{"id":380616,"date":"2010-03-02T08:44:59","date_gmt":"2010-03-02T13:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"tag:www.southernstudies.org,2010:\/\/5.12163"},"modified":"2010-03-05T09:58:28","modified_gmt":"2010-03-05T14:58:28","slug":"jim-bunning-the-senates-meanest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/380616","title":{"rendered":"Jim Bunning: the Senate&#8217;s meanest?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>        When a group of reporters tried to ask U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning<br \/>\n(R-Ky.) yesterday about his efforts to block emergency legislation<br \/>\nextending unemployment and health insurance benefits to about a million<br \/>\njobless Americans, he responded by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/blogs\/2010\/03\/01\/politics\/politicalhotsheet\/entry6256349.shtml\">flashing them his middle finger<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"a2a_dd\" href=\"http:\/\/www.addtoany.com\/share_save?linkname=&amp;linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.southernstudies.org%2F2010%2F03%2Fjim-bunning-the-senates-meanest.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.addtoany.com\/buttons\/share_save_171_16.png\" alt=\"Share\/Bookmark\" border=\"0\" height=\"16\" width=\"171\" \/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">a2a_linkurl=\"http:\/\/www.southernstudies.org\/2010\/03\/jim-bunning-the-senates-meanest.html\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/static.addtoany.com\/menu\/page.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The gesture of contempt seems to pretty much capture Bunning&#8217;s<br \/>\nattitude toward the unemployed, whose benefits expired on Sunday due to<br \/>\nthe Senator&#8217;s obstruction. The bill he&#8217;s blocking also would have<br \/>\nextended money for transportation projects, with his actions resulting in the furlough<br \/>\nof some 2,000 federal workers.<\/p>\n<p>The reason for Bunning&#8217;s actions? He says he wants the legislation paid for up front, the Louisville Courier-Journal <a href=\"http:\/\/www.courier-journal.com\/article\/201002261833\/NEWS01\/2260352\">reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Over three years under Democratic Congresses, Bunning said, &#8220;we<br \/>\nhave run up $5 trillion in debt. There has to be a time to stop that.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Bunning&#8217;s<br \/>\ndecision to draw the line on this of all measures have been criticized by<br \/>\neveryone from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, who <a href=\"http:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/the-press-office\/briefing-white-house-press-secretary-robert-gibbs-22610\">called it &#8220;fundamentally not fair,&#8221;<\/a> to Kentucky&#8217;s other Senator,<br \/>\nBunning&#8217;s fellow conservative Mitch McConnell (R), who <a href=\"http:\/\/www.courier-journal.com\/article\/20100301\/NEWS01\/3010341\/1008\/NEWS01\/Senator+Jim+Bunning+blocks+effort+to+extend+unemployment+benefits\">supports extending the<br \/>\nbenefits<\/a> and thinks any controversy over it should have been resolved weeks ago.<\/p>\n<p>Bunning is also facing a firestorm of outrage back home, his offices <a href=\"http:\/\/www.courier-journal.com\/article\/20100301\/NEWS01\/3010341\/1008\/NEWS01\/Senator+Jim+Bunning+blocks+effort+to+extend+unemployment+benefits\">inundated<br \/>\nwith angry phone calls and even bomb threats<\/a>. But how much impact that<br \/>\npublic outpouring will have is unclear, since Bunning announced last<br \/>\nsummer that he wouldn&#8217;t run for re-election this year, citing difficulty raising money.<\/p>\n<p>During his long stint in Washington, first as a member of the House of<br \/>\nRepresentatives from 1986 to 1998 and then in the Senate, Bunning &#8212; a<br \/>\nformer Major League Baseball pitcher &#8212; has distinguished himself as an unusually nasty lawmaker. Former President Bill Clinton once <a href=\"http:\/\/motherjones.com\/politics\/2009\/09\/clinton-gore-i-thought-he-was-neverland\">said<\/a> Bunning was so mean-spirited that &#8220;he just sent shivers up my spine.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\":87\" class=\"ii gt\">\n<br \/>Some other lowlights from Bunning&#8217;s time in Washington:<\/p>\n<p>* While running for re-election in 2004, Bunning <a href=\"http:\/\/www.salon.com\/news\/feature\/2004\/10\/12\/bunning_kentucky\/print.html\">said<\/a> his Democratic opponent &#8212; state Sen. Daniel Mongiardo, an Italian-American &#8212; looked &#8220;like one of<br \/>\nSaddam Hussein&#8217;s sons&#8221; and &#8220;even dresses like them, too.