Senator Jim Bunning Continues One-Man Block On More Spending

The USA Today reports that "Senate Democrats continued to pile on Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., today even as they moved ahead in planning an end-run around the unemployment and health benefits bill he has been singlehandedly blocking since last week. Bunning derailed the one-month extension of the various unemployment programs again this morning -- this time after fellow Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine tried to advance the $10 billion measure on the floor." NPR reports that "on the floor of the Senate, Republican Jim Bunning of Kentucky just defended the position he's taken that has delayed an extension of jobless benefits for the nation's unemployed and has forced the furlough of about 2,000 federal workers. 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."
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