Feingold tweets intention to introduce new deficit reduction legislation

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) plans to introduce a bill next week that he believes will reduce the federal deficit by about $500 billion, he said in a tweet Saturday afternoon:

"The deficit hit a new record. My Control Spending Now Act coming next week will slash it by half a trillion and control future spending."

Although the Wisconsin Democrat -- a fierce foe of deficit spending -- has provided only scant details about his forthcoming bill, he did say in a press release on Friday that his effort consists of about 40 smaller deficit-reducing proposals that have recently fallen by the wayside. Among them are earmark reforms, subsidy controls and waste-prevention measures, he said.

“Fiscal responsibility is a Wisconsin tradition and something I have focused on throughout my time in the Senate,” Feingold noted Friday in a statement.  “With our nation facing record deficits, Americans are rightly concerned that their children and grandchildren will be forced to shoulder this burden.

"That is why I am committed to enacting budget reform and earmark reform, stopping funds from going to wasteful projects and making other programs and projects more efficient to protect taxpayer dollars,” he added.

Feingold's announcement arrives on the heels of the Treasury Department's final 2009 budget analysis. In it, White House officials note the federal deficit topped more than $1.4 trillion last fiscal year -- its highest ever.

(Cross-posted to the Twitter Room)