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>* During that same election, Bunning agreed to only one debate with Mongiardo, and <wbr><a href=\"http:\/\/dir.salon.com\/story\/news\/feature\/2004\/10\/12\/bunning_kentucky\/index.html\">imposed<br \/>\nunusual rules<\/a>: It couldn&#8217;t be live, couldn&#8217;t take<br \/>\nplace in the evening, no audience could be present, and Mongiardo couldn&#8217;t use any of the audio or video in campaign ads. But after Mongiardo agreed to the unusual terms, Bunning at the last<br \/>\nminute claimed falsely that he was needed in Washington, insisted he debate from the Republican National Headquarters studio &#8212; and refused to allow a member of the press to<br \/>\nbe present to monitor whether he was getting help with his answers.<br \/>\nBunning&#8217;s strange behavior led to widespread speculation that he might be suffering<br \/>\nfrom some sort of dementia.<\/p>\n<p>* That same year, Bunning began traveling around Kentucky with a<br \/>\nspecial police escort at taxpayer expense, alleging he needed it<br \/>\nbecause of the threat from Al-Qaeda. As he ominously <wbr><a href=\"http:\/\/dir.salon.com\/story\/news\/feature\/2004\/10\/12\/bunning_kentucky\/index1.html\">told<\/a> a Paducah TV station, &#8220;There may be strangers among us.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>* Speaking of strangers among us, Bunning has taken <a href=\"http:\/\/bunning.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm?FuseAction=IssueStatements.View&amp;Issue_id=300d3b80-9fb3-ca78-a6fb-178e857430fa\">a hard-line stance on undocumented immigrants<\/a>, opposing immigration reform and &#8220;amnesty in any shape, size or form.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>* Following his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996, Bunning set up a charitable foundation. In 2008, the Lexington Herald-Leader <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kentucky.com\/2008\/12\/18\/630621\/non-profit-profits-us-sen-jim.html\">reported<\/a><br \/>\nthat the biggest recipient of the foundation&#8217;s largess has been &#8230; Bunning. Charity watchdogs raised questions about the<br \/>\noperation at the time, and last week Salon columnist Joe Conason <a href=\"http:\/\/www.salon.com\/news\/opinion\/joe_conason\/2010\/02\/26\/bunning\/index.html\">renewed calls<\/a> for Bunning to close it down.<\/p>\n<p>* In February 2009, while speaking at a local Republican Party&#8217;s Lincoln Day Dinner, Bunning <a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/blogs\/scorecard\/0209\/Bunning_Ginsburg_will_be_dead_in_nine_months.html\">predicted<\/a><br \/>\nSupreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would probably be dead from<br \/>\npancreatic cancer within nine months. After his remarks were widely condemned, Bunning apologized in a<br \/>\npress release that<a href=\"http:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/2009\/02\/23\/bunning-apologize\/\" ><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/2009\/02\/23\/bunning-apologize\/\">misspelled Ginsburg&#8217;s name<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>* On Christmas Eve 2009, Bunning was the only Senator to miss the historic vote on the health care reform bill. That month in total, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/livepulse\/1209\/Bunning_misses_vote_for_family_commitments.html\">he<br \/>\nmissed almost half of all Senate floor votes<\/a> &#8212; more than those<br \/>\nmissed even by 92-year-old Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), who is in poor<br \/>\nphysical health and uses a wheelchair.<\/p>\n<p>* Late last month, when criticized by a fellow Senator for holding<br \/>\nup the extension of unemployment benefits, Bunning responded from the<br \/>\nback of the Senate chamber, &#8220;Tough shit.&#8221; During the debate he also blamed Democrats for<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com\/2010\/02\/25\/bunning-objects-over-and-over\/\">forcing him to miss the Kentucky-South Carolina basketball game<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>* As he was getting on an elevator in the Capitol yesterday,<br \/>\nBunning was asked by a producer with ABC News why he was blocking the<br \/>\njobless benefits. The producer tried to board the elevator with him to continue talking,<br \/>\nbut the Senator blocked his way. &#8220;Excuse me!&#8221; Bunning <wbr><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.abcnews.com\/theworldnewser\/2010\/03\/sen-bunning-is-angry-this-is-a-senators-only-elevator.html\">said<\/a>. &#8220;This is a Senators-only elevator!&#8221;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When a group of reporters tried to ask U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) yesterday about his efforts to block emergency legislation extending unemployment and health insurance benefits to about a million jobless Americans, he responded by flashing them his middle finger. The gesture of contempt seems to pretty much capture Bunning&#8217;s attitude toward the unemployed, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4085,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-380616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4085"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380616\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}