Russ Feingold

Opinion Source Information:

Press Release

“The President’s proposal for a new statutory budget enforcement tool is a step in the right direction, although we should go further. He is right to base his proposal on the pay-as-you-go rules that were in place during the 1990s which helped balance the federal budget. We know just how critical those rules were because after they expired Congress and the Bush Administration returned the country to fiscally reckless policies and produced the record-breaking deficits for which we are now paying. I’m pleased we finally reinstated the Senate’s pay-as-you-go budget rule a few years ago. That Senate rule will help restore the fiscal discipline that we need now more than ever if we are going to stop running up budget-busting deficits and adding to the already enormous federal debt. Adding a statutory paygo rule on top of that, as the President proposes, will help, but it should cover all new mandatory spending and tax cuts. While I’d like to see an even tougher measure than the president is proposing, his announcement is a welcome step toward restoring fiscal responsibility.”

Opinion Source Information:

Question: On the Amendment (Coburn Amdt. No. 1067 ) 

Vote Number: 188 Vote Date: May 12, 2009, 05:45 PM
Required For Majority: 3/5 Vote Result: Amendment Agreed to
Amendment Number: S.Amdt. 1067 to S.Amdt. 1058 to H.R. 627 (Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act of 2009)
Statement of Purpose: To protect innocent Americans from violent crime in national parks and refuges.

Feingold (D-WI), Yea

Opinion Source Information:

NPR

But Congress is now wrestling with the formidable question of whether, in the wake of Blagojevich's ignominy, it should take the rare step of amending the U.S. Constitution to strip governors of their Senate appointment power.

Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold has introduced an amendment that would do just that; there's a companion proposal in the House. Feingold argues: If not now, when?

...

Feingold says that's enough. He wants to require that all Senate vacancies be filled by special election, just as they are in the House.