In this episode, Lisa and Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin discuss the inauguration of Donald Trump for his second term. They explore the political landscape, emphasizing the need to reduce government spending and reform the tax code. Johnson highlights the dramatic increase in federal spending during the pandemic and advocates for fiscal responsibility. The conversation also touches on the challenges of working with a divided Congress and the importance of achieving significant reforms early in Trump's term to ensure success in the upcoming midterm elections. The Truth with Lisa Boothe is part of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network - new episodes debut every Monday & Thursday.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
America needed saving.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
We saw it over the past four years of everything
we love or values or patriotism or standing on the
world stage was denigrated by Joe Biden. As soon to
be president, Donald Trump will always president. Donald Trump said
previously that God spared his life during that attempted assassination
so that he could save the country. And I believe
(00:27):
he'll do that over the next four years. When you're
hearing this, it is inauguration day, when President Trump will
be sworn in once again. He's got a lot to
accomplish in four years, big goals, big ambitions.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
But this time people are rallying behind him.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Not only did he win the popular vote, but we've
seen all of these industry leaders come to Donald Trump
wanted to be part of the team, finally wanted to
help turn around America. We've seen a lot of companies,
a lot of major institutions dropping things like diversity, equity, inclusion,
which we know led to the failure of so many
things in the country. That it was no longer a meritocracy,
(01:05):
that it was about meeting quotas, about virtue signaling instead
of success.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
That's all changing. We've seen companies like Meta step.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Forward and say we're no longer going to censor free
speech is being restored. So a lot of good is
already happening. And he hasn't even been sworn in yet,
or I guess he will be once you're listening to this.
Just heads up, we do record ahead sometimes, so this
is Friday when we're recording.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
But nonetheless, you get what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
So this golden age is coming through, this golden era
of the next four years.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Now, there's going to be some challenges.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
You know, Republicans have small majorities in the House in
the Senate.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
That'll post some challenges.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Hopefully Democrats will be a little less resistance because Donald Trump.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Won the popular vote.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
You've got upcoming midterm elections in two years from now.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Hopefully we keep the House in the Senate, but we
may not. So you've got two.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Years of real solid work, really one before members of
Congress start hitting the ground running for reelection when campaigning starts.
So what can we get accomplished over these next four years?
Speaker 1 (02:06):
What do those small majorities mean?
Speaker 2 (02:07):
And as we watch all these confirmation hearings, will all
of Trump's nominees make it through. We've got a lot
to discuss and the perfect person for the job on
such a special day is our friend, Senator Ron Johnson
from Wisconsin. He is a warrior, He is brave, He
doesn't change his tune even if he's campaigning.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
The guy is solid.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
He's been a line in the Senate, someone I deeply respect,
and someone I always love having on the show, particularly
on such an important day like Inauguration Day. Stay tuned
for Senator Ron Johnson. But first, at Wired to Fish Coffee,
they believe in more than just a good cup of coffee.
They believe in values, hard work, faith and stewardship. That's
why twenty five percent of every purchase goes back to
(02:47):
the causes that matter, eighteen percent supports faith based initiatives,
and seven percent helps conservation and clean water projects. Wired
to Fish Coffee is a fair trade sourced ensuring ethical
practices and support hard working farmers. Every sip offers rich,
bold flavor with a smooth finish, no bitterness, just the
way coffee should be.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
So why not make your coffee count?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Head over to Wired to Fishcoffee dot com.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
That's wired the number.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Two fishcoffee dot com today. Don't forget to use code
Lisa for ten percent off your first order. Together, we
can brew a better tomorrow. Well, Senator Johnson, it's always
an honor.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
To have you on the show.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
We've got a lot to get done these next four years,
but you know, good problems to have. What do you
think we'll be able to accomplish over the next four years?
Speaker 3 (03:36):
From my standpoint, I think the most important thing bar none,
I mean, nothing even comes close. It's to reduce the size, scope,
and cost of government, which means we have to reduce
total spending. We in twenty nineteen we spent four point
four trillion dollars. Then we had the pandemic. We shot
up to almost six point six trillion. For the last
(03:58):
five years, we've maintained an average just six point five
trillion dollars. Last year we spent six point nine This
year will probably be about the same, probably over seven
trillion dollars. That's fifty percent higher than we were in
two thousand and nineteen. There's no justification for remaining at
that level. The analogy I keep using is, let's say
your family that spends makes and spends one hundred thousand dollars.
