Jim Bunning

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Jim Bunning, Tough Pitcher, Senator, Dies at 85
Jim Bunning,
Tough Pitcher,
Senator, Dies at 85
OBITUARY

Jim Bunning, Tough Pitcher, Senator, Dies at 85

Pitched first perfect game in National League history, headed to US Senate

(Newser) - Jim Bunning was an intimidating figure as a major-league pitcher and was just as hard-nosed and uncompromising as a US senator. "The main qualities it takes for professional athletes and politicians is to have a very thick hide, a thick skin, and to be able to meet and greet...

Threats Against Lawmakers Hit New High in 2010

Emotions ran high during health reform debate

(Newser) - As the health reform debate reached a fever pitch last year, so too did the threats against lawmakers. The FBI investigated at least 26 threats last year, according to documents obtained by the Hill, a significant upswing from the previous year, and more than any other year on record. Nearly...

Jobless Man Sends Senator Angry Emails, Gets Arrested

Faces felony charges over notes to Bunning

(Newser) - When Sen. Jim Bunning single-handedly blocked an expansion of unemployment benefits—and complained that he'd had to miss a Kentucky-South Carolina basketball game to do it—unemployed Philadelphia man Bruce Shore did what any furious voter would do: he sent Bunning an email. “ARE you'all insane?” it read. “...

Senate Faces Another Fight on Extending Benefits

Starring Tom Coburn as Jim Bunning

(Newser) - With the Senate scheduled for a two-week recess after tomorrow, there’s another showdown brewing over unemployment benefits—and this time, the Republicans have introduced a bill of their own in an apparent effort to avoid the negative publicity that came with Sen. Jim Bunning’s one-man filibuster earlier this...

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Pokes Fun at Jim Bunning

Boasts that she's still alive, in good health

(Newser) - Ruth Bader Ginsburg doesn’t intend to let Jim Bunning live down his statement that she had “bad cancer—the kind that you don’t get better from.” Bunning made the remark last February, when Ginsburg underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer, declaring that she had at most 9...

Jim Bunning Blocks More Obama Nominees

... over Canadian tobacco-flavoring law

(Newser) - Jim Bunning’s latest parliamentary maneuvering isn’t going to get in the way of anyone’s unemployment benefits, but might strike some as silly all the same: The Republican senator is blocking two minor Obama administration nominees to protest a Canadian law banning tobacco flavorings. And while the issue...

Critics Warn Jobless Benefits Becoming Welfare

Extensions up to 99 weeks too much, they say

(Newser) - The unemployment benefit program designed to help workers in the short term is turning into an expensive form of welfare as extensions continue, complain critics in Congress and elsewhere. Workers in the hardest-hit states can now claim benefits for 99 weeks, the longest period since the program began in the...

Bunning Shows Dems, GOP Are In Different Worlds
Bunning Shows Dems, GOP Are In Different Worlds
PAUL KRUGMAN

Bunning Shows Dems, GOP Are In Different Worlds

Time to give up on bipartisanship, writes Paul Krugman

(Newser) - The big lesson from Sen. Bunning's blockade of unemployment benefits is that the Democrats and Republicans are now in totally different universes, writes Paul Krugman. This is amply demonstrated by Republicam Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona's threat to block a bill extending benefits for the rest of the year in...

Jim Bunning: Why I Dug In

 Jim Bunning: 
 Why I Dug In 

opinion

Jim Bunning: Why I Dug In

He says 'enough is enough' about Democrats' spending

(Newser) - Jim Bunning is unapologetic about his one-man stand on Capitol Hill. He doesn't object to jobless benefits, he writes, but to Democrats breaking their own rules about passing bills without paying for them. "Many people asked me, 'Why now?' My answer is, 'Why not now?' Why can't a non-controversial...

Bunning Cuts Deal, Ends Jobless Filibuster
Bunning Cuts Deal, Ends Jobless Filibuster
UPDATED

Bunning Cuts Deal, Ends Jobless Filibuster

Benefits will be extended a month; senator can offer amendment

(Newser) - Republican Jim Bunning has agreed to end the one-man filibuster that’s cut unemployment and other benefits to thousands of workers, making a deal with the Senate leaders of both parties tonight. Roll Call reports that Bunning will support a one-month extension of the benefits in return for the Senate...

