Herb Kohl: “I once again rise to reluctantly, but adamantly, oppose the budget reconciliation bill before us today. I say…”

“I once again rise to reluctantly, but adamantly, oppose the budget reconciliation bill before us today. I say reluctantly because the Senate ought to use the reconciliation procedure for the purposes for which it was intended: making difficult choices to reduce spending. We have an obligation to bring our Nation's budget back into balance so we don't saddle future generations with endless debt and economic ruin. However, this budget fails on every level to achieve this goal. And even worse, the budget cuts that this bill does make fall squarely on lower-income Americans who can least afford them. One provision in this conference agreement that I support relates to extension of the Milk Income Lost Contract, MILC, program. MILC, which expired at the end of the last fiscal year, provides countercyclical support for the Nation's dairy sector. It is targeted. It is fair. It is essential. Moreover, it enjoys the President's support. It makes sense as part of the balanced Agriculture package in this bill. But even this one bright spot is not enough to save this bill or the budget plan of which it is a part. This bill is just one piece of a fraudulent, fiscally, and morally bankrupt budget which I cannot endorse. While the conference agreement we are now voting on cuts almost $40 billion in spending, waiting in the wings is a tax-cut bill that will likely cost more than $70 billion in tax cuts for the wealthy. The math simply doesn't add up.…”