Video: DEMs go on the offensive and attack Bunning
I admire the Senator for making a symbolic point about the debt and deficit. In the end, the political flack was too much for Republicans to bear and they forced Bunning to cave. Yes, Bunning supported the same when Bush was in charge, and so I agree it was hypocritical.
But who are we to argue and complain when a Senator chooses to make a public relations stand against greater deficit spending. So I won't.
Saying that he has blocked votes on the legislation to underscore his opposition to the ongoing growth in federal debt, Bunning read a letter from "Robert in Louisville," who told the senator that even though he hasn't been working regularly in the past two years he supports what Bunning is doing.
"This country is sooner or later going to implode because of the massive amount of debt run up over the past 40 or 50 years," Robert wrote, according to Bunning.
"Why now?" Bunning said he's been asked, regarding his objection to the legislation. "Why not now?"
And, he added, if the Democratic majority and many Republicans want to force action on the legislation, they should use the Senate rules to override his objection.
Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) Tuesday night abandoned his one-man filibuster of a one-month extension to unemployment benefits and other programs.
In the end Bunning agreed to a deal allowing him one vote on an amendment to pay for the bill's $10 billion cost. That proposal was offered by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) last Thursday at the start of his filibuster, but Bunning rejected it because he feared his amendment would not pass.
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Bunning Accepts Deal On Jobless Benefits (most complete link...videos)
Jim Bunning: Tea Party Darling
