Wonder who the biggest asshole in Cooperstown is? I probably would have said Ty Cobb until Friday, when 1996 inductee Jim Bunning, now a US Senator from Kentucky, decided to hold up a bill that would extend unemployment benefits set to expire yesterday. Democrats asked for unanimous consent to extend benefits to unemployed Americans for 30 days while they sorted out the details. Bunning's reply? "Tough shit."
His objection was where the funding for these benefits would come from, and his response was to delay the bill long enough to cause benefits to expire before anything could be done. Like clockwork, 2000 federal transportation workers were put on "unpaid furlough" effective today. That's a nice way of saying they were told to go home and watch The Price Is Right, without pay. In 1967, Bunning led the league in innings pitched, shutouts, and strikeouts. Last week, he led the Senate in being a dick. Given his 99 competitors, that may be the more impressive feat.
To stick to his dark-hearted principles, though, came at a cost. By waiting around to ensure those pesky Democrats wouldn't push the bill through while he left, Bunning made a sacrifice: "I have missed the Kentucky-South Carolina game that started at 9 o'clock, 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." Sadly, the Wildcats suffered the same fate as unemployed Americans that day: they lost.
But there may be consequences — baseball consequences: a group known as the Ur Union of Unemployed, or UCubed, wants to hit him where it hurts:
Kentucky GOP Sen. Jim Bunning's one-man filibuster of a bill that would extend unemployment benefits for millions of jobless Americans is triggering nationwide outrage, including a call for his ouster from baseball's Hall of Fame…
"It is an outrage for one senator to stand in the way of desperately needed help for millions of unemployed Americans," said [UCubed Executive Director Rick] Sloan. "His legacy as a great ball player is about to be surpassed by his reputation as an obstinate and uncaring ideologue."
I may be speaking out of turn, but I'll say Bugs & Cranks has your back, UCubed. I personally think Jim Bunning's actions Friday were far more harmful and unethical than anything Pete Rose ever did. Tell that bastard, YER OUT!
UPDATE: It gets worse. Who could have possibly seen something like this coming?
rest at http://www.bugsandcranks.com/dantobin/baseball/jim-bunning-hall-of-shamer/
His objection was where the funding for these benefits would come from, and his response was to delay the bill long enough to cause benefits to expire before anything could be done. Like clockwork, 2000 federal transportation workers were put on "unpaid furlough" effective today. That's a nice way of...
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