(04:20):
You have a major illness, major medical bills, and undred
another fifty thousand dollars. So now you're spending one hundred
and fifty thousand dollars. If that family member gets well
the next year, you don't keep spending one hundred fifty
thousand dollars, particularly when you have to borrow it. But
that's exactly what the federal government has done, so to me,
that's the most important thing. I think. Second most important
(04:40):
is make sure that we do not have an automatic
tax increase in twenty sixteen or in twenty twenty six
That ought to be relatively simple as long as Republicans
have brains and do the right things here. At at
a minimum, we simply use the current policy baseline in
our budgets and then we pass a lot that extends.
Is that the tax custs and it becomes permanent. But now
(05:03):
I'd like to do much more. I'd like to simplify
and rationalize the tax code. But I mean, if that's
all we can do, if that's you know, we get
in fighting and can't figure out how to simplify and
rationalize the tax code. The minimum we can do is
just extend the current tax system and the lower rates
to make sure that we don't over tax overburned Americans.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Yeah, I think it's hard to conceptualize thirty six trillion
dollars of debt. But like because even if you look
at what Doge wants to do, which is honorable and needed,
but even just cutting two trillion dollars, I mean, that's
basically just the interest on the debt.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
That's just servicing the debt.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
You know, that's how out of hand this is all
gotten for the country, you know, Senator, are you finding
so we saw when President Trump.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Was certified.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
On January sixth, that was the first time since nineteen
eighty nine that you didn't have a single Democrat objecting
a Republican candidate's victory. Are you finding less opposition from
Democrats this go around? Do they seem more willing to
play ball since Trump won the popular vote? Or what
(06:10):
are you kind of sensing on Capitol Hill right now
with that?
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Well, you can take a look at two things. First
of all, you see how snarky and snippy and snarly
and mean they are in the confirmation hearing, So no,
I don't think they've changed stripes. At the same time,
you see how many of even voted for the Lincoln
Riley act, they are actually responding to the wishes of
the American public. I know that they give lip service
to I'm ske the border. We know they don't. We
(06:34):
know they wanted an open border. So no, I don't
I expect they can do everything they can to try
and sabotage this administration. I don't. I don't expect anything
more out of them than that.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
How hard is it to sit through some of these
hearings and listen to the line of questioning for Democrats
like I was watching, you know, the Pete Hegseth.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Hearing or with Pam Bondi, you know, and just some
of the questions that are asked.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Well, first of all, like Kirsten Joel Brown when she
was asking Pete head Set the question, she just berated
him and didn't even ask a question.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
How hard is it to sit through some of these.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Well, personally witness and the US Center just takes the
entire questioning period of pontificating. That's pretty easy hearing for you.
You don't have to say much. So it's it's kind
of it's it's silly quote. Honestly, I think my impression
is these Democrats they they live in an alternate universe.
So again, I know what happens, you know on my
(07:32):
planet here, you know, I don't know what what happens
on yours. It really is, I mean, it's just bizarre. Uh.
We had a hearing on the remaining Mexico policy, and
the Democrats were lined up saying that the remaining Mexico
policy you put you know, billions of dollars in the
in the box cartel. It dramatically reduced the number of
(07:53):
people trying to illegally come to this country. It we
dramatically reduced the dollars flowing into the human traffickers, the
sex traffickers, the drug traffickers. I mean what it was
just obvious. I mean, when President Trump had pretty well
secured the border, we had something a little over five
hundred encounters per day. That was kind of low point.
That was off of his hive, about five thousand a day.
(08:14):
So he dropped it from about five thousand to five hundred.
Biden took it up to well over ten thousand average
just in December twenty twenty three. Those people are paying
five to ten thousand dollars in human trafficking. So again,
it's just an alternate universe. And then one of the
things I pointed out in Senate Finance because again you
hear the lie, the false narrative ad nauseum that the
(08:37):
Tax Cutting Jobs Act caused the depth sit it, didn't
hear the numbers. I mean, again, I know Democrats don't
like facts. I know people here in Washington don't really
like numbers. But the original score on or the final
score of the Tax Cutting Jobs Act was going to be,
you know, one point five trillion dollars in reduced revenue
increased deficit. What actually happened this is just over the
(08:59):
last seven years years, we increased revenue over that estimate
one point seven trillion dollars, which means we completely paid
for the tax cut plus two hundred thousand in seven years,
not ten with the severe COVID recession. So I'm trying
to convey to people, do not take CBO estimates or
(09:20):
joint Communitian taxation estimates. Take it with a huge grain
of salt. We should not have a drive our policy.