Fellow Republicans Turn on Jim Bunning

Kentucky senator's freeze on employment measure draws bipartisan ire

(Newser) - Senate Republicans are breaking ranks as Jim Bunning continues to stall a $10 billion employment and health measure, with Susan Collins of Maine taking to the floor of the chamber this morning to express her "hope that we can act together for the American people." She urged Bunning...

Bunning Throws Tantrum, Flips ABC the Bird
Bunning Throws Tantrum, Flips ABC the Bird
NO QUESTIONS ALLOWED

Bunning Throws Tantrum, Flips ABC the Bird

Ducks query about filibuster, huffs into 'senators only elevator'

(Newser) - After using Senate procedure last week to block the extension of jobless benefits to millions, Republican Jim Bunning hid behind Senate privilege today rather than answer questions about it—after giving the middle finger to a reporter trying to ask him about it. ABC cameras didn’t catch that; reporter...

Bunning Filibuster Puts 2,000 Fed Workers on Furlough

Dept of Transportation workers placed on unpaid furlough

(Newser) - The Department of Transportation furloughed 2,000 workers without pay today, thanks to a filibuster from Republican Sen. Jim Bunning. Democrat and Republican leaders had agreed to pass a one-month extension of several standard federal programs, such as unemployment benefits, by unanimous consent, a process that makes voting unnecessary. Bunning’...

Score One for Jim Bunning
Score One for Jim Bunning
ANALYSIS

Score One for Jim Bunning

Solo filibuster works: Senate Dems adjourn without extending jobless benefits

(Newser) - Republican Jim Bunning’s one-man filibuster, intended to force Democrats to account for the money that would extend by 30 days unemployment benefits for 1.2 million, looks to have worked, with the Senate adjourning for the weekend without passing the extension. Jobless and COBRA payments thus expire Sunday, Chris...

Bunning Hijacks Senate With Jobless Filibuster

'I'm trying to make a point to the people of the United States'

(Newser) - Jim Bunning held the Senate hostage last night, filibustering a move to extend federal unemployment benefits, which will otherwise expire on Sunday, for 30 days. The clash lasted until just before midnight, with Bunning complaining that Democrats had forced him to miss the Kentucky-South Carolina basketball game. But “I'll...

Banking Panel Snipes at Bernanke, But Backs Him

The 16-7 vote reveals unease about Fed chairman

(Newser) - The Senate banking panel endorsed Ben Bernanke’s nomination for a second term atop the Fed, but it was hardly a slam dunk for Time’s new person of the year. The 16-7 vote was a far cry from his original, near-unanimous appointment, with only four of the committee’s...

Bernanke on Defensive in Confirmation Hearing

Senators full of criticisms for the Fed

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke was forced to play defense in his confirmation hearing today, as the Senate Banking Committee rained down criticism on the Fed and its chairman. Some, like Chris Dodd, signaled approval of Bernanke’s leadership but not of the Fed’s bid for increased regulatory control. “Why should...

Cash-Poor Bunning Won't Run in 2010
Cash-Poor Bunning Won't Run in 2010

Cash-Poor Bunning Won't Run in 2010

Ky. Republican blasts party for campaign 'to dry up my fundraising'

(Newser) - An irate Jim Bunning said last night he won't run for a third term in the US Senate because his fellow Republicans "have done everything in their power to dry up my fundraising" amid pressure to step aside, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports. Bunning, 77, has focused his ire on...

Senators Rank Bipartisan Colleagues

Kennedy, Collins named most bipartisan

(Newser) - If you want to reach across the aisle in the Senate, chances are you're stretching toward Ted Kennedy or Susan Collins, according to a Hill survey of the upper chamber. “I’d love to co-sponsor every piece of legislation with Ted Kennedy,” says Sen. Richard Burr. The most...

Ginsburg: I'm Not Going Anywhere

Justice says cancer won't stop her from serving several more years

(Newser) - Contrary to Beltway speculation, Ruth Bader Ginsburg doesn't plan to leave the Supreme Court any time soon. The 75-year-old justice has survived cancer before (colorectal, a decade ago), and doesn't see a reason why the recent diagnosis of pancreatic cancer should cut short her judicial career, she tells USA Today....

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