Jim Bunning...American

I’m a big believer in standing up for what you believe in. There’s just something about the little guy fighting the establishment, arms raised in defiance, refusing to give in, that makes you realize that there really are heroes in this world. I think about the movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” and the image of Jimmy Stewart, exhausted and alone, standing up to Congress for what he knows is right. I love that movie. I love Jimmy Stewart.

I’m sure that some part of Senator Jim Bunning believed, in this last week or so, that he was Jimmy Stewart. He imagined himself, so close to retiring, going out as a hero. A champion for the little man. A true American patriot. There was just one problem: Jim Bunning is an idiot.

Everyone with any common sense knows that our government spending is out of control. The national debt has become so bloated that it really isn’t a number any more, it’s just this thing that we know exists but ignore (like when the Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses knock on our door. We sit quietly and pretend not to notice until the knocking stops). It’s a problem for the future, and we are nothing in America if not spectacular procrastinators.

But Jim Bunning wanted to make a stand. He decided to put a stop to an emergency spending bill because we (our federal government) did not have the money to pay for it. That’s something that most of us deal with every day. It’s called “living paycheck to paycheck.” Most of us know that if we want a new car, we have to have the money in our budget to make the payments.

That logic does not apply to the government. First, they can print money. (Obviously, we can too, but it doesn’t usually work out well). Second, they have unlimited credit and don’t get in trouble if they miss or make late payments. It’s a beautiful system.

James Paul David Bunning was a baseball player and one of the rare major league pitchers to have pitched a “perfect game.” After retiring from Detroit Tigers after seventeen seasons, he returned with his celebrity to Kentucky and began stair-stepping his way from office to office until he reached a seat in the House of Representatives and eventually the Senate.

His tenure in congress has not been notable, other than its lack of noteworthiness. In April of 2006, Time Magazine named him one of America’s Five Worst Senators. He was dubbed “the Underperformer” for his "lackluster performance", saying he "shows little interest in policy unless it involves baseball", and criticized his hostility towards staff and fellow Senators and his "bizarre behavior" during his 2004 campaign.

Bunning missed more than a week of the January 2009 session of Congress, saying he had a family commitment to attend to. When asked if he would explain where he was, he said “No, I’d rather not.”

He was the only senator to miss the Christmas Eve 2009 vote on Health Care Reform. In fact, he missed 21 votes in the Senate in December (one more than 91 year old, wheelchair bound and ailing Senator Robert Byrd). This is a man who is truly dedicated to his service to the American people!  If he were in the private sector he would be fired (maybe then, he would care more about the "unemployed").

On February 25, 2010, Bunning decided to wage war on an emergency spending bill that would extend funding for unemployment benefits and other federal programs, demanding that the money needed to be cut from other programs in order to pay for it. While the logic of “pay as you go” (only approving bills if there is funding available to pay for it) and the need for a balanced budget is overwhelming, you have to choose your battles, and Bunning made an amazingly poor choice on that front.   It's doubly odd that he chose to stand up for "pay as you go" because he voted against it each time it was brought before the senate!

His funding freeze tactic held up government checks for over 400,000 unemployed Americans and sent another 2000 workers into furlough when their project funding was stopped. This seems especially hypocritical and petty considering that Bunning’s Senate salary is $170,000 a year (in addition to his other perks and government provided health coverage), while the average benefits paid out in unemployment and COBRA insurance match payments comes to less than $16,000 per year. How were these people expected to pay their bills and feed their children while Bunning played his political games? Bunning didn’t care.

To express how much he was sacrificing in his quest for fiscal responsibility, he announced on the Senate floor "I have missed the Kentucky-South Carolina game that started at 9:00 and it's the only redeeming chance we had to beat South Carolina since they're the only team that has beat Kentucky this year." I guess a man has to have his priorities straight.

When challenged about his blockage of the bill, Bunning responded to one democratic senator with an eloquent “tough sh*t,” and flipped his middle finger to an ABC News reporter trying to question him. I assume that is the same response he has for the over 10 percent of Kentuckians who are currently out of work. He can afford to stand on his principles while they wait for their next unemployment check.

Maybe he was planning to give them some money from his Jim Bunning Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization he runs with his wife Mary and Cincinnati tire dealer Bob Sumerel. Established in 1996, it has taken in a little over $500,000 in donations and income from autographs and baseball collectibles. Unfortunately, it has been able to give out only 25% of that to charities (mainly to Bunning’s own church), while Bunning himself has drawn $180,000 in salary for about one hour a week in work. Ethically, that’s such a grey area I’d call it black.

Democrats and even some Republicans blasted Bunning for his obstruction tactic on the funding bill. Sadly, a few stepped forward to praise him. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said Bunning should be “honored” by the senate, and South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint said “he’s my hero this week.” Wendy Caswell, founder of the Louisville Tea Party Movement is quoted as saying, “we’re all in support of Senator Bunning.” I guess these folks all have paying jobs right now.

The image I have of these southern senators, thumbs clutching their suspenders while they rear back and make loud, troublesome pronouncements, is not that of Jimmy Stewart, fighting the fight of the common man that they were elected to stand for, but Foghorn Leghorn, cartoon rooster who has no idea how foolish he really is.