McConnell refused to answer.
No "Profile in Courage" award for you, Mitch.

This one caught him by surprise forcing him to wait to hear from Rush & Glenn.

Stop with all this already Steve. The Democrats are letting Bunning get away with this nonsense. They are just as culpable as any of the Republicans.

The Democratic leadership is convinced that Bunning is hurting the Republican cause, but is he? I bet the Republican base (employed white seniors wearing teabags) is overjoyed at Bunning's performance. What do they care about the havoc? He is standing up to those evil big spending Democrats. Too bad that people are going to lose their unemployment insurance and that others are going to lose their construction jobs. Hell lots of those people are happy to see doctors lose 21% of their medicare reimbursements, so long as they continue providing them the service they demand.

Paris 1789. Bunning says to city population, to whom he has cut off their unemployment benefits, "You should eat cake!"

London 1849. Bunning when asked why has cut off unemployment benefits to the poor, "Are the poor and workhouses not operating?" Scrooge indicates he likes the line and will use it again.

This is the modern Republican Party? In an election year?

Uh, when the economy sucks, people tend to throw the incumbents out. Last time I checked there were alot more D incumbents than R. Hence, if the republicans can make everyone more miserable, they figure it's good for them. Now, that tactic might not work if we had a functioning press. Alas.

Petulant policy-makers make for bad government - we the people can't rely on them to look past their own pickiuny personal political polemics to do the business of the people and provide for us decent policies that promote positive outcomes for the public and not promote a prolonging of corporate welfare feeding of the public trough!

Case in point - Jim Bunning, a real American anus cavity! -Kevo

The underlying problem is that conservatives only hear other conservatves. Near as they can tell, anything they do to gum up the works is met with 100% approval.

Republicans love this, they can court the TeaBaggers and not get hit politically. I would not be surprised if someone gave Bunning a little help with this move.

If the roles were reversed, all of America would know what party has shut down the government, but since the pansy D's are running the show it Congressional gridlock. Pretty pathetic for the majority party not to capitalize on this.

Once again, the public does not care about process. They care about results. What they are seeing is Senators from both parties fiddling while their lives burn.

This is a chance for Democrats to prove they can get something done. Man-up Dems force Bunning down and vote on this TODAY. The power is there, you just have to use it. Hell Republicans crammed through the stupid Shivo bill in less than 48 hours.

Isn't this the same Bunning that GOP was eager to throw under the bus for the next election? They were hoping for a change anyway, why not let him run with it?

If Obama had any guts, he'd simply make the payments in total defiance of the Constitution and tell the Republicans to impeach him if they felt like it.

I blame Johnny Stephenson for this.

Johnny Stephenson gets a pinch-hit off Jim Bunning for the Mets in 1964, no perfect game. No perfect game, I'm convinced Jim Bunning never gets to be a US Senator.

"This is the modern Republican Party? In an election year?"

Yes, it is- if all these guys are in safe seats. It's easy to cheer for war, when you are classified 4F. (draft age geezers know what that means. . .)

The Democratic leadership is convinced that Bunning is hurting the Republican cause, but is he? I bet the Republican base (employed white seniors wearing teabags) is overjoyed at Bunning's performance.

Who cares about the Republican base? It wasn't enough for them in 2006 or 2008 and it won't be enough for them now. They already have the base. They need moderates. And if you can't tell us how this helps Republicans with moderates, then you really don't have much of a point.

Why you people obsess over how each news story will be greeted by a portion of the electorate that will never vote for us is beyond me.

I see. All those Republican senators who voted for the bill are applauding Bunning's courage for holding it up. True statesmen.

hear hear!

GOP-leaning pundits spin it that Bunning is digging in his heels because of PAYGO, and that this payout violates its spirit. This, the storyline goes, will force Obama to choose unpopular offsets in order to pay for the extension.

It sounds like a tactic that could work, if making Obama more unpopular happened to be your goal, and I would guess we're going to see more of it, every time Obama wants to spend money.

I've seen Bunning's obstruction called out on all sorts of traditional media over the past couple of days, and some additional reports about how and why one senator can gum up the whole works.

I think it is delusional to think this message isn't getting out there or having an impact.

The GOP doesn't care about the bill.

As long as Democrats don't act as if they will run the country, the GOP is the alternative.

Harry, you've failed.

Who cares about the Republican base? How about the entire Republican congressional caucus, the entire mainstream media, and just about every other radio clown who doesn't understand what happened in Massachusetts.

The fact is the Democratic base is sitting on its hands waiting for elected Democrats to get off their collective arses and do something, anything, they promised in 2006 and 2008. Congress could swing back to the Republicans if the Democratic base remains on the sidelines this fall with all the disaffected independents. That will leave the field to the Republican base and the teabaggers.

Funny that the latest Newsweek has a piece saying:

"
We the Problem

Washington is working just fine. It's us that's broken.
"

Ugh, I'd say you were right, except for one thing: Bunning flipped the bird at a journalist. Now the Beltway media may be the most trivial, lazy and inept group of people in the universe, but they are also the most self-regarding, and when they are on the receiving end of an insult it's quite different than if, oh, say, someone had simply told a brazen lie about the provisions of the health care reform bill. That you have to treat as one of two equally valid points of view, in the interests of "balance." But a raised middle finger aimed at a reporter is another matter.

