Madison, Wis. — Yesterday at the Milwaukee Press Club, Sen. Ron Johnson was clear that he will continue to stand against Wisconsinites’ best interests. Johnson reiterated his opposition to COVID-19 relief for Wisconsinites, desire to “kill” a bill to help Wisconsin workers and hold China accountable and decided to play political games with infrastructure funding that would help the state’s economy.
See some of the coverage below:
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “On COVID-19, Johnson, who got the virus but has not been vaccinated, said he wears masks ‘in appropriate situations’ but was ‘always opposed to the mask mandate’…He opposed the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion infrastructure plan but said he favored re-allocating around $720 billion in COVID-19-related spending to deal with nation’s infrastructure needs. That idea is a non-starter with Democrats.”
The AP: “Trump endorsed Johnson in April and encouraged him to run. Last week, former House Speaker Paul Ryan, of Wisconsin, urged fellow conservatives to reject Trump’s divisive politics and those Republican leaders who emulate him. Johnson disagreed with his former colleague.”
The Wisconsin State Journal: “Johnson declined to recommend people get a COVID-19 vaccine despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the medical community strongly recommending doing so…During the worst of the COVID-19 crisis, Johnson convened groups of doctors to promote unproven alternative treatments for COVID-19, testimony other medical experts derided.”
Wisconsin Examiner: “But Johnson’s most outrageous positions are the ones he has taken against the people of Wisconsin — those ‘forgotten men and women’ he is supposed to represent.
“They include:
- “His vote on March 6 against $1,400 stimulus checks and the American Relief Plan Act, denying Wisconsinites and the state’s businesses much-needed pandemic relief. Johnson didn’t just vote against the bill, he tried to obstruct its passage by requiring Senate clerks to read all 600 pages on the floor, pushing back the vote by several hours.
- “His vote on March 18 as one of only a handful of senators to oppose the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which included free coronavirus testing, expanded family and medical leave, paid emergency sick leave, unemployment benefits, food assistance and protections for health care workers. It passed the Senate 90-8. Johnson was one of the eight.
- “Before that, in December 2017, Johnson was the deciding vote on the 2017 Trump Tax Bill — a $1.4 trillion handout for the wealthiest Americans and big corporations. Johnson lobbied for and got changes to the bill that helped his own business.
- “Throughout his Senate career, Johnson repeatedly voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would strip health care coverage from hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites who get coverage through the marketplace and jeopardize another 1.2 million Wisconsinites with pre-existing conditions.”
