Sen. Ron Johnson drew a sharp parallel between Washington's fiscal habits and private-sector economic discipline during an appearance Thursday morning on Newsmax's "Wake Up America."
The Wisconsin Republican argued that if the federal government faces a shutdown, trimming its workforce should be as natural as layoffs in struggling private businesses.
"I come from the private sector," Johnson said. "When a business has a downturn, they lose a customer, or they're just hemorrhaging cash, they've got to start cutting. They've got to start laying off workers."
"They've got to try and get the business to survive," he said. "Why should the public sector be any different from that?"
Johnson's comments come amid ongoing partisan gridlock in Congress that has kept the federal government closed for the past 16 days, with no end in sight.
Known for his fiscal hawkishness, Johnson said the federal government's refusal to impose private-sector-style accountability is part of the reason America's debt has ballooned to unsustainable levels.
"We're $37 trillion in debt," Johnson warned. "Last year we incurred a deficit of about $1.8 trillion. The last four years previously has averaged $1.9 trillion."
"This is obviously not sustainable, and even with what cuts we're talking about, we're just nibbling around the edges," he said.
The senator accused both political parties — and the majority of Americans — of turning a blind eye to the looming debt crisis.
"We're living in this alternate universe here," Johnson said. "Most people in Washington, D.C., are just whistling by the graveyard, most people in the general public are whistling by the graveyard."
He added that the country has already been living through what he called a "chronic debt crisis" for decades, pointing to inflation and the devaluation of the dollar as "the silent tax that impacts everybody."
Johnson blamed both the media and education system for failing to teach Americans about the economic dangers of endless deficit spending.
"We don't have a legacy news media that connects the dots," he said. "We don't have an education system that teaches economics. So, we're in a world of hurt here in America."
He also mentioned his "Eliminate Shutdowns Act," which would automatically trigger temporary funding extensions to avoid shutdowns while lawmakers complete the appropriations process. But the senator admitted he has struggled to gain traction for the measure on Capitol Hill.
"All Democrats voted against it," Johnson said. "We even had Republican appropriators vote against it because they said it would undercut the appropriation process, that literally has failed 96.7% of the time since I've been here."
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