What we ought to be looking at is again the
overall metric, how much in total does the federal garment spend?
And then we ought to focus on simplifying and rationalizing
our tax system, and if we do that, you could
(09:43):
literally cut out almost a half a trillion dollars in
compliance costs, which would be excellent for the economy.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
We'll have more of a Senator Johnson in just a moment.
But first, on January twenty seventh, International Holocaust Rememberance Day,
we remember the great evil of the Holocaust, when millions
of Jews were slaughtered during the Nazis reign of terror. Today,
the rise in global anti Semitism and the constant attacks
on Israel shows that it is more important than ever
to remember the atrocities of the Holocaust to ensure it
(10:09):
never happens again. That's why I've partnered with the International
Fellowship of Christians and Jews. They provide food, shelter, and
safety to Jews in Israel and around the world, including
those remaining Holocaust survivors. Your donation today will help provide food, water, medicine,
and other basic necessities to Jewish communities, and through your gift,
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(10:30):
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Speaker 1 (10:32):
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Speaker 2 (10:33):
Of the Jewish people by visiting support IFCJ dot org.
That's one word support IFCJ dot org.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Or call eight eight eight four.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Eight eight IFDJ that's eight eight eight four eight eight
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Speaker 1 (10:49):
Four eight eight four three two five. Do you think
all of his nominees will get through?
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Do you think they will get confirmed as cap and nominations.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Unless there's some kind of disqualifying factor they should you know,
I know the attitude of Republican centators is they respect
the convincing victory President Trump. He's in charge, He's the president.
He's the one that is going to be working with
these people in his administration. He's responsible for them. You know,
our job is to if you make vet them, make
sure there's not some disqualifying aspect of their of their background,
(11:23):
but otherwise vote to confirm them.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
You know, so we've got a fifty three seat majority
in the Senate. What do you think that means for
getting President Trump's agenda through? And we kind of talked
about resistance from the left. Do you think we'll see
resistance from the right and trying to move it through?
Speaker 3 (11:40):
Well, it depends on how good a sales job he does,
and we do quite honestly. Let me go back to
total spending one of the things I'm trying to point out.
You just again, I laid out the problem went from
four point four to averaging six point five trillion dollars,
more than a fifty cent increase. Okay, So how do
you go back to a reasonable baseline. What I've done
is I've gone back into time and I've looked at
(12:02):
different spending levels of For example, Bill Clinton in nineteen
ninety eight, that was the first year we actually had
a surplus since nineteen sixty nine. I've looked at the
Barack Obama in twenty fourteen. Just I'll use those two examples.
So I don't think Bill Clinton was spending too little,
maybe on defense, but in general, not too little. I
don't think Barack Obama was spending too little, again, maybe
on defense. But what I've done is I've taken their
(12:25):
spending levels. I've increased them based on population growth and inflation,
and I've put into that budget that baseline budget, today's
spending on Social Security, Medicare, and interest. Okay, those are
exempt from the going back in time and increasing based
on population inflation. If I do that, Bill Clinton's spending
(12:46):
level goes from one point seven trillion to five point
five trillion dollars. Obama Is twenty fourteen spending level of
three point five three point six trillion goes to six
point two trillion. Now, the reason I like the Bill
Clinton level is again, if you inflate that up to
five point five trillion, that's the revenue that Joe Biden
(13:08):
is budgeting right now for this year. That's how close Lisa,
we would be to a balanced budget by just going
back in time inflating President Clinton's or even President Obama's
spending levels up to your reason the baseline, we're that close.
And so again the attitude here is you can never
you can never reduce what you're spending this year. Yes
(13:30):
we can, and yes we must.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
You know, my hope that to your point with the
spending reductions and just government reforms, I mean, it's all
got to get done pretty quick, because if you really
think about it, that four years looks more like a year,
you know, because two years from now we've got mid
term elections, and so for this second, you know, in
a year from now, people are going to start worrying
about campaigning and bring out the campaign trail and trying
(13:55):
to win reelection. So that sort of changes the way
some people vote shouldn't but us, you know, so, we
really have got like one solid year and then depending
on the midterms, we could potentially lose the House in
the Senate.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
I hope not, but it is a possibility, you know.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
So we've got one solid year or to just really
be strong and try to push as much through as possible.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Do you read it that way? Or am I being
too pessimistic with the timeline. No?
