Unstable GOP Senator Bunning Blocks Unemployment Benefit Extensions

Color me shocked that a Republican would do such a thing.  There is a hard callous nature to what happened regarding unemployment benefits today due to Republican Senator Bunning.   The Kentucky Republican  is not, as most know, the most stable of Senators, and the word ‘crazy’ or ‘unstable’ has been often used to describe him.  Tonight I just call him for what he is, a typical Republican.  People all over the nation tonight know why the GOP is not the friend of workers and families that are struggling in these harsh times.

How does Senator Bunning respond to his heartless move?

Hundreds of thousands of Americans are about to run out of jobless benefits and Bunning couldn’t care less about any of it: “I have missed the Kentucky-South Carolina game that started at 9:00 and it’s the only redeeming chance we had to beat South Carolina since they’re the only team that has beat Kentucky this year,” he said on the Senate floor. At one point in the discussion, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), asked Bunning to drop his objection. Bunning, according to Politico, had a two word answer for his colleague: “Tough shit.” Though thousands of Americans may become homeless, Bunning seems self absorbed and heartless.

Everyone knows that Bunning is just nuts.

In April 2006, Time magazine called him one of America’s Five Worst Senators.^[11] The magazine dubbed him The Underperformer for his “lackluster performance”, saying he “shows little interest in policy unless it involves baseball”, and criticized his hostility towards staff and fellow Senators and his “bizarre behavior” during his 2004 campaign.^[12]

Here is the news account of his action today.

The Senate adjourned Friday without approving extensions of cash and health insurance benefits for the unemployed after a lone senator blocked swift passage due to his insistence that Congress first pay for the $10 billion package.

Retiring Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Kentucky, led a spirited Senate debate with Democrats over the issue — at one time cursing at another senator on the floor. Bunning said he doesn’t oppose extending the programs — he just doesn’t want to add to the deficit.

According to two Democratic aides on the Senate floor Thursday night, Bunning muttered “tough s—” as Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, criticized Bunning’s stance on the package.

An aide to Merkley said the senator didn’t hear the remark. A spokesman for Bunning said he was aware of the reports about the senator’s language but didn’t have a comment.

On Friday, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, sent Bunning a letter asking him to “stand down immediately” from his stance.

“Unemployment insurance is a lifeline to the long-term unemployed whose families have been hit very hard by this recession,” she said.

For his part, Bunning maintained on Friday that if all senators could agree that the benefits are so important, then they should find a way to pay for them.

“If we can’t find $10 billion somewhere for a bill that everybody in this body supports, we will never pay for anything,” he said.

Democrats argued the safety net funds are classified as “emergency” and therefore don’t need to be offset.