Jack Conway Shows The Kind Of Post-Bunning Leadership Kentucky Is Looking For

Of the four front runners in the race for the open U.S. Senate seat in Kentucky-- the one McConnell and Cornyn forced the senile and deranged Bunning to step down from-- Attorney General Jack Conway is clearly the best bet. He's got a clear record as a fair-minded Democrat who has stood, first and foremost, with ordinary working families, not with the special interests that dominate Kentucky fried politics. Take look at that 30 second spot (above) his campaign put out yesterday about the Bunning catastrophe. It stands in sharp contrast to the statements by both Republicans, McConnell's boy Trey Grayson and Ron Paul's son Rand, each of whom loudly supported Bunning's kamikaze tactics.

This morning's Lexington Herald Leader sees an uptick in support for Democrats because of widespread revulsion with Bunning's-- and the GOP's-- destructive scorch-and-burn agenda that has sought to make the United States ungovernable since Obama was elected president.

U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning ended his singular stand against extending unemployment benefits Tuesday night, but the national flap he created might have long-lasting effects on the Kentucky race to replace him... Several political analysts said Wednesday that Bunning's stance, which garnered ridicule and praise across the nation, provides an opening for Democrats who had been relegated to second-tier status in recent weeks as Kentucky's Republican primary generated a national buzz.

Analysts said they were not surprised Attorney General Jack Conway began airing a TV ad Wednesday that accused Republicans Trey Grayson and Rand Paul of "shamefully" supporting Bunning, a Hall of Fame pitcher, who Conway said was "throwing high and wild, hitting working families where it hurts."

...In a statement from Conway about his 30-second ad, which is the first of his campaign and airs on Lexington and Louisville stations, he called Bunning, Grayson and Paul "completely out of touch with the economic needs of Kentucky workers and families."

Trey Grayson has a new ad up too. Take a look. How do you think it stacks up against Conway's? And if you're still in the mood for watching videos, here's one from Chris Matthew's show that includes a visit from Jack Conway two days ago (too bad Tweety's such an unmitigated and worthless asshole):

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Every Republican But One Votes Against GOP Filibuster

No, I'm not talking about that sociopathic Bunning; even he voted for cloture on this one yesterday. In fact, the only Republican who didn't, Kay Bailey Hutchison, was back home in Texas busy getting her ass kicked by secessionist Governor Rick Perry in a gubernatorial contest that pitted the shrinking mainstream conservatives against a far right, neo-fascist brand of conservatism that now dominates the Texas GOP. But that's besides the point. The point was an attempt to block a pointless Republican filibuster of another one of Obama's outstanding judicial appointments, Virginia Supreme Court Judge, Barbara Milano Keenan. She was unanimously confirmed to serve on the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Obama had appointed her in September and the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved her in October. Unanimously-- every Democrat and every Republican present. Including crazy old Bunning. Including the worst and most committed obstructionists-- like DeMint, Coburn, Burr and Kyl, who have vowed to prevent Obama from appointing judges, something they believe only conservative white males should be allowed to do.

In fact, just 3 minutes before confirming her, the Senate-- the whole pack of them-- voted for cloture to cut off the GOP's pro-forma, time-wasting filibuster. Not one of them had the guts to stand up in the well of the Senate and explain why they had held up her confirmation for five months. That's because there is no case to make short of "we are obstructionists and the job of obstructionists is to obstruct; that's what we do. What are you gonna do about it?"

As one of Keenan's sponsors, Jim Webb, pointed out, almost one in eight federal judgeships are now vacant-- about 100 and that the Fourth Circuit, which serves Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and the Carolinas currently has four vacancies. There are six other non-controversial judicial appointments waiting to be unblocked by these GOP lunatics-- six that every Republican on the Judiciary Committee, even Jeff Sessions (KKK-AL) voted in favor of! But Miss McConnell is dragging his heels in the mud and refusing to allow them to come up for a vote. No one knows why. It's just a ritual; it's the Republican Party showing their disrespect towards Obama, towards the government, towards the orderly functioning of society and towards the people of the United States. As Right Wing Watch put it yesterday: this was simply obstruction for obstruction's sake. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

The obstruction and delay is part of a partisan pattern. Even when they cannot say “no,” Republicans nonetheless demand that the Senate go slow. The practice is continuing. This is the 17th filibuster of President Obama's nominees. That does not count the many other nominees who were delayed or are being denied up-or-down votes by Senate Republicans refusing to agree to time agreements to consider even noncontroversial nominees.

I wonder if it were put to a vote of the American people how many would vote to abolish the Senate. Oh, and late last night Bunning, threatened by both Democrats and embarrassed Republicans with having his lollipops taken away, relented and agreed to permit a vote on extending unemployment insurance-- although the Kentucky kook is threatening that "I'll be back."