Speaker 3 (14:21):
I think that's true, and that's why I also strongly
support a two step approach here. First of all, lay
in that budget. Okay, when you do reconciliation, you have
to pass the budget. So let's lay in that new
baseline budget. You don't have to give instructions to all
the committees based on that budget to do all the
(14:43):
cost reduction. We just give instructions to secure the border,
you know, increase spending on the border wall and all
the things that President Trump needs to do, and all
the spending he needs for four years is securing the border.
And then regroup and start working on the whole tax system.
(15:04):
That's going to take more time. But we've got to
the end of twenty twenty six. You know, one of
the reason I think when need to do that is,
you know, Tom homan Is and the administration they are
dead serious about securing the border. I mean, they are
going to do it, and you know, the media, you'll
get hardened criminals that just might have a family, you know.
You know, we always separate a murderer from the murderer's family,
(15:28):
even if it's a US citizen, right, And that's for
the family that's heartbreaking. You know, the media is going
to be in there with cameras and they're going to
be showing those heartbreaking moments, and it'll start, I would say,
probably reducing the support for what has to be done.
So that's why i'm you know, we have to give
him the funding so that he can use people like
(15:51):
Tom Holman and Christy Nome who are determined to do
this carried out and then again take the time. Listen.
If the only thing we can do is extend the
Tax Cutting Jobs Act, I'll vote to do that, but
I really don't want to do that. I mean, it
leads in place a grotesquely complex tax system. You know,
(16:12):
President Trump obviously ran on a couple of other tax
ideas that are really focusing on making sure that the
workingmen and win this country can keep more of the
harder and pay totally support of that. So what I'd
like to do is I'd like to throw it all
in the hopper, focusing on principles of simplifying and rationalizing
our tax code and making sure that whatever we do
(16:34):
is permanent. That probably just that right there, making our
tax system permanent. Listen, our tax rates permanent, so that
you know, businesses realize that they're not facing increased taxes automatically.
And you like what happened here after the tax cutting
Jobs Acting, you want to talk about a major failure
(16:57):
of that bills. It wasn't permanent. We have automatic tax increases.
That's terrible tax policy. We can't make that same mistake again.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
A lot to get done, and you've got a debt
ceiling fight ahead as well that you guys.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Will be having to confront.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
And then also this funding for the California wildfires and
how to approach that war with Senator Johnson coming up.
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Com, slash Lisa or call nine seven two Patriot. I
know you've called for conditions, I mean it seems to
just be common sense. It's not that you know, we're
not going to help them, or Congress is not going
to help them. It's just if they're not getting the
job done with their forest mismanagement and then also water mismanagement,
(18:50):
this is going to keep happening, So you know, why
not attach some conditions to make sure there's more permanent
change to prevent these sort of situations in the future.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Yeah, Lisa, the more you learn about the grotesque mismanagement
and how not only was this predictable, but it was
predicted a number of days beforehand. You had weather forecasters
predicting these high winds and they know in these dry
conditions what that means, you know, not to have the
resources prepositioned on the lookout. You know, the mayor flying
(19:22):
off apparently to Ghana. The fact that that reservoir right
above the Pacific Palisades was empty for more than a year.
You hear other other communities where they've got a reservoir.
You know, they empty those reservoirs for a week or two,
and then you know those officials are nervous if the
fire officials, the mayor, the governor apparently had no worries
(19:46):
that way, I mean grotesque mismanagement, which means this tragedy,
you probably can't prevent the fires from starting, but from letting,
letting them get out of control is probably preventable, which
means the deaths, the massive property instruction probably was And
of course that's why Gavin Newsom's blaming that climate change
(20:07):
right in my fall is you know these dirty Republicans
who deny climate change that you know, want want to
use only nothing but fossil fuels and you know, gas
guzzling SUVs. Uh. It's a nice little sleight of hand there.
But I hope, I hope Californias are smarter and start
holding these Democrat elected officials accountable. I don't have great
(20:31):
hopes that they will, so again if they come crossing
the United States taxpayer to bail out their mismanagement, the
minimum way out to do is put pretty strong conditions
and save them from themselves.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
No, I agree.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
And Gavin Newsom's like, I want an investigation into the
water mismanagement.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
I'm like, pretty sure it's gonna lead to you, Bud.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
But you know, Senator Ron Johnson, a lot to get
done over these next four years. We're Glad to have
you in the Senate, Glad to have you on the show.
As always, it's always an honor. I love chatting with you.
Thanks so much for your time, sir, have.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Great day, take care.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
That was Senator Ron Johnson from the great state of Wisconsin.
