Russ Feingold: “First of all, it seems, almost as if in an effort to stop this bill from even being amended, that the kitchen sink is…”

“First of all, it seems, almost as if in an effort to stop this bill from even being amended, that the kitchen sink is being thrown at this bill. Now we hear the Postmaster General is one of the lead opponents of the bill. But this completely disregards the resolution that we have placed in the bill, the Senator from Arizona has placed in the bill, that would provide that the money that is saved from preventing Members of Congress from franking during an election year would be used to provide a relatively modest funding necessary to provide the postal discounts which will only be given to those Senators and Members of Congress who agree to the spending limits. So that again is another red herring. Second, it does not matter how many times the other side says that this bill is not voluntary, it is voluntary. There are no such mandatory restrictions across the board for citizens as has been suggested by the Senator from Kentucky and the Senator from Texas. It does not matter how many special interests--whether it is the NEA, the AFL-CIO, or business PAC's--it does not matter how many times they tell you our scheme for allowing people to voluntarily abide by limits and give them benefits; it does not matter how many times they say that is not voluntary. It is.”