I’m a big fan of major league baseball, and I tend to look favorably on former major league players in Congress, even conservatives, but I can’t believe how awful it is that Jim Bunning has thrown a major league curve ball at the extension of unemployment benefits for millions:
Here’s the (slightly edited) story:
On the very last day to pass legislation to extend unemployment benefits, set for March 1, one senator stands in the way — Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), the former major league baseball player who is retiring from the Senate this year.
Racing against the clock, the House voted Thursday night to approve a package of provisions that would extend a number of programs set to expire.The Senate tried to pass the same measure by a process known as unanimous consent, but Bunning objected numerous times during a Thursday night Senate session, and he objected again Friday morning.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) chastised the Hall of Fame pitcher for being the lone voice of dissent on the “extenders” package.
“Everyone acknowledges there is only one objection,” Durbin said on the Senate floor Thursday night. “Everyone in this chamber acknowledges we are a caring and compassionate country, and we will, on an emergency basis, extend a helping hand to those who have lost their jobs.”
He even used baseball to try to appeal to Bunning to stop his one-man filibuster against the bill.
“I am very proud of what you have done in your baseball career,” Durbin told him. “But let me tell you, this is a wild pitch you are throwing tonight because this is a pitch that is hitting somebody in the stands, it is hitting an unemployed worker in Illinois. That is a wild pitch that should not have been thrown, Senator.”
Bunning said he objected because the bill is not paid for.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the bill would increase the deficit by $10 billion from fiscal 2010 to 2020. The unemployment provisions would account for $7 billion of that cost.
In addition to extending unemployment benefits, the bill would also deal with COBRA assistance, flood insurance, and highway funding.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called it “irresponsible” and “immoral” not to pass the package.
“The catch here is that these benefits do not need to expire,” he said in a release. “We have the ability right now to extend them for just a short time until we work out a longer-term solution.”
It doesn’t appear that Bunning will yield on his objections.
