Senator Warner appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday and reiterated his support of legislation that would create a bipartisan fiscal task force to address the nation’s long-term budget crisis and rein in federal spending.

He is one of 25 co-sponsors of the Bipartisan Task Force for Responsible Fiscal Action Act of 2009, introduced by Sens. Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Judd Gregg (R-NH), the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee.

Click here for more details on the proposal.

On CNN, Senator Warner said that in the long-term, he believes federal spending "has totally got out of control." He said he has been a long advocate of fiscal responsibility from his years in business and as governor, "where we actually had to balance our books each year."

“Democrats and Republicans [should] come together, go ahead and put revenues and spending both out there and then come back and vote it straight up and down,” Warner said, in much the same way Congress handles the sticky political issue of closing military bases across the country.

“I don’t see how this process where everybody kind of lards on is going to actually ever come to an end unless we finally have the discipline to do a straight up or down vote across the board,” Warner also told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King.

For a transcript, click here.