WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: SENATOR JIM BUNNING. Bunning blocked last minute attempts in Senate to extend federal unemployment benefits, extend federal subsidies on COBRA payments, and block an automatic Medicare reduction. If Bunning gets his way the unemployed will starve and Granny will die because she won’t be able to see a doctor. Bunning is a one man death panel.
The Kansas City Star writes:
Retiring Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning Friday continued to single-handily hold up extension of unemployment benefits to more than a million Americans starting next week. Budget hawk? Or just plain mean? What a piece of work he is.
From CNN:
“After Feb. 28, the jobless will no longer be able to apply for federal unemployment benefits, as well as the COBRA health insurance subsidy. That means those who run out of their 26 weeks of state-paid coverage after that date would not be able to apply for any extra weeks of federal benefits.”
Bunning is on his high horse about the national debt and how this extension must be paid for or it will add to the national debt.
Nice-sounding rhetoric, but read enough of his exchanges in recent days and it’s obvious he’s still smarting from the fact he’s not running for re-election, partly because his own Republican Party leaders wanted a change in Kentucky.
Guess Bunning will show them how effective he is, even if it comes at the expense of the nation’s unemployed.
Politico reports on Bunning’s response:
Senate Democrats spent Thursday night hammering away at Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) for single-handedly holding up action in the upper chamber – but he blurted out a message to one of them on the Senate floor: “Tough s—t.”
In an unusual display in the normally sleepy chamber, Bunning – without the support of GOP leadership – has blocked efforts to quickly approve a series of extensions to measures that would otherwise expire Sunday, including unemployment insurance and the Cobra program that allows people who lose their health benefits to continue getting coverage.
And that has led to a furious exchange on the floor, with Democrats attacking the senator, who has refused to relent on his objection, in unusually harsh terms.
“Tough s—t,” Bunning said as he was seated in the back row, overheard by the floor staff and others in attendance.
I agree Ron, he picked the wrong time to take a stand against adding to the defecit. Even FoxNews is having a hard time spinning this one.
I think a personal visit to Sen. Bunning’s home is in order – by the more than a million of us who will be affected by his hateful actions to block unemployment and other benefits.
We can all camp out at his home when we loose ours.
I’m at a loss for more words – unbelievable!
TIME FOR ACTION FOLKS!!!
I wish him death. These crooks once sent to Congress are on Corporate payrolls. The biggest issue we have is Congress, we need some sort of referendum to bypass all these Corporate pupetts and take matters on our own hands.
While I strongly disagree with his actions I am not going to wish anyone personal harm. Bunning might be wise to consider the fact that, as he has pissed off a lot of people, it is not a smart thing to screw most of the doctors in the country and also have them angry at you.
Bunning may end up punishing his erstwhile Republican colleagues (those who stopped him running again) nearly as much as the people who will not eat next week because of his actions.
If only Obama would ever, just once, lose his temper, surely this must be it! A truly angry President, with simple but considerable majorities in both houses, especially a professor of constitutional law, ought to be able to take this opportunity to get rid of the filibuster once and for all!
At the very least, he can paint the Republicans in Bunning’s colors…
Maybe Tough s–t Bunning should not be paid any retirement benefits or recieve his health benefits upon his retirement from any federal programs. Then he would know what Tough s–t really is.