From the Washington Post on Jim Bunning:
For four days, he has been on a one-man campaign to cut off unemployment benefits, kick the unemployed off of health insurance, cut Medicare payments to doctors, deny satellite TV to rural Americans, shut down federal flood insurance and highway projects, and furlough thousands of federal workers.
-SNIP-
The ornery Kentuckian said he was merely insisting that Congress find a way to pay for the $10 billion, 30-day extension, but that was difficult to square with his recent votes against attempts to rein in debt and spending.
This left people puzzling over Bunning’s motives. Was he taking revenge on his senior colleague from Kentucky, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who helped to push Bunning into retirement? Or was he just being, well, crazy? This second possibility cannot be dismissed out of hand. With the Phillies and the Tigers, he had enviable accuracy, boasting one of the best strikeout-to-walk ratios. But since his reelection campaign, in 2004, Bunning has had some serious control problems.
It’s no secret that Jim Bunning has had some serious problems over the past several years. His handlers reportedly often have difficulty keeping him focused and he often falls asleep in the middle of Senate proceedings. So why is anyone surprised that he’s acting all erratic these days?
And where are the Democrats?
Jon Stewart excoriated Bunning – and the Democrats:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Senate After Dark | ||||
|
||||
“A steaming turd on the chest of democracy. The Dirty Sanchez of legislative incompetence.” Indeed.
Oh, and so Bunning’s staffers don’t have to explain it to him:
Personally, I feel the ‘Cincinnati Surprise’ joke is more appropriate because Bunning lives in the Great Cincinnasti area.
P.S. Dear Paranoid Talker Leland Conway: This isn’t a “conspiracy” amongst the Democrats to position Ben Chandler as a Kentucky conservative. It’s a conspiracy! New World Order! Somebody call the Enquirer! You and David Adams need to crawl back into your cave with Frank Simon and the other End Timers.
9 responses so far ↓
1 AttentionWhore // Mar 2, 2010 at 2:30 pm
I support cutting government spending!
I would first suggest cutting some of the military/foreign aid spending before cutting out our welfare programs at home.
2 Belknap Banquo // Mar 2, 2010 at 2:56 pm
Well, maybe not proud, but there is an element of the drunk uncle at the family get together going on here. Bored kids nowadays have Wii and XBox and IPhones. All we had was Uncle Carl when he had one Wild Turkey too many. God us kids loved Uncle Carl. Right about now I see Mitch McConnell as Momma running around the kitchen saying…is anyone going to do anything about that GD fool or do I have to sic the dog on the sumbitch?
3 Angry // Mar 2, 2010 at 3:21 pm
How about we cut all the Reps and Senator’s 100k+ pensions to pay for 30 more days of unemployment? How about we cut their health plans and their salary?
I’m sure we could find the money in there somewhere. Term Limits anyone?
4 Johnny Masters // Mar 2, 2010 at 4:05 pm
You’d think Bunning would have wiped all that shit off his finger and face before addressing Congress…
Dirty Sanchez… ha!
5 Thunder Storm // Mar 2, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Just heard on CNN that Sen. Harry Reid could call the Senate back in to vote on the unemployment thing and use another parliamentary procedure. If he gets 80 votes, it overrides what Bunning is doing.
So is Harry Reid any better than Bunning?
6 tbrauch // Mar 2, 2010 at 7:16 pm
So is Harry Reid any better than Bunning?
Let me see if I follow your logic.
“One person holding up the process ” = “80 people agreeing to continue”
That is, 1 person = 80 people.
Right, fair comparison.
7 Thunder Storm // Mar 2, 2010 at 7:36 pm
Nah Tbranch, I’m a Dem and know Bunning has made the wrong move BUT Legislators on my side also have procedural maneuvers to defeat Bunning’s blockage.
Let me re-phrase -> Are we any better than Bunning? Harry Reid is our leader in the Senate. Quit posturing and move on.
8 chas_m // Mar 2, 2010 at 9:05 pm
If Jim Bunning were *really* concerned about the deficit — which more of our legislators should be — there are plenty of excess “pork” projects and military boondoggles — some right in Kentucky — that could save serious money from the deficit if they were cut.
Throwing unemployed people to the wolves and furloughing transportation workers isn’t going to solve — or even bring focus to — the deficit: it’s just being a public ass.
Wake me when Bunning has the courage to filibuster the REAL causes of our huge deficit — the wars and the military (and to a lesser extent the entitlements) — and I’ll take him seriously. Till then, he’s just an ass.
9 wondering // Mar 2, 2010 at 10:57 pm
The military is one of the few things the Constitution expressly authorizes federal spending for.
Leave a Comment