I grew up in Kentucky where every boy who ever played baseball knew the name of Jim Bunning. He is the Hall of Fame pitcher who threw a perfect game for the Cincinnati Reds and knew how to play hardball long before the tingly-legged Chris Matthews co-opted the name for his decidedly softball show.
If you are anywhere near being a fiscal conservative you have to absolutely love what Senator Jim Bunning did this week. This week Senator Bunning showed Senator Harry Reid, and a few Senate Republicans how to throw one high and tight. His one man play at fiscal responsibility has the Washington “in” crowd crying foul and showing their hypocrisy.
In case you missed it here is a brief rundown. A few weeks ago the Congress passed a bill known as “Pay-Go,” a fluffy piece of nonsense posturing. On its surface Pay-Go seems to be fiscally responsibly, if you want to spend some money you need to show where it is going to come from. Senator Bunning knew the bill was hogwash because any spending could avoid being subject to Pay Go if it was “an emergency.” He didn’t vote for the bill for that reason. He also saw another flaw in the bill, a single Senator could hold up the whole Senate if they wanted to.
This week when Senator Reid tried to push through an extension to unemployment benefits Senator Bunning played a little chin music for the Majority leader and put the breaks on the additional 10 billion in spending. Senator Bunning invoked his right to stop the bill and call for the application of the Pay Go rule. When members of the media hounded Senator Bunning for a comment he showed them the door, of the elevator he was taking. Nice added touch!
What followed was supreme political theater and posing by the left. Senator Reid could have simply called for closure on the bill and gathered eighty votes, which were there for passage and the poor unemployed whom he, a parade of progressives senators and fellow traveler Bernie Saunders of Vermont cried crocodile tears for would have had their additional handout from Uncle Sugar. Oh my, oh my thousands would soon be starving and homeless due to this heartless conservative! Cue the beating of breasts and gnashing of teeth and much wailing! None of that could have been further than the truth but as conservative talk show host Larry Elder says, “Facts are like kryptonite to toe tag liberals.”
Senator Bunning gave up his stand after a few days and I think that’s too bad. After watching the parade of phonies decry Senator Bunning’s actions I was wondering what the average American who doesn’t live with an hour of LA, D.C. or New York thought of this tough guy making a stand. It’s my feeling that if a national poll were held on who they supported in this standoff, Senator Bunning or Reid, Senator Bunning would have another win on his record.
The unspent stimulus money is appropriated for specific purposes, it hasn't gone unspent because of some mystical slush fund that I've yet to seen any indication of (I'll completely reverse my stance if someone can provide something factual to the contrary, I've just yet to see it), it has gone unspent because the government is incapable of making a system that can efficiently distribute something soo large. I.E. they give the states too many hoops to go through. So the money is still intended for specific purposes, purposes that won't go away just because bunning finds it convenient to make a point protesting something that he knows he doesn't have enough support to actually make stick.
The perfect game was pitched for the Phillies against the Mets in 1964. I saw it. Yes, I am that old.
I recall he also pitched for Detroit and Pittsburgh but never for the Reds.
a couple of comments
cris mathews should have named his show a screwball, not hardball.
where are all the people in the senate and congress with a "r" by their name, joining up with him, and sending him congrats for a job well done, i don't seem to have seen any "conservatives" backing him in the senate.
Stop wasting money on Israel and war for Israel and you would have all sorts of money for these things.
When Hannity asked Bunning questions on his program tonight the answers were straight forward. He doesn't have whiffle balls.
As an average American who lives in New York, I think the only thing Jim Bunning did that was wrong was to stop opposing the bill. He should have kept going until Reid was forced to use procedural means to blatantly override the pay-go provisions.
More of your foul digital pogrom.
Still, Jews have faced down worse than you and come out on top. We will not let people like you throw us in a digital ghetto.
We give far more to Israel and the only reason we give Egypt money is *because* we give money to Israel – so it is more that Israel ends up costing us. ref: Camp David Accords. Israel was gonna get destroyed so we had to bribe Egypt not to.
Kudos to Bunning for sticking it to Reid.
Harry has been senile since his stroke.
Nevada citizens demand a full medical evaluation of the sniveling "War is lost" Harry Reid!
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_l...
[...] in this standoff, Senator Bunning or Reid, Senator Bunning would have another win on his record. Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this | // Posted by Editor at 7:16 PM Tagged with: [...]
"piss off bitcfh" really? Thats all you have? I provide a logical argument that polticians still have a use for polticial points after their time in office and thats all you can do? "piss off bitch". If I wanted to get involved with discussions that don't actually involve discourse I'd write Ratigan.
A great interview from Larry Kudlow of CNBC with Scott Brown.
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=nzUqVzlmHzk
AMEN! ONE GOOD BACKBONE STOOD ALONE, A RINO WAS SENT OUT TO ABASE HIM, AND THE REST COWERED WHEN THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN STANDING TALL WITH HIM.
HE INTENDED TO SEEK RE-ELECTION, BUT HIS OWN PARTY DID HIM PRETTY DIRTY. HE'D GET MY VOTE AGAIN.