Jim Bunning, A Republican, Blocks Extension of Unemployment Benefits

A Republican is single-handedly blocking a bill that would extend unemployment benefits for Americans. Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky is blocking the bill to extend unemployment and related health care coverage for 30 days because he says the government should have the money to pay for the measure.

Even Bunning's fellow Republicans are beginning to disagree, saying the rule should not apply in this emergency situation. Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he is working with Democrats to pass the legislation.

Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins was the first member of Bunning's party to speak out against him. She said 500 people in her state would lose medical and unemployment benefits and doctors would face a 21 percent cut in Medicare payments.

Democrats are also going hard at Bunning for his stance.

"Today we have a clear cut example to show the American people just what's wrong with Washington, D.C.," Patty Murray of Washington said, according to the Associated Press. "That is because today one single Republican senator is standing in the way of the unemployment benefits of 400,000 Americans."

Bunning's argument is that the bill would add $10 billion to the already monstrous $1.6 trillion budget deficit. "If we can't find $10 billion to pay for it, we're not going to pay for anything," Bunning said.

President Obama is furious.

"I don't know how you negotiate with the irrational," Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, told reporters at an informal morning briefing, the New York Times reported. "I don't know how you prevent one person who decides they hold in the palm of their hand the livelihood of hundreds of thousands who have lost their jobs."

Bunning is retiring so he doesn't have much to lose. However, I'm not sure why Republicans are more concerned with the deficit than the bread and butter needs of Americans. No one talked about maintaining the budget surplus President Clinton left when former president George W. Bush proposed tax cuts for the wealthy.

Secretary of State Hilliary Clinton recently said the deficit is becoming a security issue. She's right. America needs to get its debt under control. We are like a household with 100 credit cards. Our spending limit seems far off but we never know when the credit card company (China and other countries) is going to pull the rug out from under us. In this instance, the spending is justified because the needs of Americans should come first.

However, if Democrats and Republicans are interested in tamping down the federal deficit they need to take tough stances on things such as defense spending. Americans deserve to know that their country will be there to help them in a time of crisis.