The Truth with Lisa Boothe: Sen. Ron Johnson EXPOSES the Truth Behind the Government Shutdown and Obamacare’s Failures

Summary

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show: The Truth with Lisa Boothe

Episode Title: Sen. Ron Johnson EXPOSES the Truth Behind the Government Shutdown and Obamacare’s Failures
Date: November 11, 2025
Host: Lisa Boothe (for "The Truth with Lisa Boothe")
Guest: Senator Ron Johnson

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Lisa Boothe interviews Senator Ron Johnson, dissecting the recent government shutdown, the political fight over enhanced Obamacare subsidies, and the broader failures of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The conversation also tackles Republican strategy, the future of the Senate filibuster, and prospects for health care reform. Throughout, Senator Johnson argues that Democrats are using government shutdowns and subsidies to mask Obamacare's failures and push the U.S. closer to a single-payer health system.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Government Shutdown & Its Purpose

• Senate Majority Leader Thune’s Offer:
  Boothe opens by questioning why Democrats forced a shutdown when they eventually accepted an offer (a guaranteed vote on enhanced Obamacare subsidies) already on the table in October.

  • “So what the heck was the point of the government shutdown?... What was the point of screwing over all of these working families … withholding their paychecks?”
    — Lisa Boothe [03:00]

• Johnson’s Take:
  Sen. Johnson frames the shutdown as political gamesmanship—Democrats wanted to highlight Obamacare’s “beefed up” subsidies and hide the law’s failures.

  • “I think that was just to gain Democrats consent to … stop their obstruction. But again, from my standpoint…I truthfully think that Democrats have stepped in it by raising the issue of Obamacare. They’ve given us a few months now to just highlight what a miserable failure it is.”
    — Sen. Ron Johnson [04:09]

  • He describes how the shutdown used government workers and the public as “pawns in this sick political gamesmanship.”
    — [06:59]

2. Obamacare’s Systemic Failures

• Damage Assessment:
  Johnson reflects on a recent Senate hearing he chaired, with expert witnesses detailing Obamacare’s impacts:

  • Industry consolidation led to less competition and higher premiums.
  • Medicaid expansion squeezed out traditional Medicaid recipients.
  • Individuals face unaffordable premiums and deductibles.
  • Johnson shares a personal story from the hearing, where a witness (brought by Democrats) lost employer coverage, faced unaffordable premiums, and had to take out a home equity loan for medical bills.
    • “The Democrats’ own witness was a victim of Obamacare, but our problem is … he’s sitting there in the hearing, with his own witness unable to recognize the damage done to her and her family because of Obamacare.”
      — Sen. Ron Johnson [05:42]

• Premium Increases:
  Johnson cites a chart showing premiums for a 40-year-old individual have risen 169% since Obamacare began—over four times the rate of inflation [12:29].

• Subsidies Masking Problems:
  Johnson argues that Democrats pushed for the enhanced subsidies not to help the working class, but to “mask” Obamacare’s deep flaws and attempt to transition the U.S. toward a single-payer (government-run) health system.

  • “They wanted to continue to throw hundreds of billions of dollars at the problem to mask, to hide the failure of Obamacare…they went through this kamikaze shutdown…”
    — Sen. Ron Johnson [06:59]

3. Political Motives and Election Dynamics

• Was It About Firing Up the Base?
  Boothe asks if the shutdown was meant to boost election turnout among Democrats.
  • Johnson argues it wasn’t about turnout, because “Trump derangement syndrome is very strong among the left.”
  • He says Democrats see healthcare as a potent political issue because “nobody thinks they should pay for health care anymore,” and Democrats promise to cover everyone.
    — [07:56]

4. The Dangerous Path to Single-Payer

• Expanding Subsidies = Expanding Government Control:
  Johnson contends that expanding eligibility for subsidies further entrenches government in healthcare, nudging the country toward single-payer.