We appreciate his time. We appreciate you guys at home
for listening every Monday and Thursday, but you can listen
throughout the week. I also want to thank my producer,
John Cassio for putting the show together.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Until next time,
America needed saving.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
We saw it over the past four years of everything
we love or values or patriotism or standing on the
world stage was denigrated by Joe Biden. As soon to
be president, Donald Trump will always president. Donald Trump said
previously that God spared his life during that attempted assassination
so that he could save the country. And I believe
(00:27):
he'll do that over the next four years. When you're
hearing this, it is inauguration day, when President Trump will
be sworn in once again. He's got a lot to
accomplish in four years, big goals, big ambitions.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
But this time people are rallying behind him.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Not only did he win the popular vote, but we've
seen all of these industry leaders come to Donald Trump
wanted to be part of the team, finally wanted to
help turn around America. We've seen a lot of companies,
a lot of major institutions dropping things like diversity, equity, inclusion,
which we know led to the failure of so many
things in the country. That it was no longer a meritocracy,
(01:05):
that it was about meeting quotas, about virtue signaling instead
of success.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
That's all changing. We've seen companies like Meta step.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Forward and say we're no longer going to censor free
speech is being restored. So a lot of good is
already happening. And he hasn't even been sworn in yet,
or I guess he will be once you're listening to this.
Just heads up, we do record ahead sometimes, so this
is Friday when we're recording.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
But nonetheless, you get what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
So this golden age is coming through, this golden era
of the next four years.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Now, there's going to be some challenges.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
You know, Republicans have small majorities in the House in
the Senate.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
That'll post some challenges.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Hopefully Democrats will be a little less resistance because Donald Trump.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Won the popular vote.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
You've got upcoming midterm elections in two years from now.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Hopefully we keep the House in the Senate, but we
may not. So you've got two.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Years of real solid work, really one before members of
Congress start hitting the ground running for reelection when campaigning starts.
So what can we get accomplished over these next four years?
Speaker 1 (02:06):
What do those small majorities mean?
Speaker 2 (02:07):
And as we watch all these confirmation hearings, will all
of Trump's nominees make it through. We've got a lot
to discuss and the perfect person for the job on
such a special day is our friend, Senator Ron Johnson
from Wisconsin. He is a warrior, He is brave, He
doesn't change his tune even if he's campaigning.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
The guy is solid.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
He's been a line in the Senate, someone I deeply respect,
and someone I always love having on the show, particularly
on such an important day like Inauguration Day. Stay tuned
for Senator Ron Johnson. But first, at Wired to Fish Coffee,
they believe in more than just a good cup of coffee.
They believe in values, hard work, faith and stewardship. That's
why twenty five percent of every purchase goes back to
(02:47):
the causes that matter, eighteen percent supports faith based initiatives,
and seven percent helps conservation and clean water projects. Wired
to Fish Coffee is a fair trade sourced ensuring ethical
practices and support hard working farmers. Every sip offers rich,
bold flavor with a smooth finish, no bitterness, just the
way coffee should be.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
So why not make your coffee count?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Head over to Wired to Fishcoffee dot com.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
That's wired the number.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Two fishcoffee dot com today. Don't forget to use code
Lisa for ten percent off your first order. Together, we
can brew a better tomorrow. Well, Senator Johnson, it's always
an honor.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
To have you on the show.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
We've got a lot to get done these next four years,
but you know, good problems to have. What do you
think we'll be able to accomplish over the next four years?
Speaker 3 (03:36):
From my standpoint, I think the most important thing bar none,
I mean, nothing even comes close. It's to reduce the size, scope,
and cost of government, which means we have to reduce
total spending. We in twenty nineteen we spent four point
four trillion dollars. Then we had the pandemic. We shot
up to almost six point six trillion. For the last
(03:58):
five years, we've maintained an average just six point five
trillion dollars. Last year we spent six point nine This
year will probably be about the same, probably over seven
trillion dollars. That's fifty percent higher than we were in
two thousand and nineteen. There's no justification for remaining at
that level. The analogy I keep using is, let's say
your family that spends makes and spends one hundred thousand dollars.
