rssBunning’s Blockade Became a Conservative Rallying Cry
Wednesday, March 03, 2010 at 6:00 am
- 33 Comments
Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) (EPA/ZUMApress.com)
Sen. Jim Bunning’s (R-Ky.) blockade on extending temporarily unemployment benefits put the Tea Party movement in an unfamiliar position. Instead of nudging the Republican Party to take a stand, activists watched a politician pick an anti-government fight they didn’t even know existed.
“We’ve just been so consumed with the health care issue,” said Jennifer Hulsey, a Georgia-based leader of the American Grassroots coalition. “People are only now starting to take a stand on this.”
[GOP1] After a slow weekend, said Hulsey, the group only developed a position on Bunning’s blockade during a Tuesday night conference call, shortly after Bunning relented. Other conservative activists and Tea Party groups also took their time in responding — but in the end, most of them got behind Bunning. What Democrats saw as a perfect opportunity to turn American opinion against Republican obstructionism in the Senate became, with only a few exceptions, an opportunity for conservatives to endorse a slowdown of Senate business. Late Tuesday, when Bunning announced a hold on all pending nominations, activists were confident that Democrats would blink first in a conflict that the majority party could have ended on day one, had they been honest about what they were doing and willing to invoke cloture.
“Senator Jim Bunning has taken a courageous stand, to hold the Democrats — in fact, all of us — accountable for the the things we say we believe,” said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). Bunning, argued DeMint, was making a point about Democratic hypocrisy on “pay-as-you-go” rules, and Democrats were spinning unfair scare stories about Americans left without unemployment benefits.
“I admire the courage of the junior senator from Kentucky,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), who in his role leading the National Republican Senatorial Committee is tasked with electing a Republican to replace the retiring Bunning. “It’s not fun to be accused of having no compassion for the people who are out of work.”
The conservative enthusiasm for Bunning echoed in his state, where he was once so unpopular that Republicans not-so-quietly urged him to step aside. All three of the Republicans seeking to replace Bunning endorsed his stance, starting with frontrunner Rand Paul. At a rally in Lexington, pro-Bunning activists stood with Paul and chanted “Pay Go, Pay Go.” That chant revealed how, after a fitful start, Bunning’s explanation for his blockade — he is not opposing all aid, just that which would add to the deficit — had trickled down to the conservative base.
Like the Tea Party organizers, Democrats and liberal activists didn’t anticipate Bunning’s blockade. But unlike their opposites on the right, they had been looking for a fight to demonstrate how Republicans are gumming up their legislation. And in the search for a villain, Bunning seemed to come from central casting. Never a fan of political etiquitte, Bunning responded to a criticism from freshman Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) with a crisp insult: “Tough shit.” When ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl attempted to buttonhole Bunning with questions, the senator made a rude gesture and physically prevented him from entering an elevator.
“We need this to end,” wrote Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in a column for the Huffington Post. “Debate big differences. Disagree. Use the filibuster when big matters of principle hang in the balance — and sometimes they do. But at the end of the day, Washington has to function — people are counting on it.”
Conservative activists hesitated in responding to that spin. But by Tuesday, when the stunt was reaching an end after four days, the smart take was that Democrats were intentionally letting Bunning act out in order to make a political point. Conservatives like Erick Erickson of RedState took obvious delight in being pilloried by liberal organizations like Media Matters when they spoke out for Bunning. In a series of blog posts, Erickson argued that Democrats could have stopped Bunning’s filibuster on day one, but had instead sparked an ideological argument that conservatives should be happy to have.
“Reid is doing this for a photo op,” Erickson told TWI, arguing that the majority leader was misleading voters by letting Bunning’s stand be portrayed as a filibuster. “He has the votes. It’s just one senator [who] said he will not go along with unanimous consent without knowing where the money is coming from.”
By the time Bunning abandoned his quest, that was conventional wisdom among conservatives. “Liberals think they have discovered a winning issue – conservative obstructionism,” wrote conservative activist Gary Bauer in a daily e-mail message to supporters. “Today, all three major networks tuned in to the Senate’s proceedings to broadcast live coverage of Senator Bunning blocking the $10 billion ‘emergency’ spending bill. This one appropriation is not newsworthy, but the Left thinks Bunning is making its case as to why socialized medicine must be passed using budget reconciliation rules. This is a perfect example of how the media distort what conservatives in Washington are doing and how they manipulate the news.”