  • “It’s always been about moving to a single payer system…this enhanced subsidy was just that next step toward that system.”
    — Sen. Ron Johnson [09:32]

  • Boothe asks if “the genie can be put back in the bottle” or if Obamacare’s legacy is too deeply entrenched. Johnson thinks the damage can be repaired by exposing Obamacare’s failures and shifting to a competitive, consumer-driven market.
    — [11:14]

5. Republican Health Care Vision

• Principles for Reform:
  Johnson advocates for free market competition, consumer choice, and high-risk pools to cover pre-existing conditions, instead of mandates and heavy subsidies.
  • “Let’s not tell them what insurance is going to be available to them. Let the marketplace do it. We need to foster greater free market competition but we also need more consumerism.”
    — Sen. Ron Johnson [13:44]
  • Advocates high-risk pools for those with pre-existing conditions, spreading costs more broadly.

6. The Filibuster Debate & Senate Gridlock

• Should Republicans Nuke the Filibuster?
  Boothe raises President Trump’s call to abolish the filibuster so Republicans can pass their agenda if they regain control.

  • Johnson reluctantly agrees:
    • “If the Democrats ever get power…and that’s the first thing we have to try and prevent, they will nuke this…the next time they have the majority, they’ll nuke it. So what President Trump is saying, we better do it before them…They only care about power, about their own political power. That’s all elected Democrats want is power. It’s sick.”
      — Sen. Ron Johnson [19:22]

• Gridlock Benefits Whom?
  Johnson says Democrats used the shutdown and obstruction to harm the economy and blame Republicans.

  • “If the economy is not doing well because we haven’t done permitting reform...it’ll be Trump and Republicans get blamed. That’s exactly what the Democrats are looking for. That’s how sinister they truly are.”
    — [20:53]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Lisa Boothe, on the shutdown:
  “What was the point of screwing over all of these working families…of withholding their paychecks? What was the point?” [03:00]

• Ron Johnson, on Democrats and Obamacare:
  “They’ve given us a few months now to just highlight what a miserable failure it is.” [04:16]

• On masking Obamacare’s failures:
  “They wanted to continue to throw hundreds of billions of dollars at the problem to mask, to hide the failure of Obamacare.” [06:59]

• On the ultimate Democratic aim:
  “It’s always been about moving to a single payer system, and this enhanced subsidy was just that next step toward that system.” [09:32]

• On health care expectations:
  “Nobody thinks they should actually have to pay for medical services. Somebody else pays for it.” [08:27]

• On single-payer and the path forward:
  “If we can get the American people’s attention, let them know what a disaster Obamacare has been, give them the wherewithal and the freedom to buy plans that fit their needs…we have to be able to do this because continue down this, this road is just going to completely ruin our health care system.” [12:43]

• On abolishing the filibuster:
  "If the Democrats ever get power…they will nuke this [filibuster]…That's all elected Democrats want is power. It’s sick." [19:22]

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Important Timestamps

• 03:00 – Lisa Boothe questions the purpose and impact of the shutdown
• 04:09 – Sen. Johnson: Democrats’ real motive and impact on Obamacare debate
• 05:35 – Johnson recounts Senate hearing and the personal story illustrating Obamacare's failures
• 06:46–06:59 – Discussion of Democrats’ true objective: masking Obamacare’s shortcomings
• 07:56 – Was the shutdown about election turnout? Johnson’s political analysis
• 09:32 – Johnson details how enhanced subsidies move the U.S. toward single-payer
• 11:14 – Can the system be repaired? Johnson’s vision for health care reform
• 13:44 – Johnson on high risk pools, pre-existing conditions, and free market principles
• 19:07–21:53 – The filibuster debate and forecast of future Senate battles

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Episode Flow & Tone

• The conversation is direct, combative toward Democratic health care policy, and focused on substantive critique.
• Both Boothe and Johnson blend policy analysis with political commentary, using anecdotes and statistics in a colloquial yet pointed manner.
• Calls to action are implicit: reform Obamacare by highlighting its perceived harms, shift to consumer-driven care, and be ready to end Senate traditions if Democrats threaten to do so first.

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Bottom Line

Senator Ron Johnson—backed by Lisa Boothe’s incisive questioning—argues that the recent shutdown was a calculated Democratic effort to distract from Obamacare’s failures and nudge America toward socialized medicine. He urges Republicans to expose Obamacare’s damages, empower consumer choice, and prepare for tough Senate battles, including the possibility of ending the filibuster to enact meaningful reform.