(04:20):
You have a major illness, major medical bills, and undred
another fifty thousand dollars. So now you're spending one hundred
and fifty thousand dollars. If that family member gets well
the next year, you don't keep spending one hundred fifty
thousand dollars, particularly when you have to borrow it. But
that's exactly what the federal government has done, so to me,
that's the most important thing. I think. Second most important
(04:40):
is make sure that we do not have an automatic
tax increase in twenty sixteen or in twenty twenty six
That ought to be relatively simple as long as Republicans
have brains and do the right things here. At at
a minimum, we simply use the current policy baseline in
our budgets and then we pass a lot that extends.
Is that the tax custs and it becomes permanent. But now
(05:03):
I'd like to do much more. I'd like to simplify
and rationalize the tax code. But I mean, if that's
all we can do, if that's you know, we get
in fighting and can't figure out how to simplify and
rationalize the tax code. The minimum we can do is
just extend the current tax system and the lower rates
to make sure that we don't over tax overburned Americans.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Yeah, I think it's hard to conceptualize thirty six trillion
dollars of debt. But like because even if you look
at what Doge wants to do, which is honorable and needed,
but even just cutting two trillion dollars, I mean, that's
basically just the interest on the debt.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
That's just servicing the debt.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
You know, that's how out of hand this is all
gotten for the country, you know, Senator, are you finding
so we saw when President Trump.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Was certified.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
On January sixth, that was the first time since nineteen
eighty nine that you didn't have a single Democrat objecting
a Republican candidate's victory. Are you finding less opposition from
Democrats this go around? Do they seem more willing to
play ball since Trump won the popular vote? Or what
(06:10):
are you kind of sensing on Capitol Hill right now
with that?
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Well, you can take a look at two things. First
of all, you see how snarky and snippy and snarly
and mean they are in the confirmation hearing, So no,
I don't think they've changed stripes. At the same time,
you see how many of even voted for the Lincoln
Riley act, they are actually responding to the wishes of
the American public. I know that they give lip service
to I'm ske the border. We know they don't. We
(06:34):
know they wanted an open border. So no, I don't
I expect they can do everything they can to try
and sabotage this administration. I don't. I don't expect anything
more out of them than that.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
How hard is it to sit through some of these
hearings and listen to the line of questioning for Democrats
like I was watching, you know, the Pete Hegseth.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Hearing or with Pam Bondi, you know, and just some
of the questions that are asked.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Well, first of all, like Kirsten Joel Brown when she
was asking Pete head Set the question, she just berated
him and didn't even ask a question.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
How hard is it to sit through some of these.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Well, personally witness and the US Center just takes the
entire questioning period of pontificating. That's pretty easy hearing for you.
You don't have to say much. So it's it's kind
of it's it's silly quote. Honestly, I think my impression
is these Democrats they they live in an alternate universe.
So again, I know what happens, you know on my
(07:32):
planet here, you know, I don't know what what happens
on yours. It really is, I mean, it's just bizarre. Uh.
We had a hearing on the remaining Mexico policy, and
the Democrats were lined up saying that the remaining Mexico
policy you put you know, billions of dollars in the
in the box cartel. It dramatically reduced the number of
(07:53):
people trying to illegally come to this country. It we
dramatically reduced the dollars flowing into the human traffickers, the
sex traffickers, the drug traffickers. I mean what it was
just obvious. I mean, when President Trump had pretty well
secured the border, we had something a little over five
hundred encounters per day. That was kind of low point.
That was off of his hive, about five thousand a day.
(08:14):
So he dropped it from about five thousand to five hundred.
Biden took it up to well over ten thousand average
just in December twenty twenty three. Those people are paying
five to ten thousand dollars in human trafficking. So again,
it's just an alternate universe. And then one of the
things I pointed out in Senate Finance because again you
hear the lie, the false narrative ad nauseum that the
(08:37):
Tax Cutting Jobs Act caused the depth sit it, didn't
hear the numbers. I mean, again, I know Democrats don't
like facts. I know people here in Washington don't really
like numbers. But the original score on or the final
score of the Tax Cutting Jobs Act was going to be,
you know, one point five trillion dollars in reduced revenue
increased deficit. What actually happened this is just over the
(08:59):
last seven years years, we increased revenue over that estimate
one point seven trillion dollars, which means we completely paid
for the tax cut plus two hundred thousand in seven years,
not ten with the severe COVID recession. So I'm trying
to convey to people, do not take CBO estimates or
(09:20):
joint Communitian taxation estimates. Take it with a huge grain
of salt. We should not have a drive our policy.
What we ought to be looking at is again the
overall metric, how much in total does the federal garment spend?
