Posted on 02/26/2010 10:24:36 AM PST by LouAvul
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 st.
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.
In a colloquy with Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Sen. Jeff Merkley, a freshman Democrat from Oregon, was pleading for Bunning to drop his objection, when the Kentucky Republican got fed up.
Tough st, Bunning said as he was seated in the back row, overheard by the floor staff and others in attendance.
A spokesman for Bunning did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Its rare for senators to curse at one another on the floor of the chamber. In 2004, Dick Cheney famously told Sen. Patrick Leahy to f- yourself when the vice president appeared for a photo session in the upper chamber.
Bunning is furious about increased spending in the Senate but hes waging a lonely battle to stop it. The senior senator from his state, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, with whom he has a frosty relationship, is not backing him up. If he refuses to relent, Democrats will have to file cloture to shut down debate, pushing back final action until next week.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Good to know that Bunning hasn’t forgotten how to throw a brushback pitch.
Do you post much?
Your links are wrong.
You links go to FR, not politico.
Bunning isn’t worried about reelection, so the Democrats screaming “YOU HATE UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE!!!” isn’t going to work on him.
In the end, that is the ONLY thing this “Jobs” bill is about, making Republicans vote against “Jobs”.
We have some REAL WHACKOS running the White House and Congress now, folks
We're going to miss him.
The only thing out of line about Cheney's quoted remark is that he shouldn't have insulted Leahy's horse.
If memory serves correctly, Bunning pitched a perfect game
Kudos to Sen. Bunning.
Now if he can convince some of his colleagues to get some backbone before he leaves . . . .
I’m aghast! He’s supposed to say, “Tough sh-t, to my esteemed colleague, the Gentleman from ......”
LOL!
And I do post quite a bit. Try not to be so condescending.
Looks ok to me by the title
“The fact that the Capon Mitch McConnell doesn’t get along with him, makes him all that much better of a senator.”
Yeah, and if McConnell hasn’t been able to get along with a guy like Bunning it really makes you wonder about the guy McConnell is pushing for Bunning’s replacement, Trey Grayson. If McConnell is for Grayson, I think I would have to back either Rand Paul or Bill Johnson for Senate if I were a Kentuckian.
Father's Day 1964. I remember it well, in black and white.
That was a very rude comment. BTW, unless you changed it, it worked fine for me :)
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