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Feingold votes against $410 billion spending bill
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| Contributor | Craverguy |
| Last Edited | Craverguy Mar 12, 2009 02:22pm |
| Category | News |
| News Date | Mar 11, 2009 12:00pm |
| Description | U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., of Middleton, was among 35 senators who tried but failed Tuesday to stop a $410 billion federal spending bill from passing.
It was approved on a voice vote, after it passed its final procedural hurdle.
And while Pres. Barack Obama said he would sign the bill today, he also promised to curb the types of pet projects the massive package contains.
Feingold says there are 8,500 pork items costing $7.7 billion. And he said Congress failed to show Americans it’s committed to spending their money wisely.
But U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., of Menomonee Falls, who supported the package, said the earmarks are often the only way to bring home needed funding for a host of things in the Badger State.
The bill funds the government for the rest of the fiscal year, with increases above inflation for numerous programs including energy research and food aid.
Amtrak gets a 10 percent increase. It erases former President Bush’s restrictions on Cuban imports and loosened rules on travel there.
Congress itself beefed up its own budget by 11 percent, although it omitted the members’ next automatic cost-of-living raise. |
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