Andy Ngo, Sen. Ron Johnson receive Annie Taylor Award for courage
"Thank you to the David Horowitz Freedom Center for awarding myself and Wisconsin's @SenRonJohnson with the Annie Taylor Award. It is an honor," Ngo tweeted.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) on Friday blocked an effort by Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to pass a new round of $1,200 stimulus checks to Americans, arguing for more "targeted" relief to help Americans struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.
Hawley and Sanders had asked for the unanimous consent of the Senate to pass a bill providing another one-time payment of $1,200 to individuals earning less than $75,000, using the CARES Act stimulus bill Congress passed in March as a model for their legislation. Johnson supported that effort in March, but now says Congress cannot ignore the growing national debt and should work harder to ensure stimulus money has its intended effect.
Acknowledging the need for Congress to provide financial support to businesses and families in need "through no fault of their own," Johnson criticized the "shogun approach" of the proposed relief package and called for more "targeted" relief.
"One of the reasons we are $27.4 trillion in debt is we only speak about need, we only talk in terms of compassion — we all have compassion, we all want to fulfill those needs — we don't talk in numbers very often. We don't analyze the data. We don't take a look at what we did in the past and see, did it work? Or didn't it work?" Johnson said on the Senate floor.
"We will not have learned the lessons from our very hurried, very rushed, very massive, earlier relief packages. We're just going to do more of the same, another trillion dollars. It takes our debt from $27.4 trillion to $28.4 trillion in a couple months. With doing virtually no revisions, no improvements," he warned.
Sen. Ron Johnson: "One of the reasons we are currently $27.4 trillion in debt is we only speak about need, we only… https://t.co/ltAe1EeHhO— The Hill (@The Hill)1608318697.0
The current stimulus package being considered by the Senate would cost about $900 billion, Axios reported. Johnson raised concerns about how Congress is "mortgaging our children's future."
He noted that the last round of "economic impact payments" to Americans cost about $275 billion and sent checks to 115 million households at a time when 25 million people were unemployed.
"That was about 4.5 [times] more households than the number of jobs lost," Johnson said, going on to explain that the Hawley-Sanders bill would provide payments to a number of households 12.6 times greater than the 9 million Americans currently unemployed.
"I think it's important to ask, well, how was that money spent? Was it really spent on essentials? Was this money really needed? Was there any hope of actually that money being stimulative to our economy?" Johnson asked.
He cited a study conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York issued on Oct. 13, 2020, that surveyed American households and found that only 18% of the stimulus check funds was spent on essential items, 8% was spent on nonessential items, and 3% was donated for a total of 29%, which the study called the "marginal propensity to consume."
Most households, Johnson said, either saved the stimulus money or used it to pay off debt. The survey also asked respondents what they would do with another $1,500 check and only about 24% would spend or donate the money while the remaining 76% would use the funds for savings or debt repayment.
"I don't think you can take a look at these direct payments to individuals as stimulative," Johnson argued. "Obviously, 18%-24% is spent on essential items. We ought to figure out how to provide that money so people can spend it on essentials."
After Johnson concluded speaking, Hawley rose to respond, saying, "Nothing could be more targeted, no relief could be more important than relief for working people."
"What I'm proposing is what every senator has supported already," Hawley continued. "What I'm proposing will give working folks in my state and across the country a shot … at getting back up on their feet."
Sen. @HawleyMO responds to @SenRonJohnson objecting to his unanimous consent for $1,200 stimulus checks:"Working… https://t.co/eyShKrazpj— Daily Caller (@Daily Caller)1608313267.0
This debate over direct stimulus payments is occurring under the backdrop of a potential government shutdown that will happen if Congress does not pass new spending legislation before midnight. Democrats and Republicans are negotiating on a continuing resolution to keep the government open, with the central conflict between the parties being what additional coronavirus relief should look like. One compromise currently under consideration is smaller $600 direct payments, half of what Hawley and Sanders have proposed, in addition to small business funding and an extended $300 federal unemployment benefit.
The Daily Caller reported that after Hawley finished speaking, he walked out of the Senate chamber and told reporters he would not allow a government funding bill to pass until he's assured there are direct payments to Americans included.
