The one-man brigade standing up to our national debt

On March 1, federal unemployment benefits for over a million Americans expired, despite numerous attempts by Congress to extend them.

Majority Leader Harry Reid and other congressional Democrats had been pushing for a full-year extension of these benefits. Such extensions are fairly common, and usually accomplished through the legislative process with relative ease.

The reason the benefits were endangered, notwithstanding the fact that it affected every senator’s constituents, was the one-man filibuster courtesy of Sen. Jim Bunning, the 79-year-old Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher and Republican senator from Kentucky. Bunning was determined not to let Washington get away with undisciplined spending by adding another $10 billion to the national deficit, which already stands at just over $1.5 trillion for fiscal year 2010.

Bunning demanded that Congress act in accordance with the “Paygo” legislation it had passed just weeks earlier. The “pay as you go” legislation prevents new spending by Congress unless it is offset by budget cuts.

Once again, the hypocrisy in Washington is deafening. How could Congress and the administration push to add $10 billion to the deficit after just passing a bill that in essence said “no more borrowing”?

Bunning’s efforts were not successful. His amendment to force Congress to pay for the additional jobless benefits was defeated by a vote of 53 to 43.

Now Congress is allowed to continue to play its political games with the more than $40 billion worth of TARP funds that have been returned and the billions in leftover stimulus funds instead of paying down the debt. We will remain even more dependent on China, which is buying more of our debt that any other country or institution.

Shame on them!

I also point an accusatory finger once again at the media, particularly ABC, which tried to ridicule Bunning as he was getting into the members-only elevator in the Senate building. Even though he repeatedly answered their questions about why he wanted to stop this outrageous increase in the deficit, they continued to harass him.