Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson says he cast 50th, deciding vote on dismantling health care

Senator did not comment on alternative proposals. 

MADISON, Wis. — Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson says he cast the 50th vote to move ahead with a bill dismantling the national health care law because he wanted the process of repealing and replacing the law to continue. 

But Johnson did not commit Tuesday in a conference call with reporters to vote for any of the alternative proposals.

Johnson says, “We obviously don’t have consensus on where we ought to go.”

Johnson says he voted to proceed because if that failed “the process would have ended and the mess that is Obamacare would have remained in place.”

Johnson says he wants to have “positive input” on the process of repealing and replacing the law. But he also says, “No matter what we pass it’s not going to fix the whole problem.”