According to Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, the furor over Bunning was the latest in a line of liberal campaigns to make conservatives like Rush Limbaugh the face of obstructionism, and the reason that Democrats couldn’t get bills through the Senate.
“For all the talk of Obama as some kind of messiah, I see a bunch of guys trying to score junior high school tactical wins,” said Norquist. “They keep setting up cheap shots against these straw men. If setting up a phony fight with Limbaugh didn’t work, you think a fight with Jim Bunning will? Who’s Jim Bunning? You have to explain this to voters who haven’t even heard of him.”
Not everyone in the grassroots, given some time to watch the strategy, agreed with Bunning.
“He comes across as a hardass, don’t you think?” mused Robin Stublen, a Florida Tea Party activist who’s often critical of Republican efforts to court the movement. “Some of his argument was legitimate. Some of it was grandstanding.”
That kind of criticism, however, was a distinct minority.
“Some weak-willed Republicans don’t want the GOP to be cast as the heartless Scrooges taking away ‘temporary’ unemployment benefits that have become enshrined permanently,” wrote conservative blogger and columnist Michelle Malkin. “If Republicans can’t stand up and question the permanent Nanny State and can’t point out the unintended consequences of liberal intentions without folding like card tables, what good are they?”
“I’m glad someone up there is finally asking the question, how are we going to pay for this?” said Judson Phillips, whose Tea Party Nation group sponsored the National Tea Party Convention. “In my family, when our income is down, that is the first question we ask. I don’t care how important the spending is. That question must be answered.”
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33 Comments
Comment posted March 3, 2010 @ 8:38 am
Judson Phillips illustrates the inability to grasp basic economic reality. Concepts learned in Econ 101 are either forgotten or ignored.
“How are we going to pay for this? In my family, when our income is down, that is the first question we ask.”
The answer is that government spending cannot be equated to family spending. In times of economic depression, it is incumbent upon the government to institute deficit spending in order to decrease unemployment and increase discretionary spending in the population.
“How are we going to pay for this?” is a question that should be asked, but the answer should not curtail the spending.
The area these fledgling deficit hawks should be targeting is:
1) Why deficit spending was allowed in times of plenty?
2) What allowed this depression to happen (reference credit derivatives).
3) What should we do to prevent recurrence?
I in no way excuse Democrats from their role in this crisis. However, Bunning, Norquist, Malkin, et.al. are ensuring cooler heads with competent approaches are unable to do their duty.
Comment posted March 3, 2010 @ 8:46 am
One question: Why do we put up with this kind of stuff?
Comment posted March 3, 2010 @ 8:57 am
This aritcle is FULL OF MISSINFORMATION
Bill Johnson LED A HUGE RALLY WITH HUNDREDS OF HIS SUPOARTERS. WERE WAS RAND PAUL? WHERE WERE RAND PAUL'S SUPOARTERS?
MAYBE BUSY SMOKING THERE WEED?
THAT IS WHY BILL JOHNSON WILL GET SENATOR BUNINGS ENDOARSEMENT & BE OUR NEXT US SENATOR
Rand Paul is not even close to competetive. The FRONTRUNNERS in this race are candidate Bill Johnson & Trey Grayson.
didnt you see the latest KY pole?
http://kentuckybill.com/page/johnson-overtakes-…
Bill johnson THE TRUE CONSERVATIVE IS THE REEL FRONTRUNNER
Johnson and Grayson are the frontrunners, Rand has some catching up to do. I hope this website will write an article on Mr Johnsons ROCK solid Conservative record. and his surge in the poles. Kentucky Bill is the best choice for Conservatives because he will make the War on Teror Permenent as well as FISA and the Patriot Act to protect us from the terorists. Rand paul is NOT A CHRISTIAN & a known Islamofacist and prochoice baby killer who is aiding the terorists against America. please interview Elkton Businessman Bill Johnson the FRONT RUNNER IN THIS RACE with a rocksolid Conservative mesage
Visit those websites and supoart THE TRUE REAGAN CONSERVATIVE
http://www.KentuckyBill.com
http://www.genuinegopmom.blogspot.com/
BTW WHERE IS RAND PAUL's BIRTH CERTIFECATE?
