[Peace-discuss] Local rep. right about war...

[C. G. ESTABROOK]

[...but wrong about Social Security, Medicare, and the deficit...  -- 
CGE]

Johnson stance on war draws support
Wed, 09/28/2011 - 9:03pm | Tom Kacich
DECATUR -- About two years after he first called for the withdrawal of  
U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson, R- 
Urbana, now appears to be gaining the support of his constituents.

Speaking to about 100 people -- nearly all white and conservative --  
at the Decatur Public Library, Johnson received a burst of applause  
Wednesday evening when he again called for an end to U.S. military  
involvement in the Middle East.

Johnson also suggested gradually raising the retirement age to  
strengthen Social Security and Medicare, and said he was willing to  
look at revenue measures, not just budget cuts, to reduce the federal  
deficit.

The six-term congressman criticized Democrats for not being willing to  
make cuts in federal spending and hit Republicans for supporting only  
"cuts in non-defense discretionary spending."

"That is not acceptable, ladies and gentlemen," said Johnson. "I  
understand there are people in here who are going to vehemently  
disagree with me and who believe that every war is a good war. The  
reality is that by the time we will have completed our quote-unquote  
mission -- and I don't know what the mission is, ladies and gentlemen  
-- we will have spent close to 4 trillion dollars in those wars.

"We cannot exclude defense from the cuts in dealing with our national  
debt."

Johnson said he doesn't believe his constituents "are one iota safer  
because we're losing thousands of American men and women, and hundreds  
of thousands of innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Libya and Iraq."

"I have consistently voted in appropriation after appropriation and  
bill after bill to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan and Libya," he  
said. It was at that point and during other statements about defense  
spending that Johnson received his only sustained applause during the  
meeting.

"We can't afford it in our men and women's lives, we can't afford it  
in our infrastructure, and we can't afford it fiscally," he said of  
the wars.

Following the meeting, Johnson said he was surprised by the response.

"But generally in the public and even among the conservative base,  
people are starting to say, why are we here? Why are we spending the  
money? Why are we allowing men and women to be killed for a mission we  
cannot define? I think it's critical to our economic and moral future  
that we get out tomorrow, and that we don't engage in some new stupid  
war the next time. I'm just quoting the president."

On other issues, Johnson said:

-- He thinks Social Security and Medicare can be strengthened by  
gradually raising the retirement age.

"To prevent the system from going bankrupt, there have to be modest  
changes for new workers in the system," he said. "For people who are  
entering the system tweaking the age of retirement, when it has stayed  
the same for decades, makes economic sense. Relatively small changes  
in the retirement age have a dramatic effect on the fiscal soundness  
of Social Security. I'm not suggesting we move the age to 75, but  
moving it to 67 1/2 over a phased-in period makes economic sense and  
moral sense."

He also said he wouldn't rule out the need for higher contributions  
into the system.

"I'm not ruling anything out but what I'm ruling in is the fact that  
we have to make common-sense, fair changes to preserve the safety  
net," he said. "If we don't do that there's going to be no Social  
Security, no Medicare for the future."

-- He is not ruling out the need for revenue measures to cut into the  
federal budget deficit.

"The revenue side of the equation has to be examined. There are a  
number of tax loopholes that exist now, some tax breaks that are being  
phased out that I support phasing out and others that I don't. I think  
we need to look at the whole picture. I don't think you can  
responsibly look at the debt crisis we face without looking at every  
aspect of ways to solve it."

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/politics-and-government/2011-09-28/johnson-stance-war-draws-support.html


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