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For those who haven’t listened: This episode delivers a detailed critique of Obamacare, analyzes recent Senate drama, and previews upcoming political fights, all from a staunchly conservative, reform-oriented perspective.

Transcript

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[Lisa Booth]

Welcome to the Truth with Lisa Booth, where we get to the heart of the issues that matter to you. So what the heck was the point of the government shutdown? Senate Majority Leader Thune offered Democrats basically the same deal they just accepted, or at least some of the Democrats accepted back in October. So what was the point of screwing over all of these working families for from our military to our air traffic controllers, of withholding their paychecks? What was the point? Now Democrats say it's over these beefed up Obamacare subsidies, but they're always supposed to be temporary. And by the way, those specific subsidies are going to wealthy people, so it's not helping the working class. We're going to ask Senator Ron Johnson about that. Also, President Trump has called for ending the filibuster. Should Republicans do it? Does Senator Ron Johnson support that? And what would that mean for the Senate moving forward? All of that and more with Senator Ron Johnson. So Senator Johnson, back in October, Senate Majority Leader Thune offered a vote on subsidies on these beefed up Obamacare subsidies in exchange for reopening the government. What was the point of all of this?

[Senator Ron Johnson]

I think that was just to gain Democrats consent to, you know, do whatever we need to do again in order for the Senate to operate at all requires consent after consent after consent for the just the menial little thing. I mean, if, if the other, if the minority party wanted to grind the scent to the halt, they could do so because you literally need otherwise you have to motion and votes on, you know, walking down to the well, basically. But, you know, generally it was to stop their obstruction. But again, from my standpoint, I don't think that was that difficult to vote. I mean, their demands were so outlandish. And I truthfully think that Democrats have stepped in it by raising the issue of Obamacare. They've given us a few months now to just highlight what a miserable figure it is. I held a hearing last week assessing the damage of Obamacare and we had some great witnesses, people like Brian Blaize and Karen Bragdon and Joel White. And they just laid out the consolidation industry, which laid, which caused the anti competitive skyrocketing cost of premiums, the damage done to Medicaid traditional Medicaid recipients, disabled children being crowded out in favor of adults, the Medicaid expansion population. Then Brian Blaise really covered the, the premium increases. But at the very end of the hearing, after we laid all this damage, all this destruction out, Senator Blumenthal, my ranking member, goes, well, where are the millions of people harmed by Obamacare? I don't know anybody harmed by Obamacare at that point. I could point to his witness. He brought in a mom from Madison, Wisconsin. She is a victim of Obamacare. She lost her employer coverage in 2016. Had to buy, they bought a Silver Planet $1,000 a month. Couldn't afford that over a couple of years. So they switched to a bronze plan with a $14,000 deductible. At least back when I was buying health care, that was a catastrophic plan. And those things were dirt cheap. But anyway, so they had medical expenses. Her and her husband had to take out an $18,000 home equity line of credit to pay for the medical bills. That's not insurance. So the Democrats own witness was a victim of Obamacare, but our problem is he's sitting there in the hearing, we with his own witness unable to recognize the damage done to her and her family because of Obamacare. So Democrats in a total state of denial. But this has given us, like I say, a couple month opportunity to point out the American public exactly how destructive Obamacare has been.

[Lisa Booth]

You know, I guess my point is this could have ended back in October because if you look at inevitably where Democrats ended up, it was with a guaranteed vote on the enhanced Obamacare subsidies. But Thune had offered that back in October.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

So again they wanted to highlight the fact that these premiums are going to skyrocket because of the faulty design of Obamacare, because of their enhanced subsidies that they decided to have expire, which is a good thing they're expiring. And again, the reason they fought so hard is they wanted to continue to throw hundreds of billions of dollars at the problem to mask, to hide the failure of Obamacare. And that they were desperate to do that. I mean, so desperate that they went through this kamikaze shutdown that used government workers and the American public as pawns in these, in this sick political gamesmanship.

