some changes.<\/p>\n
Johnson opposes raising the minimum wage, saying it will mean the loss of large numbers of jobs. Feingold favors increasing the minimum wage.<\/p>\n
Johnson said there are ways available now to allow college students and graduates to refinance student debt. Feingold called for more federal action to make refinancing available and debt manageable.<\/p>\n
Johnson remains a small-government advocate. He said many big government programs had failed, \u201cother than that they\u2019re very successful at mortgaging our children\u2019s future.\u201d The national debt has passed $19 trillion, he said. Johnson said that to admit that the debt is a huge problem would mean having to do something about it. Johnson has a slide-show presentation warning about the national debt that he has given to groups all over Wisconsin and in Washington, but the debt issue continues to get too little attention, in his view.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the very prevalent diseases I see in Washington, D.C., is denying reality,\u201d he said. Johnson was and remains a straight-forward advocate for describing reality as he sees it and calling for action. That puts him on a straight-forward course for a re-match with Feingold that promises to be both consequential and interesting.<\/p>\n
To watch Johnson\u2019s session with Gousha, click here.<\/a> To watch Feingold\u2019s session with Gousha, click her<\/a>e. News stories about Johnson\u2019s remarks at the Law School are available here from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel <\/a>and here from Wisconsin Public Radio. <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ron Johnson says he gets a big smile on his face when the airplane he is aboard lifts off from Reagan National Airport in Washington and he knows he\u2019s heading to Wisconsin. So why not leave a place Johnson calls a frustrating center of dysfunction, stay in Wisconsin, and go back to the life he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,122,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political-processes-rhetoric","category-public","category-speakers","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25362\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}