U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller says he will fight ideas backed by fellow Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin to limit the federal debt ceiling and enact strict limits on government spending.

In a lengthy statement issued after a Senate Finance meeting today, Rockefeller did not mention Manchin, but strongly criticized  proposals endorsed by Manchin. Rockefeller also opposes the GOP proposal to turn Medicaid into a block-grant program for states.

“In recent weeks, there appears to be growing enthusiasm for destructive proposals that would blindly make cuts to critical programs, including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, if arbitrary targets are not met,” Rockefeller said in the statement. “The supporters of these proposals may mean well, but the damage they would do to the poor, the elderly, the sick and children could be catastrophic.”

Manchin opposes raising the federal debt ceiling without a long-term plan to cut spending. He has spoken in support of the so-called “CAP Act,” which would trigger strict spending caps and eventually limit federal spending to 20.6 percent of the country’s annual Gross Domestic Product.

Rockefeller said Congress must act to reduce the nation’s debt, “but I do not believe we can or should allow our nation’s economy and financial stability, in the form of a vote on the debt ceiling, to be held hostage to demands for legislation that would mandate indiscriminate cuts to programs that Americans depend on.”

Rockefeller added that taxes on the wealthy need to be part of the discussion.

“What is even more galling about these proposals is that most leave revenues off the table entirely,” he said. “They are totally unwilling to acknowledge that tax cuts for the wealthy and corporate tax loopholes are responsible for trillions of dollars of our current debt. These ‘tax expenditures’ cost more annually than domestic discretionary spending. We cannot be serious about reducing annual deficits without putting revenue on the table.”

Update: Manchin’s press office called and said they wanted to respond to this post.

“I never said the bill [the CAP Act] was perfect in its current form,” Manchin said in a statement sent by his office. “In fact, what I said was that this was a good framework from which we can move forward in this debate on deficit reduction. To those who disagree, I say: Please, bring your ideas and proposals forward so we can have a serious discussion about fixing these critical problems.”

Both Rockefeller’s and Manchin’s full statements are posted below.

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