By Felesia A. Martin
Milwaukee County Supervisor 7th District
Felesia Martin Vice Chair Democratic Party
The news of Senator Ron Johnson using taxpayer funds to cover personal flights from his vacation home in Florida is a betrayal to us Wisconsinites and is a clear violation of Senate rules. Taxpayer money is meant to be used on the public good – things like infrastructure, schools, and public safety. I applaud the Wisconsinite who filed the ethics complaint against him; he should be held accountable for what he’s done.
Sadly, part of me isn’t surprised that Senator Johnson did this. In Washington he’s only been focused on fulfilling his self-serving agenda at our expense. That’s why on top of spending our tax money for his vacation travel, he’s worked overtime to change the tax code in a way that benefited himself and his biggest donors. These are the very same people who bankrolled his campaign in 2016 and are doing the same this time around.
He’s done all of this while complaining that he’s “only doubled” his wealth since joining the Senate, so we know where his priorities lie. That’s why he’s voted against legislation that would create good paying jobs and hold the Chinese government accountable, voted to take away protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and refused to support legislation that would support working Wisconsin families. We can never trust him to have our backs when all he’s focused on is enriching himself.
Sen. Johnson doesn’t want to do the job he was elected to do, so it’s clear that our only recourse is to vote Johnson out of office this November.