December 23, 2024
Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson spoke with Fox News Digital about the Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act and how he believes the bill will do the opposite of its name.

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Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., called the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act “Orwellian” since he claims the bill will do nothing to lower inflation. 

“Consider how Orwellian the name of that bill is,” Johnson told Fox News Digital. “It’s not going to reduce inflation. It’s going to increase businesses’ costs by increasing taxes on them. So businesses are going to recover those costs by increasing prices. That’s inflation.” 

The Wisconsin senator was meeting with voters at the Wisconsin State Fair on Friday, where he said the top concerns he’s hearing from people are inflation and gas prices. 

“People can’t get by. They don’t have enough money to fill up the tank. They’re putting groceries back,” Johnson said. “This is what this election is about.” 

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Sen. Ron Johnson at the Wisconsin State Fair.

Sen. Ron Johnson at the Wisconsin State Fair. (Fox News Digital)

When asked whether there was anything in the Democrats’ $739 billion Inflation Reduction Act that he supported, Johnson couldn’t name a single good thing about the bill. 

“Hundreds of billions of dollars into the Green New Deal fantasy… That will also drive up prices,” he said. “No, there is nothing good in that bill.” 

Johnson noted how the Democrats’ bill would add 87,000 new IRS agents, which he implied was ridiculous since there are roughly only 20,000 Border Patrol agents at a time when illegal border crossings are high.  

“They are going to hire four times that number of people to harass middle income Americans. It’s absurd,” Johnson added. 

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This photo taken April 13, 2014 shows the headquarters of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in Washington.

This photo taken April 13, 2014 shows the headquarters of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in Washington. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)

According to the senator, one of solutions to ease inflation and bring prices down is for the United States to become energy independent. 

“First of all, let’s become energy independent. Let’s end the Democrats’ war on fossil fuels,” he said. Johnson also called for Congress to stop the deficit spending and encourage people to get back to work. 

Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes speaks to the crowd during the 48th Annual Juneteenth Day Festival on June 19, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes speaks to the crowd during the 48th Annual Juneteenth Day Festival on June 19, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  (Dylan Buell/Getty Images for VIBE)

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Johnson will face off against Wisconsin Democrat Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes in the general election. Barnes said he would have voted in favor of the Inflation Reduction Act if he were in the Senate. However, he did say the bill was “not perfect.”