Russ Feingold: “Regrettably, both amendments contain significant flaws, and I will oppose both of them for that reason. The amendment…”

“Regrettably, both amendments contain significant flaws, and I will oppose both of them for that reason. The amendment proposed by the Senator from Alabama, Mr. Sessions, and the Senator from Missouri, Mrs. McCaskill, propose to limit some discretionary spending over the next 5 fiscal years. However, those limits include a giant loophole, as the proposal includes a complete exemption for spending on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The proposal in no way requires that such funding be offset, or be subject to the usual supermajority thresholds that the Senate imposes on spending beyond that for which the body budgets. Under the amendment, spending on those wars is completely unrestrained, and would be added right onto the government's budget deficits. This is not a small matter. To date, spending for those wars has totaled roughly $1 trillion and not one cent has been paid for. The cost of those wars has been added directly to our budget deficits, swelling our already mountainous public debt, and increasing the burden we are leaving our children and grandchildren to bear.”