7/1/11 – U-S Senator Ron Johnson got what he wanted this Thursday morning, when the Senate scrapped its plans to take next week off – and will instead try to reach a federal budget deal. The Wisconsin Republican made several public statements over the last couple days that his colleagues should skip their July Fourth holiday week. They’ll be off Monday, but will return on Tuesday. Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid announced the change-of-heart, saying there’s “work to do.” Johnson said it’s important for lawmakers to stay in session and address what he calls the nation’s “looming fiscal crisis.” But there’s still a huge disagreement over what should be done. President Obama wants to cut spending by one-point-three billion dollars over 10 years, and raise taxes on the wealthy by over 400-billion-dollars. And in the meantime, he wants the federal debt ceiling raised to avoid the government from defaulting on August second. But Republicans reject any calls for higher taxes – and they want more in spending cuts. Johnson blames excessive federal spending for the nation’s fiscal problems – and he says Congress cannot waste any time scaling it back. The G-O-P-controlled House has approved a general blueprint of concepts for the next budget. Democrats who control the Senate have not come up with their own package yet.