"I'm not going to allow a [continuing resolution] to go through until I know what's actually in the package," Hawley said. "It'd better include direct assistance at a substantial level."
A shouting match erupted at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on election security Wednesday when Republican Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Democratic ranking member Gary Peters (D-Mich.) accused each other of lying about the other.
Johnson said that Peters and other Democratic senators falsely accused him of spreading misinformation about Russian interference in the 2016 election and of spreading Russian disinformation about Hunter Biden.
"I just have to talk about Russian disinformation because the people peddling it are not on my side of the aisle. Senior Democrat leaders including ranking member Peters were involved in the process of creating a false intelligence product," Johnson said, referring to the Steele Dossier, which FBI officials believed was compromised by Russian Intelligence Service disinformation.
Johnson accused Democrats of leaking that false information from the dossier to the press and then hypocritically accusing Republicans of spreading Russian disinformation.
After reports confirmed there is an ongoing Department of Justice investigation into Hunter Biden's business dealings, Johnson blasted Democrats and members of the intelligence community for asserting that his committee's investigation into Hunter Biden played into Russian hands.
"It's just galling and I just have to point out that the purveyors of Russian disinformation — Hillary Clinton's campaign, the DNC, the Steele Dossier, the ranking member Peters accusing Sen. Grassley and I of disseminating Russian disinformation — that's where the disinformation is coming from," Johnson said.
"I can't sit by and listen to this and say that this is not disinformation, this hearing today. This is getting information. We have to take a look at to restore confidence in our election integrity," he continued.
Peters denied that he'd put out any disinformation.
"You say I'm putting out information. I had nothing to do with this report," he said.
"You lied repeatedly! You lied repeatedly in the press that I was spreading Russian disinformation, and that was an outright lie and I told you to stop lying and you continued to do it!" Johnson shouted back at Peters.
"Mr. Chairman, this is not about airing your grievances. I don't know what rabbit hole you're running down right now," Peters responded.
"You can't make these false allegations," he continued as Johnson banged his gavel and indicated it was Sen. Rand Paul's time to speak.
"This is terrible what you're doing to this committee," Peters accused.
"It is what you have done to this committee, falsely accusing the chairman of spreading disinformation," Johnson retorted. "Nothing could have been further from the truth, and you're spouting it again."
"This is outrageous," Peters mumbled into his mask.
.@SenRonJohnson: "You lied repeatedly in the press that I was spreading Russian disinformation...I told you to stop… https://t.co/kQT5KYnsfZ— CSPAN (@CSPAN)1608137330.0
According to the New York Post, the argument was about a July letter Democrats sent to FBI Director Christopher Wray claiming that members of Congress were being targeted by a foreign influence campaign to affect the outcome of the 2020 election.
Democrats have repeatedly accused Johnson's Hunter Biden investigation of spreading Russian disinformation. Johnson's comments today show he's fed up with the accusations.
Also discussed during Wednesday's hearing were claims of election irregularities made by witnesses associated with the Trump campaign. Attorneys James Troupis and Jesse Binnall and Pennsylvania state legislator Francis Ryan claimed to have hundreds of thousands of examples of dead people and non-citizens voting as well as people casting multiple ballots, tainting the election results. These allegations of voter fraud were also made in court challenges dismissed in Wisconsin, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.
Christopher Krebs, the former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency who was fired last month after contradicting President Donald Trump's claims of election fraud testified that there is no evidence suggesting the election was not secure.
"I think we're past the point where we need to be having conversations about the outcome of this election," Krebs said, noting that Attorney General William Barr has also said the DOJ has not yet uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud.
"Continued assaults on democracy and the outcome of this election only serve to undermine confidence in the process and is ultimately corrosive to the institutions that support elections," he added.
Democrats have denounced claims of voter fraud or other election irregularities as false and accused those making such claims of spreading disinformation.
"Whether intended or not, this hearing gives a platform to conspiracy theories and lies and is a destructive exercise that has no place in the U.S. Senate," Sen. Peters said during his remarks. "Joe Biden won the election."