"I'm leaving!"

I joined in on a telephone town hall with Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin this morning, during which he announced he won’t be running for reelection! Interesting way to announce that. It means that Wisconsin will have an open Senate seat in 2022. Is this meant to create an opening for Scott Walker to continue his quest to be a lifelong politician, living off of the taxpayers’ dime?

I would also like to say that, listening to Johnson answer other people’s questions, he is a really arrogant, tow-the-party-line ideologue. He was once quoted as saying that access to health care is a privilege, and he said several things today that back that up:

In a nutshell, health insurance should only cover “big” things and not preventative or maintenance care. That’s because he’s a millionaire and can afford to pay for all the “little” things out-of-pocket.” This was in response to a woman’s complaint that Medicare wouldn’t cover “maintenance” chiropractic treatments. Which leads us too…

We need to create free-market health plans and let the marketplace works things out. You mean the free-market health system that didn’t cover people with pre-existing conditions before the ACA was passed?

It was the Democrats’ fault that Republicans couldn’t pass their own health care reform to replace the ACA during the past 2 years, during which time they controlled all three branches of government. True, Republicans couldn’t agree on a plan, but it was the Democrats’s fault. Funny how the Dems passed the ACA when they had the same situation in 2009-10…Oh, and another reason they couldn’t pass their own health reform was because, “There’s not a whole lot of problem-solving going on in Washington D.C.” I wonder why that is, Ron? Ron, you may not like the ACA, but it’s a great example of how government can solve huge problems, like people not having health insurance...

He hates Medicare and all other federal benefit programs because they’re driving up the debt. This was in response to a question about how huge the debt has become under Republicans. In fact, we need even more incentives for businesses in order to help the economy — you know, more things like the huge tax cut. Oh, and he complained about the “boatload” of funds he’s paid into Medicare over the years, way more than most people have. Ron, that’s because you married into a wealthy family and have boatloads more money than 99% of us.

It is the Democrats’ fault that Republicans don’t have enough votes to pass the budget resolution with $5 billion for the wall. Democrats wouldn’t vote for more border security in 2013 because they wanted the funding bill to give welfare to illegal immigrants. There’s no way to have border security without the wall! So any alternative plan the Democrats come up with won’t work! Therefore, it is their fault that the majority party can’t pass their own damn bills (he didn’t say this; it is my interpretation of the point he was making).

The man is tiresome. He is a walking, talking billboard for “tax cuts for the rich, health care is a privilege” conservatives. He is the poster child for rich, white, arrogant men. And I hope he has a wonderful retirement.