[Lisa Booth]

How much of it do you think was to drive turnout in last week's elections? Because you know, if you look at every poll, you look at this article from Axios back in July, like their base is literally out for blood is what some of these House Democrats told Axios. You know how much of it was to drive turnout in the election to get their base fired up and motivated.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

I don't know. I think Trump derangement syndrome is very strong among the left in the Democrat Party. I don't think they need this to drive that kind of turnout. Again, I really think this was all about masking the miserable failure that Obamacare is trying to bludgeon us into throwing a few hundred billion dollars at it to continue to hide that fact. I really think that was the main point. And again, I thought they think they can score political points. Healthcare has always been a very potent issue for them because the American public, nobody thinks they should pay for health care anymore. That's just a sad fact. You know, you get your insurance through an employer, you may have to contribute something, but nobody thinks they should actually have to pay for medical services. Somebody else pays for it. Either you pay insurance premiums, then the insurance carrier covers it, or you pay your taxes and you're in Medicare, you're Medicaid. So it's a very sad fact that we have, as a result, taken all the disciplines, all the benefits of free market competition out of a health care market where that satisfies the result. But I think that's really the main issue. There is Democrats, they do well on health care because they're always promising to pay for people's health care. And that unfortunately in America is popular.

[Lisa Booth]

But it's interesting with these premiums specifically because, well, one, you know, they were Covid era, so they were always supposed to be temporary. But secondly, they also are for people making over 400% of the poverty line. So, you know, we're not talking about, you know, subsidies for impoverished people here. So, like, how is that fighting for affordability or for the working class?

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Because Obamacare was never about bringing health insurance rates down. I mean, even Democrats had to realize, I mean, people like the Gruber, that one guy that talked about how stupid the American people were and stuff, I mean, they weren't dumb enough to realize that this Rube Goldberg architecture here was going to actually lower premiums. So when President Obama was saying, we're going to lower health care costs by $2,500 per family, that was as big a lie as if you like your health care plan, if you like your doctor, you can keep it. They never believe that. So this has always been about a single payer system and the enhanced subsidy. That was a great way to transition. You'll take the next step toward single payer system because now you're including people that were excluded from Obamacare subsidies You're bringing more people onto a single payer system. Right. You have the Medicaid expansion group, you know, it's about 20 million Americans, you know, young, a lot of them young, you know, working age, childless, able bodied adults that don't work because they get the healthcare paid for them now. So this is, it's always been about moving to a single payer system. And this enhanced subsidy was just that next step toward that system. And we told him, we made him backstep.

[Lisa Booth]

I actually had a debate, Jonathan Gruber on Obamacare on TV one time. My goal was just to get him really mad at first and then he sort of like combusted after that. So is it too late then to put the genie back in the bottle? Because as you mentioned, like the whole point of Obamacare and then also the extension of these enhanced subsidies is to move us to single payer system. And that's something obviously Republicans have been warning about for quite some time now. Is it too late to go back? I mean, is the damage done? Like once you kind of create a government program, it's, you know, seems to be impossible to claw it back.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Well, I understand you've only got, they say 24 million people on these exchanges. That's debatable because you probably have 4, 5, 6 million that are totally phantom. You know, got 20 million people on Medgate expansion. You know, we certainly tried to tap that by not allowing these adults get a one to nine match. So I mean there are things we can certainly do. But the reason I never really liked the slogan repeal and replace is I much prefer the descriptive, I hate to call it slogan, but repair the damage done by Obamacare and transition to a system that works. The reason I like that is. Okay, well what damage? Well that's our opportunity now over the next couple months we need to point out the damage done by Obamacare and if we can do an effective job at that. And again, that's what the Democrats are trying to hide with these subsidies. Show the premiums. I've got one chart, state by state increase in premiums for, I think this is for a 40 year old individual. 169% since the start of Obamacare. Inflation's up 39% says 4.3 times the rate of inflation. Again if we can describe that damage then, you know, God bless President Trump working with Rick Scott. This is kind of his concept. Well, it's a lot of people's concept. He's really pushing this. Whatever we spend on Obamacare, let's transfer that to the American People and let them buy the health care plans that they choose can kind of go back to pre Obamacare. Now you've got to unravel a lot of Obamacare's faulty architecture. But I think people are ready because they're not happy with the fact if they just want a short term plan, if they want to have their employer join association, you know, employer sponsored insurance has only gone up 74%, not quite double the rate of inflation. And part of that cost increase is driven by the faulty architecture of Obamacare. So I know I'm throwing a lot of facts and details out here, but yes, I think if we can get the American people's attention, let them know what a disaster Obamacare has been, give them the wherewithal and the freedom to buy plans that fit their needs. I mean, if you're a young person, you don't need first dollar cover, you don't need a gold plated plan, you probably need a catastrophic care plan because you're generally healthy. Right? So no, we have to be able to do this because continue down this, this road is just going to completely ruin our health care system.

