Bunning Plays Hard Ball!

It's time to Break It Down!

James Paul David “Jim” Bunning, venerable junior Senator from Kentucky may have achieved most of his notoriety as a conservative Republican politician. Senator Bunning has been involved in politics since first winning elective office on the local level in 1977. He served several terms on the Fort Thomas, KY City Council, before moving up to serve in the Kentucky General Assembly, the US House of Representatives and two terms in the US Senate. The Senator has announced he will not run for re-election in November.


But before walking the Halls of Congress, Bunning spent 17 years matching wits with Major League Baseball’s best hitters. As a pitcher, he excelled at his craft. He is one of only six pitchers to throw both a no-hitter and a perfect game, and one of only five players to throw a no-hitter in both leagues. He played in seven All-Star Games.

The crafty pitcher was known to challenge not only opposing hitters, but occasionally, his Manager as well. Bunning would frequently shake off pitches from the catcher that he knew had been signaled from the manager in the dugout. Of course this had the effect of irritating Philadelphia Phillies Manager Gene Mauch. That was classic “Bunning Playing Hard Ball!”

Bunning retired from Major League Baseball in 1971. Fast forward to today; Jim Bunning, about to retire from his second career, is at it again, thumbing his nose at authority figures, and playing hard ball. When Jim Bunning, the baseball player resorted to these exercises in rejecting authority, he was a wily veteran, supremely confident in his ability to control the game and his batting opponent, more skillfully through his own devices than via the calculations of a manager working from the dugout.

Today, at 78, the sixth oldest member of the Senate, and the oldest Republican, Bunning is often regarded as ornery and cantankerous…by members of both parties. The Senator’s most recent thumb in the eye episode was finally overridden yesterday as the Senate voted 78-19 to pass an emergency spending bill. Bunning’s obstructionist measures had held up passage of the bill, and caused the furloughing of 2,000 federal employees, placed jobless benefits for millions in jeopardy, and halted more than 40 highway projects.

In baseball, Bunning faced many of the greats of his era, and he never backed down. In fact, he didn’t hesitate to bean a batter as he faced the likes of Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, and Roger Maris. He was the first pitcher to record 100 wins and 1,000 strikeouts in both leagues. But Bunting was more than a jock. He was also a Xavier University trained economist, and during his political career, he consistently assumed hard line positions on fiscal issues.

Using the rigid rules of the Senate, Bunning single-handedly held up the spending bill. But make no mistake, the junior Senator from Kentucky is no stranger to controversy. This was not his first adventure. Other rows he has been involved include, but are not limited to:

• Last year Senator Bunning apologized after predicting Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, would be dead within a year.

• During his 2004 re-election campaign, Bunning said his Democratic opponent, Daniel Mongiardo, who is of Italian descent, looked “like one of Saddam Hussein’s sons.” Another apology.

• Senator Bunning has openly feuded with Mitch McConnell, the senior Senator from Kentucky

• The Senator has been known to curse at reporters

• ABC and CNN showed footage of Bunning refusing to talk to reporters about blocking the spending bill. “Excuse me!” he snapped. “This is a senators-only elevator.” ABC said he gave the finger to one of its producers.

• Bunning is considered so toxic, Republican Leadership pushed him to retire when his second term is up at the end of this year.

• George Boyd a Louisville resident who lost his job a year ago and could be affected by the impasse said of Bunning, He’s heartless. He doesn’t think about the needs of other people.”

Of course, the Senator has his supporters as well as detractors. Yesterday, in the midst of a divided crowd in front of Bunning’s Lexington Office, one woman waved a placard that read: “Stand Tall Senator Bunning. You Are Pitching A Perfect Game.” At the same gathering Senate candidate Bill Johnson yelled into a bullhorn, “Bunning for president!”

Spotted in the crowd another sign read: Senator Al Franken is a comedian. Jim Bunning is a bad joke; while Lexington businessman Andy Davis, a Republican, said, “Bunning has been nothing but a disgrace.”

Donald Gross, a University of Kentucky political scientist speculated that Bunning’s antagonistic involvement with the spending bill and its sponsors make signal frustration on Senator’s part. Feeling forced to step down; absent any notable legislative legacy, this may simply represent his last chance to take a slap at the system.

“He’s always been an argumentative type of person, testy. This may be his last hurrah, his last chance to take a slap at people before he leaves.”

The Senator had been holding up the spending bill since last Thursday. He had proposed paying for the bill with money from the stimulus bill, but Democrats objected to that idea. In response to the rejection of his proposal to pay for the bill, Bunning used the rules of the Senate to block the bill.

While this tactic generated a predictable antagonistic reaction from Democrats, a number of Republicans also experienced significant discomfort due to Bunning's actions.

“He hurting the American people,” Senator Susan Collins, Republican, Maine said, when asked if Bunning was hurting the Republican Party.

After deciding to end his one-man filibuster, Senator Bunning blamed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for his resorting to this procedural tactic. But Senator Dick Durban of Illinois noted, “The Senator from Kentucky, after one week, has decided to accept exactly what was offered to him last week. The Senator from Kentucky said initially, “No, I may lose. I am not going to offer an amendment; I am just going to object.”

This crisis has been averted. But for another fleeting 15 minutes, once again, there was another classic example of “Bunning Playing Hard Ball!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/.  A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Bunning

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jQcerGxiCpGx8Fw5q0okBSfV08BwD9E6T9L80

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/02/jobless.benefits.bill/index.html?hpt=T1

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/02/politics/main6258785.shtml?tag=topnews

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100302/ap_on_go_co/us_budget_impasse_8

http://politifi.com/news/Democrats-rip-GOP-senator-for-blocking-jobless-benefits-extension-235056.html

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100301/NEWS01/3010341

http://mediamatters.org/research/201003020021

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/03/01/89610/gops-bunning-told-off-senators.html

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/01/jobless.benefits.bill/index.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/26/politics/main6246198.shtml

http://www.aolnews.com/politics/article/sen-jim-bunning-blocks-extension-of-unemployment-benefits/19378482

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-unemployment-benefits-illinois-03020100301,0,538011.story

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=9974427

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124217445

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2011231509_apusbudgetimpasse.html

http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/02/jim_bunning_block_unemployment_benefits

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-03-01-Budget_N.htm