Jim Bunning: Wrong Even When He’s Right
I’m not a fan of Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning. He’s a pompous, obnoxious, mean, angry, self-serving blowhard of questionable mental stability who has made zero impact during his six terms in the House and two terms in the Senate. He offends and embarrasses the Senate and even his own party turned against him when it came time to declare for the 2010 Senate race. A couple of choice Bunningisms from his Wikipedia profile (sources unconfirmed): he called his Dem opponent in the 2004 Senate race “limp wristed”; he tactfully said Ruth Bader Ginsburg would die in 9 months from her bout with pancreatic cancer. Nice!  His “retirement” (if there’s such a thing as getting fired from the Senate then Bunning was fired by his party) will make the Senate a better place and he will certainly be replaced by a Republican so the change can only benefit the GOP.Â
Last week Bunning launched a campaign to deprive some of our country’s 
neediest citizens of the funds they need to survive day to day by using arcane Senate procedures to prevent a unanimous consent vote to extend unemployment benefits for one month. There’s actually quite a bit more to the bill that will screw up various federal agencies and ongoing projects but the major political focus is on the unemployment benefits. What Bunning demands is that the bill be funded rather than just tacking it on to our ever-increasing deficit. Bunning said, “If we can’t find $10 billion somewhere for a bill that everybody in this body supports, we will never pay for anything.” The Dems, surprisingly, found the moxie to ambush Bunning and impose a genuine filibuster forcing Bunning to stay on the floor to defend his position in vote after vote even at the expense of missing the Kentucky-South Carolina basketball game. The NY Times this weekend pilloried Bunning in an editorial titled “Clueless in Kentucky.”Â
The thing is, Bunning is right…sort of.Â
The second thing is, even when he’s right Bunning has an uncanny knack for making himself looking clueless and wrong. Unemployment benefits were extended through Feb 28 by a unanimous vote in November and the Times editorial seems to suggest that if he voted for it at that time then he certainly should vote for it now. And, in fact, most Republicans WILL vote for the bill when Bunning’s legislative traffic jam is overcome through procedural votes to shut him up. In the meantime the costs of managing the gap that starts today will be considerable for both federal and state governments. Bunning makes a VERY valid point by saying that Congress has had many months to anticipate this deadline and take appropriate long-term legislative action to address it. He is absolutely right when he says the government needs to live up to the pay-go principle it mouths with obvious non-commitment where it’s politically expedient to ignore. And he’s even right to make his point where it will make the American people wake up to the reality of dealing with the budget deficit. All of this he could have done by extending his personal filibuster right up to the precipice of the timeline — and then backed off. He certainly could have extracted a commitment from Congressional leaders to deal with this issue in the next 30 days before the next deadline expires. But now he’s letting his ego get in the way of common sense and actually hurting his own position, the American people who depend on unemployment benefits, the government agencies that must deal with the administrative nightmare created by his holdout, and the Republican party that must deal with his theatrics.Â
In arguing his position, a Dem Senator who pleaded with Bunning to allow a vote on the measure, was met with this reply from Bunning – “tough sh*t”. Classy guy! Bunning even got mad at the Dems for making him miss the Kentucky – SC basketball game! The guy really has a few loose screws. He is a principled fiscal conservative and he could really have delivered a powerful, appropriate, measured point by handling this issue with a smidgen of political acumen. He had an excellent opportunity to make Republicans the party of “yes but” and instead he abandoned the moral high ground on an issue where it could have easily been manipulated to great strategic advantage. Dumb, dumb, dumb.Â
And good riddance.Â
Personal aside: I saw Mike Huckabee at the airport this weekend. I’m sorry to report that he’s not running for president. Three reasons: he has put on at least 30 pounds; he was travelling first class; and he had no posse along with him. Really simplistic and ridiculous analysis, right? I know, but just remember, you heard it here first.
This is completely unproductive. OK, so he’s making a valid point, but where has Bunning and his conscience on unfunded bills been all these years? Purely a political fit. He misses a basketball game, while putting the unemployed at risk for much more punitive consequences. No skin off his back, though, to put unemployment and COBRA benefits at risk for those who need them. He skates off into the retirement sunset with his government benefits guaranteed. Wish I could filibuster that one…
My apologies, Larry, for bringing attention to some crude things.