And then we ought to focus on simplifying and rationalizing
our tax system, and if we do that, you could
(09:43):
literally cut out almost a half a trillion dollars in
compliance costs, which would be excellent for the economy.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
We'll have more of a Senator Johnson in just a moment.
But first, on January twenty seventh, International Holocaust Rememberance Day,
we remember the great evil of the Holocaust, when millions
of Jews were slaughtered during the Nazis reign of terror. Today,
the rise in global anti Semitism and the constant attacks
on Israel shows that it is more important than ever
to remember the atrocities of the Holocaust to ensure it
(10:09):
never happens again. That's why I've partnered with the International
Fellowship of Christians and Jews. They provide food, shelter, and
safety to Jews in Israel and around the world, including
those remaining Holocaust survivors. Your donation today will help provide food, water, medicine,
and other basic necessities to Jewish communities, and through your gift,
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(10:30):
growing anti Semitism hatred.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Give a gift to show your support.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Of the Jewish people by visiting support IFCJ dot org.
That's one word support IFCJ dot org.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Or call eight eight eight four.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Eight eight IFDJ that's eight eight eight four eight eight
IFCJ eight eight eight.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Four eight eight four three two five. Do you think
all of his nominees will get through?
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Do you think they will get confirmed as cap and nominations.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Unless there's some kind of disqualifying factor they should you know,
I know the attitude of Republican centators is they respect
the convincing victory President Trump. He's in charge, He's the president.
He's the one that is going to be working with
these people in his administration. He's responsible for them. You know,
our job is to if you make vet them, make
sure there's not some disqualifying aspect of their of their background,
(11:23):
but otherwise vote to confirm them.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
You know, so we've got a fifty three seat majority
in the Senate. What do you think that means for
getting President Trump's agenda through? And we kind of talked
about resistance from the left. Do you think we'll see
resistance from the right and trying to move it through?
Speaker 3 (11:40):
Well, it depends on how good a sales job he does,
and we do quite honestly. Let me go back to
total spending one of the things I'm trying to point out.
You just again, I laid out the problem went from
four point four to averaging six point five trillion dollars,
more than a fifty cent increase. Okay, So how do
you go back to a reasonable baseline. What I've done
is I've gone back into time and I've looked at
(12:02):
different spending levels of For example, Bill Clinton in nineteen
ninety eight, that was the first year we actually had
a surplus since nineteen sixty nine. I've looked at the
Barack Obama in twenty fourteen. Just I'll use those two examples.
So I don't think Bill Clinton was spending too little,
maybe on defense, but in general, not too little. I
don't think Barack Obama was spending too little, again, maybe
on defense. But what I've done is I've taken their
(12:25):
spending levels. I've increased them based on population growth and inflation,
and I've put into that budget that baseline budget, today's
spending on Social Security, Medicare, and interest. Okay, those are
exempt from the going back in time and increasing based
on population inflation. If I do that, Bill Clinton's spending
(12:46):
level goes from one point seven trillion to five point
five trillion dollars. Obama Is twenty fourteen spending level of
three point five three point six trillion goes to six
point two trillion. Now, the reason I like the Bill
Clinton level is again, if you inflate that up to
five point five trillion, that's the revenue that Joe Biden
(13:08):
is budgeting right now for this year. That's how close Lisa,
we would be to a balanced budget by just going
back in time inflating President Clinton's or even President Obama's
spending levels up to your reason the baseline, we're that close.
And so again the attitude here is you can never
you can never reduce what you're spending this year. Yes
(13:30):
we can, and yes we must.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
You know, my hope that to your point with the
spending reductions and just government reforms, I mean, it's all
got to get done pretty quick, because if you really
think about it, that four years looks more like a year,
you know, because two years from now we've got mid
term elections, and so for this second, you know, in
a year from now, people are going to start worrying
about campaigning and bring out the campaign trail and trying
(13:55):
to win reelection. So that sort of changes the way
some people vote shouldn't but us, you know, so, we
really have got like one solid year and then depending
on the midterms, we could potentially lose the House in
the Senate.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
I hope not, but it is a possibility, you know.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
So we've got one solid year or to just really
be strong and try to push as much through as possible.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Do you read it that way? Or am I being
too pessimistic with the timeline. No?
Speaker 3 (14:21):
I think that's true, and that's why I also strongly
support a two step approach here. First of all, lay
in that budget. Okay, when you do reconciliation, you have
to pass the budget. So let's lay in that new
baseline budget. You don't have to give instructions to all
the committees based on that budget to do all the
(14:43):
cost reduction. We just give instructions to secure the border,
you know, increase spending on the border wall and all
the things that President Trump needs to do, and all
the spending he needs for four years is securing the border.