CAN RAND PAUL PROOV HE WAS BOARN IN AMERICA?
JUST LIKE THE KENYAN PRESIDANT I think not
Comment posted March 3, 2010 @ 9:50 am
Thank you, sir, for illustrating my point.
I doubt a better representation could be found.
Comment posted March 3, 2010 @ 10:05 am
what a bunch of garbage!!! Unemployment benefits are a INSURANCE! It is the ONLY reason Americans agreed to PAY taxes again…Safety net! DUH! Since our public servants gave BIG tax credits to corporations ( made by Americans) to outsource our jobs by the millions Americans NEED their UIB Insurance now more than ever! What should they do? wear furs and hunt food for their families? or die? ALL the taxes AMERICANS pay for their entire lives, even if they are unemployed! It IS heartless and stupid! STAND by your constituents for a change Bunning! Elementary school temper tantrums. They want to replace us with docile worker bees hence: North American Union! signed 3/03 by Bush & co, still doubt? go to amerocurrency.com
Comment posted March 3, 2010 @ 10:17 am
why do we PUT UP with THIS stuff? Because we are economically enslaved and under a Corporate fascist dictatorship! They very carefully “SOLD” OUR freedoms, rights and liberties to their corporate bosses!
Comment posted March 3, 2010 @ 10:25 am
Reagan started the “insta-felonizing” of America's youth preferably by age 18 where I live! behind drugs the CIA has been bringing in for how long? ( A terrorist attack on US soil targeting OUR youth ) those are the ONES that live!, Not to mention all of the pharma/FDA dangerous/deadly drugs that are killing more Americans than ALL of the “illegal” drugs put together! Allowing murdering and poisoning of American tax payers and their children is a TERRORIST attack! No wonder America is so dysfunctional!
Pingback posted March 3, 2010 @ 11:07 am
[...] David Weigel at TWI writes that the rightwing Republicans think the Bunning balk was, and will continue to be, a winning issue for them. They could hardly be more wrong. [...]
Comment posted March 3, 2010 @ 1:01 pm
oh yes bkbbk5, unemp. ben. is INSURANCE but simple facts like that are ignored by repugnants,
that unemp/empl. INSURANCE paid by American workers FORMERLY employed,
as in ONLY EMPLOYED Americans generate that specific tax;
and EUC extension INSURANCE is $14 per YEAR, right next to tax BREAKS for employers
gasp…so the big whining whopper amount, a whole $14/year; but repugnants like bent bogus bunning will continue whining/lying with pathetic cliche phrases like paygo, to frenzy their mindless followers about the supposedly “massive” cost of unem. INSURANCE extension of…a whole massive $14/year,
ALL of which goes directly back into the economy to buy food/shelter/heat/electricity etc., since Americans FORMERLY employed living on $300/week are then barely living below poverty; and this INSURANCE paid by Americans FORMERLY EMPLOYED is NOT any damn FAVOR/”handout”;
if baboon brain bunning can wrap his little mind and big fat mouth around intelligent thoughts, he should look to “PAYGO” from big fat $10 BILLION MONTHLY millitary spending!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment posted March 3, 2010 @ 1:06 pm
Jim Bunning woke up one day to find himself the junior United States senator from Kentucky.He was elected solely on the strength of having been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Oh! the power of celebrity. He kept a low profile, skittered around in Mitch Mcconnell's shadow for years.
Mitch is a semi-literate dullard who woke up one day to find himself the junior U.S. Senator from Kentucky. He had been elected solely on the strength of having een elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He behaved himself, hewed to the party line and was careful to do McConnell's bidding. This was easy for him since he has never been known have an original thought.
Unfortunately, this year when he was mulling running again, McConnell and posse found a younger, brighter candidate to run and, rather unceremoniously, threw Bunning off the train. And thus, the Incredible Hulk was re-born. Bunning responded with what can only be called a massive tantrum. By blocking the things dearest to a politicians heart in an election year, he was quite prepared to pull the Republican pillars down with no regard for the consequences. This looked to many like just more Republican obstructionism. Oh! My!
Bunning appeared to need either a smart slap in the face or some serious medicating. While Senator McConnell is no doctor, I doubt he would have any trouble administering the slap. Now, of course this is all history but quite a moment, nevertheless.
