Russ Feingold: “I am pleased to bring an old friend back to this body--the pay-go rule. I am even more pleased to say this is not some…”

“I am pleased to bring an old friend back to this body--the pay-go rule. I am even more pleased to say this is not some new pay-go, but rather good old-fashioned ``Classic'' pay-go. This is the pay-go we used to have in the Senate--a rule that said you had to pay for what you wanted. If you want to increase entitlement spending, you have to pay for it. If you want to increase tax expenditures or cut tax rates, then you have to pay for it. In offering this amendment, I am pleased to be joined by the Senator from Rhode Island, Mr. Chafee, the Senator from Illinois, Mr. Obama, and in particular I am pleased to, of course, have the Senator from North Dakota, Mr. Conrad, as a cosponsor. As I said during the debate over the first part of the reconciliation scheme that was included in the budget resolution, there is no Senator more dedicated to a fiscally responsible Federal budget and to restoring sound budget rules than Senator Conrad. He is an acknowledged expert on the budget and the rules that govern its consideration, but as I also said during that debate, you do not have to be a Kent Conrad to understand the pay-go rule. It is a straightforward, commonsense requirement that whenever Congress wants to increase spending through entitlements or wants to reduce revenues from the Tax Code, then we have to pay for it or find 60 votes to make an exception to the rule.…”