And then regroup and start working on the whole tax system.
(15:04):
That's going to take more time. But we've got to
the end of twenty twenty six. You know, one of
the reason I think when need to do that is,
you know, Tom homan Is and the administration they are
dead serious about securing the border. I mean, they are
going to do it, and you know, the media, you'll
get hardened criminals that just might have a family, you know.
You know, we always separate a murderer from the murderer's family,
(15:28):
even if it's a US citizen, right, And that's for
the family that's heartbreaking. You know, the media is going
to be in there with cameras and they're going to
be showing those heartbreaking moments, and it'll start, I would say,
probably reducing the support for what has to be done.
So that's why i'm you know, we have to give
him the funding so that he can use people like
(15:51):
Tom Holman and Christy Nome who are determined to do
this carried out and then again take the time. Listen.
If the only thing we can do is extend the
Tax Cutting Jobs Act, I'll vote to do that, but
I really don't want to do that. I mean, it
leads in place a grotesquely complex tax system. You know,
(16:12):
President Trump obviously ran on a couple of other tax
ideas that are really focusing on making sure that the
workingmen and win this country can keep more of the
harder and pay totally support of that. So what I'd
like to do is I'd like to throw it all
in the hopper, focusing on principles of simplifying and rationalizing
our tax code and making sure that whatever we do
(16:34):
is permanent. That probably just that right there, making our
tax system permanent. Listen, our tax rates permanent, so that
you know, businesses realize that they're not facing increased taxes automatically.
And you like what happened here after the tax cutting
Jobs Acting, you want to talk about a major failure
(16:57):
of that bills. It wasn't permanent. We have automatic tax increases.
That's terrible tax policy. We can't make that same mistake again.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
A lot to get done, and you've got a debt
ceiling fight ahead as well that you guys.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Will be having to confront.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
And then also this funding for the California wildfires and
how to approach that war with Senator Johnson coming up.
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Com, slash Lisa or call nine seven two Patriot. I
know you've called for conditions, I mean it seems to
just be common sense. It's not that you know, we're
not going to help them, or Congress is not going
to help them. It's just if they're not getting the
job done with their forest mismanagement and then also water mismanagement,
(18:50):
this is going to keep happening, So you know, why
not attach some conditions to make sure there's more permanent
change to prevent these sort of situations in the future.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Yeah, Lisa, the more you learn about the grotesque mismanagement
and how not only was this predictable, but it was
predicted a number of days beforehand. You had weather forecasters
predicting these high winds and they know in these dry
conditions what that means, you know, not to have the
resources prepositioned on the lookout. You know, the mayor flying
(19:22):
off apparently to Ghana. The fact that that reservoir right
above the Pacific Palisades was empty for more than a year.
You hear other other communities where they've got a reservoir.
You know, they empty those reservoirs for a week or two,
and then you know those officials are nervous if the
fire officials, the mayor, the governor apparently had no worries
(19:46):
that way, I mean grotesque mismanagement, which means this tragedy,
you probably can't prevent the fires from starting, but from letting,
letting them get out of control is probably preventable, which
means the deaths, the massive property instruction probably was And
of course that's why Gavin Newsom's blaming that climate change
(20:07):
right in my fall is you know these dirty Republicans
who deny climate change that you know, want want to
use only nothing but fossil fuels and you know, gas
guzzling SUVs. Uh. It's a nice little sleight of hand there.
But I hope, I hope Californias are smarter and start
holding these Democrat elected officials accountable. I don't have great
(20:31):
hopes that they will, so again if they come crossing
the United States taxpayer to bail out their mismanagement, the
minimum way out to do is put pretty strong conditions
and save them from themselves.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
No, I agree.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
And Gavin Newsom's like, I want an investigation into the
water mismanagement.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
I'm like, pretty sure it's gonna lead to you, Bud.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
But you know, Senator Ron Johnson, a lot to get
done over these next four years. We're Glad to have
you in the Senate, Glad to have you on the show.
As always, it's always an honor. I love chatting with you.
Thanks so much for your time, sir, have.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Great day, take care.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
That was Senator Ron Johnson from the great state of Wisconsin.
We appreciate his time. We appreciate you guys at home
for listening every Monday and Thursday, but you can listen
throughout the week. I also want to thank my producer,
John Cassio for putting the show together.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Until next time,
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Clay Travis
Buck Sexton
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