This current fit of Bunning’s brought a couple of crude actions/words to the Senate…Again. When an Oregon Senator asked him, on behalf of the unemployed, to stop the one-man crusade he responded “Tough s***”. And, when an ABC News crew tried to interview him about what he was doing, he gave them the finger.
Sigh. How can we ever expect civility in politics when the most visible politicians exhibit the exact opposite? I realize Bunning is angry,a bit crazed, and not representative of the entire Senate. But this sort of language and action is becomeing increasingly commonplace in what used to be referred to as the “hallowed halls of Congress”. With these sorts of role models, is it any wonder that so many in the general public feel free to “let it fly”?
I think I can safely say, this is an article I wish I had written. I had missed the news of Bunning’s recent actions and they are certainly reprehensible. I honestly can not understand how he can justify himself and it doesn’t matter how right he is on the issue, or that he is a Republican. There is a right way to do things, but I am not sure Bunning knows what it is.
Great post, Mike.
No one wants to draw a line in the sand on spending, Bunning attempted too, but did not choose the best bill to so. His language is well–what you would expect from a baseball player. Actually its refreshing to me, after hearing all the lawyers with the smooth flowing double talk. Harsh and too the point is my cup of tea. Good post Mike and I agree with most of your points.
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By the way, Mike. Where did you see Huckabee at? As for him running for President in 2012, I get the feeling he is very comfortable where he is at, doing what he is doing. I will be very surprised to see him give it another shot.
Thanks Mike – you put a lot more meat on this than I had time to this morning. You did a good job putting Bunning under the spotlight.
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Thanks for all your comments. I’m not sure where things were left on the issue this afternoon but it didn’t sound like Bunning was prepared to back off. I guess the Hall of Fame has no minimum IQ requirement.
Larry, I saw Huckabee at LaGuardia Airport in NY Sunday morning. When I said he gained at least 30 pounds I think I was being generous — he was looking extremely round. I wish I could have cut the security line to say hello but you know how they frown on those things these days…especially in the first class line. I’m not sure anybody else even recognized him.
I guess his point was supposed to be that Harry Reid shouldn’t have waited until the deadline to extend the unemployment bill, but as you said, he could have just filibustered up until the deadline and then stopped to allow the vote to go on. His point would have been made and everone would be happy, even the Republicans because they are upset with Bunning over this as well. It has put them in a bind between extending the benefits and supporting the pay-go system and that is a choice they did not want to be forced to make right now.
Great analysis that you don’t see too often on this issue. I took a similar stance. BTW, you can tell by looking at Huckabee these days that he’s wearing big puffy suit jackets to hide the girth. Though I think if he’s going to run in 2012 he could lose it by the end of this year.
Thanks for your nice words Tom. What’s your blog so I can stop by for a visit?
Mike,
Click on Tom’s name and it will take you to his blog. I have been over there reading through some of his articles.
I have applied for 200 jobs, and I am college educated. I currently owe the US Department Of Education $13,345 for my student loans. They never fail to remind me when it is due monthly. The problem is I can’t find work. I have even been to a few fast food places only to be told I am over qualified. The jobs which I am qualified for will not hire me because I have 11 years experience…they can pay someone much less with little experience. Bunning cannot possibly understand our urgency. He is not one of us. As a public offical, he does not feel he has to give interviews and answer questions? He gets my vote for “The Tool Of The Year Award”.
Thanks for the perspective Uguy. It’s a wonder that the good people of Kentucky kept sending him back to DC year after year. In the words of Ricky Riccardo, they got some ‘splainin’ to do.
Good luck with the job hunt.
Unemployed Guy – you should contact the federal student loan servicing center and either apply for an economic hardship deferment, or talk to them about consolidating and signing up for the “income based repayment” plan. Consolidating and the IBR can SIGNIFICANTLY reduce your payments.
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It appears Jim Bunning is still blocking the benefits extension.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/02/jobless.benefits.bill/index.html?hpt=T1