How nice that all these Republican senators, all of whom have abundant free health care and taxpayer provided salaries, support kicking unemployed Americans even more when they're down. It's even richer when one considers that huge numbers of the unemployed were probably made that way by the shenanigans of the Rethug's fellow thieves and grifters on Wall Street. These people are hideous and a disgrace; they all ought to be hog-tied and fed to hungry sharks.

Bunning will be remembered as an a-hole Senator from Kentucky and not as the great baseball pitcher he once was. He is in so far over his head in the Senate that it has to be depressing, frustrating and embarrassing to him -- and to all other Senators as well. He's mad as hell and he isn't going to take it anymore..

Who cares about the Republican base? How about the entire Republican congressional caucus, the entire mainstream media, and just about every other radio clown who doesn't understand what happened in Massachusetts.

Ok, Ron. So your solution is to start trying to woo these Republican voters? Do a full-court press in order to convince them that Bunning's loony? Of course not. Your solution doesn't involve convincing them of anything, so why bother acting like they're the only people involved?

You say this doesn't hurt Republicans because the base will support it, and I say, who f-ing cares. Tell us how this impacts people who might vote for us, not people who never will.

And as doubtful said above, anyone who thinks the media isn't covering this is delusional.

Doc, my solution is to fire up the Democratic base. Wimping out isn't going to fire up the Democratic base, let alone the independents.

All year elected Democrats have allowed themselves to be beaten like red headed stepchildren by Republican obstructionists. A lot of Democrats have had it up to their eyeballs with their pansy arsed ways. If elected Democrats don't give their own people a reason to go to the polls this November they aren't going to go. Well from here in the middle of the country and well outside the beltway it looks like the entire Democratic senatorial caucus is made up of wimps. Who the hell wants to vote for the 98 pound weakling.

Where the hell are the Democrats? Why aren't they lined up to pillory this asshole at every opportunity. If the Dim-Dems don't see this as an opportunity to score points with the unemployed, the middle-class, and those who are just waiting to get laid off then what do we need them for?

Doc, my solution is to fire up the Democratic base. Wimping out isn't going to fire up the Democratic base, let alone the independents.

Of course. So why did you say that Bunning's antics don't hurt Republicans? You were acting like the Republican base is the only group we should be concerned with, and as long as they were happy, Republicans were fine. And it's not just on this issue: Any time Republicans embarrass themselves or do something stupid, you people keep insisting that this isn't bad for them because the Republican base doesn't care.

And again, who cares about the Republican base? The point is how this will play with moderates and whether it will encourage Democrats to fight. Republican hubris is GREAT for Democrats, because it reminds us of why we're fighting. Just look at Clinton's poll numbers, which were at their best after he got impeached. I'm not sure why you guys think voters like bullies, as reality keeps showing the opposite happening: Voters HATE bullies.

Oh, and going with your analogy: Your solution to the problem seems to be to insult the 98-pound wimp and ignore all the fighting he's doing. Why you imagine that to be some winning strategy is beyond me.

A stunning bunch of bunning whats? More fuel for the teabaggers; anger, misconception, chaos, violence.. It's all bad!

Doc

Last night I watched Chris Matthews, of all people, say that Bunning is acting on principle. If you watch the media it becomes clear that he is being portrayed not as a kook, but as a Senator who is standing up to the Washington big spenders. As Steve's post indicates he is beginning to attract others of the same ilk. Do you think he would attract those folks if they didn't think they would benefit. No Kyl and the rest all see political advantage for them. Pretty soon millions across the country will be chanting "Bunning's mad as hell and he isn't going to take it anymore." After Bunning stops some other Republican will take up the mantle. The Democrats better do something or they will pay dearly this fall.

Bunning blockade", eh? Sounds like the entire Senate -- starting with Reid -- needs a good dose of prunes, to get "things" moving again...

For all the unemployed "Real Americans" who always vote Republican because of wedge issues like gay rights and and abortion I call this just deserts.

Your electoral choices have consequennces.

The "I got mine, fuck everybody else" attitude of Republicans/Conservatives is finally biting YOU in the ass for a change.

Remember Bunning and his caucus when you're house gets foreclosed on and your children are hungry and perhaps you'll make different choices come this November.

Do you think he would attract those folks if they didn't think they would benefit.

Absolutely. They do this all the time. They fricking impeached Clinton and it only made him more popular. In fact, all their crazy antics in the 90's were so damaging to them that Bush had to run as a "compassionate" conservative, simply to distance himself from them.

Look, they have NO strategy. They're NOT winning. All they're doing is attempting to get a stalemate, in the hopes that that's enough. And for as much as you people insist that they've got some popular movement behind them, they don't. Republicans are still incredibly unpopular...far less popular than Obama. Why do you continue to suggest otherwise?

The last time these guys had a strategy was in 2003. They've been on auto-pilot ever since. Just because someone purposefully does something doesn't mean it's a good idea for them to do it. Republican hubris has been killing them for two decades. Their current filibustering is the last throes of a dying movement, yet you mistake it for strategy and power. How odd.

Yes, their risky strategy might pay dividends in November, but I'd definitely bet against it. And the more theaterical they get with their opposition to Obama, the better our chances get. That you'd imagine a popular movement of non-crazies supporting Bunning is quite laughable.

Was Bunning really "attracking others of the same ilk", as Ron Byers suggests or was he, simply, the front man who would take the heat? After his stand, Kyl and others could speak of his "principles".

However, as to Chris, it comes down to saying "Any beloved former Philly who could pitch a no hitter and thrill me as a rabid Philly fan, is very Principled". Yeah, Chris, way to stand up for your idols and never believe they are falling in front of your very eyes.