McConnell's shadow. U
Comment posted March 3, 2010 @ 1:53 pm
JUST LIKE THE KENYAN PRESIDANT i think not
geez, Hollywood couldn't dream up these characters…
Comment posted March 3, 2010 @ 4:52 pm
Let me see if I can grasp your basic economic fantasy: “How are we going to pay for this? In my family, when our income is down, that is the first question we ask.” But in the context of government, you believe that “How are we going to pay for this?” is a question that should be asked, but the answer should not curtail the spending.” Where did you take Econ 101?
Comment posted March 3, 2010 @ 5:53 pm
Your family prints its own currency and owns its own central bank? Awesome!
Comment posted March 3, 2010 @ 7:09 pm
Jim Bunning threw one beanball at the American economy at our economy and another at our political process.
It's time for him to go.
Comment posted March 3, 2010 @ 8:55 pm
I ask three questions concerning what happened, how it was allowed, and how to keep it from happening again, and this is your concern?!
Deficit spending during an economic crisis is an incredibly basic idea taught in Economics classes in both high school and college when I went, and currently (I read my college kid's textbooks). As you note, I insisted this question must be asked, ensuring a watchful eye on the ensuing deficit that must be repaid. This ain't fantasy, it ain't difficult, and it ain't new. This has been done repeatedly with success. One major handicap has been the unnecessary and wasteful deficit we created during a time of prosperity, exacerbating the downward pressure on the economy during its early violent free-fall.
Please visit your local community college Econ Dept and request a primer. Economics is a fascinating subject, well worth the time invested to understand it.
Comment posted March 4, 2010 @ 2:53 am
what the hell is an Islamofacist ? Is that something Rush Limbaugh made up?
Comment posted March 4, 2010 @ 8:14 am
There are other people that say the same thing using different words about orthodox, simple, standard economics at:
http://washingtonindependent.com/78288/gops-def…
These economists both advocate balanced budgets, and have a working relationship with reality.
Comment posted March 4, 2010 @ 10:40 am
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Comment posted March 4, 2010 @ 1:05 pm
What does Mwai Kibaki have to do with your nonsensical babbling?
Have you always been a flaming bigot or did you get special training?
Is a reel frontrunner an angler for net gains?
Where is Teror and why are we at war there?
Who is Weed and why is he smoking over there? Is he on fire?
Why didn't you finish the third grade? Can you “proov” you did?
Did they give you a sticker from the doctor to wear on your little cap?
Wouldn't surging in the poles leave a nasty scar?
Comment posted March 4, 2010 @ 1:14 pm
There are other people that say the same thing using different words about orthodox, simple, standard economics at:
http://washingtonindependent.com/78288/gops-def…
These economists both advocate balanced budgets, and have a working relationship with reality.
Comment posted March 4, 2010 @ 6:05 pm
What does Mwai Kibaki have to do with your bizarre babbling?
Have you always been a flaming bigot or did you get special training?
Is a reel frontrunner an angler for net gains?
Where is Teror and why are we at war there?
Who is Weed and why is he smoking over there? Is he on fire?
Why didn't you finish the third grade? Can you “proov” you did?
Did they give you a sticker from the doctor to wear on your little cap?
Wouldn't surging in the poles leave a nasty scar?
Comment posted March 5, 2010 @ 3:15 pm
Playing the computer game “Railroad Tycoon” is not an education in economics.
Pleasing the lobbyist who paid you is not standing on principle.
Comment posted March 5, 2010 @ 4:19 pm
Where is Teror and why are we at war there?
It is spelled TERROR!!!!!!
Comment posted March 10, 2010 @ 10:50 am
Really? I thought it was spelled “s-a-r-c-a-s-m.”
What's an “amercican?”
Idiot.
Comment posted March 10, 2010 @ 4:50 pm
Really? I thought it was spelled “s-a-r-c-a-s-m.”
What's an “amercican?”
Idiot.
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Comment posted August 8, 2010 @ 8:17 am
Jim Bunning threw one beanball at the American economy at our economy and another at our political process.
Comment posted August 20, 2010 @ 2:24 am
Pleasing the lobbyist who paid you is not standing on principle
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