[Lisa Booth]

Yeah. And that's always the response is when you attack Obamacare, then it's, well then what's the Republican plan?

[Senator Ron Johnson]

You know, we have, we have so many ideas out there, but yeah, I'm trying to simplify things. Let's keep basic principles. You know, let's, let's give people, let's not tell them what insurance is going to be available to them. Let the marketplace do it. You know, we need to foster greater free market competition but we also more consumerism. So those are just basic principles. Yes, we're going to cover people with pre existing conditions. We could have done that easily with high risk pools. Make some modifications, spread that cost over everybody. It's one of the reasons premiums in the individual market have skyrocketed is we took those high risk pools, destroyed them and we forced a small percentage of The American public, 12 million people at the time, to pick up the entire cost of covering everybody else with pre existing conditions. Okay. I mean it was a disaster. And that's one of the main reasons those premiums have skyrocketed so much. So go to a system that works high risk pools where you spread that risk over everybody paying for insurance.

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[Lisa Booth]

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[Lisa Booth]

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[Lisa Booth]

There was some debate before, you know, more Democrats came on board with reopening the government about eliminating the filibuster. It's something that President Trump called for as well. You know, should we do that? And then what does the Senate look like after that moving forward?

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Well, first of all, it's a real shame that Democrats have no respect for that filibuster. So what President Trump is, and I actually agree with him, reluctantly agree, if the Democrats ever get power and that's the first thing we have to try and prevent, they will nuke this. A filibuster. There are only two. They purge those individuals to prevent that last time. So next time they have the majority, they'll nuke it. So what President Trump is saying we better do it before them and let's face it, they have shown us what they're Gonna do. They completely obstructed President Trump being able to staff his administration. So there's a lot of reluctance. We didn't wanna change the rules with 51 votes on confirming nominations, but in the end we had to because Democrats were so obnoxious and so obstructive. Right now they just shut down the government for 40 some days. Right. You know, doing real harm. What's so bizarre about this, Lisa? They're the party big government then in fact, they took their own family member hostage and we're the ones trying to get their own family member out of, you know, out of the kidnapped state. So it's very obvious moving forward, they won't do anything to let President Trump and Republicans pass good laws for the benefit of the American public. They were happy. They knew this was harmful to our economy. This was not good for our economy. Take a look what was happening to air travel that harmed our economy. That cost us billions of dollars in economic activity. That's exactly their point. It wasn't about turning turn out. It was about Obamacare. But it's primarily about let's make sure that the economy tanks, that President Trump has no success. So President Trump's just recognized that reality. What are we going to be able to pass in the remainder of his term in 2020? We'll be able to pass nothing. And we better be able to pass something or else we're going to get blamed. If the economy is not doing well because we haven't done permitting reform, because we haven't freed up markets, because we haven't done these things that you need to do to have a prosperous economy, it'll be Trump and Republicans get blamed. That's exactly what the Democrats are looking for. That's how sinister they truly are. They could. I mean, look at how they treated government employee unions. I had the unions backing my Shutdown Fairness act that they were putting pressure on Democrats. Democrats just gave them the middle finger. They don't. They only care about power, about their own political power. That's all elected Democrats want is power. It's sick.

[Lisa Booth]

This sick. Senator Ron Johnson, we appreciate you making the time, sir. Looking forward to having you back on soon.

[Senator Ron Johnson]

Have a great day.

[Lisa Booth]

That was Senator Ron Johnson. Appreciate him for making the time for the show. Appreciate you guys at home for listening every Tuesday and Thursday. But you can listen to throughout the week. Also want to thank John Casio, my producer, for putting the show together.

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