Lone Senator Holdout on Jobless Benefits Package Makes Deal and Changes Vote
 Jim Bunning |
But Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) says Democrats quickly broke their word by not using the method they said they would to vote on his amendment
Bunning says he objected to passing the measure, which included extending unemployment benefits for a month, Medicare payments to doctors, satellite TV to rural Americans and paychecks to highway workers, because of ". . . the hypocrisy displayed by Senate Democrats. Just over a month ago Democrats passed pay-go legislation and then turned around and waived it for the next two major pieces of legislation that were considered by the Senate."
Senator Bunning, 78, is a former pitcher for the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Phillies and has a seat in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He is retiring at the end of his senate term in January 2011. Congressman Ron Paul's (R-TX) son, Rand Paul (R), a Kentucky ophthalmologist, is running to replace him.
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The New York Times
WASHINGTON — The Senate ended a politically charged impasse over unemployment pay on Tuesday night, voting to allow jobless Americans in danger of exhausting their benefits another month of aid.
The bipartisan 78 to 19 vote in favor of the extended compensation came after Senator Jim Bunning, Republican of Kentucky, dropped his objection to extending unemployment compensation in exchange for a largely symbolic vote on paying for the aid.
The measure, which now goes to President Obama, should also allow 2,000 federal workers furloughed from the Department of Transportation to return to work as early as Wednesday and construction to resume on dozens of highway projects. Senators now will begin debating in earnest a much broader bill that would extend the safety net programs through the end of the year.
Full article
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Links:
Democrats Continue the Hypocrisy [Senator Jim Bunning]
Jim Bunning biography [Jim Bunning Senate website]
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