In the end Bunning tried to substitute his own cockamamie bill which was defeated 43-53, all the Republicans plus Lieberman, Ben Nelson & Blanche Lincoln sticking with the crazy old coot (as did contrarian Russ Feingold). After that failed, the actual bill, H.R. 4691, came up and it passed 78-19, die hard obstructionists like Richard Burr (R-NC), Chuck DeMint (R-SC), John Ensign (R-NV), Miss McConnell (R-KY) and John Thune (R-SD) standing with Bunning against the American people.

North Carolina's Secretary of State, Elaine Marshall, reacted angrily to the dereliction of duty by her state's senior senator. "Richard Burr has turned his back on 400,000 unemployed North Carolinians. For many of these people and their families, the
extension was a lifeline. Senator Burr has shown a disturbing lack of compassion for his fellow citizens. He is clearly out of touch with the people he represents." She was, in effect, speaking for hundreds of responsible elected officials from every part of the country.

Everybody Hates Jim Bunning

Are there any McClatchy newspapers in Kentucky? Oh it doesn't matter. Bunning's a lame duck.

Short of pitchforks and torches, it looks like every major political problem in America begging for a solution comes down to either sudden enlightenment in the old slaveholding states or-- more likely-- something akin to the British Parliament Act of 1911, which profoundly changed, and democratized, the British legislative branch by removing the veto from the anti-democratic upper chamber. It wasn't easy. In fact, it was more "impossible" than it would be to reform the U.S. Senate. It even took the death of a king to finally get it done. But they did get it done, and the British government became far more responsive to its citizens as a result.

The filibuster, which is being abused by a radical right GOP opposing Change and refusing to recognize Obama as a legitimate president, is a tool of obstruction against the will of the people. An analysis by A.P. yesterday concludes that conservative obstructionism in the Senate is making the nation ungovernable.

Opposition Republicans are using the delaying tactic at a record-setting pace.

"The numbers are astonishing in this Congress," says Jim Riddlesperger, political science professor at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.

The filibuster, using seemingly endless debate to block legislative action, has become entrenched like a dandelion tap root in the midst of the shrill partisanship gripping Washington.

But the filibuster is nothing new. Its use dates to the mists of Senate history, but until the civil rights era, it was rarely used.

A tactic unique to the Senate, the filibuster means a simple majority guarantees nothing when it comes to passing laws... As a matter of political philosophy, the concept of the filibuster arises from a deep-seated, historic concern among Americans that the minority not be steamrolled by the majority.

It is a brake and protective device rooted in the same U.S. political sensibility that gave each state two senators regardless of population.

The same impulse gave Americans the Electoral College in presidential contests-- a structure from earliest U.S. history designed to give smaller population states greater influence in choosing the nation's leader.

Given recent use of the filibuster by minority Republicans and the party's success in snarling the legislative process in this Congress, Democrats say the minority has gone way beyond just protecting its interests.

The frequency of filibusters-- plus threats to use them-- are measured by the number of times the upper chamber votes on cloture. Such votes test the majority's ability to hold together 60 members to break a filibuster.

Last year, the first of the 111th Congress, there were a record 112 cloture votes. In the first two months of 2010, the number already exceeds 40.

That means, with 10 months left to run in the 111th Congress, Republicans have turned to the filibuster or threatened its use at a pace that will more than triple the old record. The 104th Congress in 1995-96-- when Republicans held a 53-47 majority-- required 50 cloture votes.

The latest eruption of populist anger and liberal angst against the Senate has been caused by senile and retiring Kentucky crepuscular Jim Bunning's one-man circus act-- an act very much supported by his party behind the scenes, if not openly-- to halt a planned extension of unemployment and health insurance benefits for unemployed people. 11.5 million Americans have been thrown out of work, largely due to wrong-headed conservative policies Bunning and his party implemented-- with a vengeance-- while they had Bush in the White House with a signing pen. They've done nearly as much damage to America as the combined efforts of Calvin Coolidge, Warren Harding and Herbert Hoover did in the 1920s, and for the same ideological mania: unregulated, antisocial greed and selfishness.

It turns out that the GOP's tantrum is a tactic to get the Democrats to agree to lowering the tax rates on the 400 richest families in America at the time when wealth is passed between generations (i.e., the estate tax, the bane of plutocracy). Bunning's stunt has also caused an abrupt halt on Highway Trust Fund expenditures for 30 days-- no pay for any of its programs or its employees. 

So, the Department of Transportation as of Monday morning, furloughed 2,000 federal workers. DOT says that number could climb if this stalemate over funding drags on. Employees affected include federal inspectors overseeing highway projects on federal lands. If the inspectors aren't there, the projects must shut down.  DOT says that will affect 41 critical construction projects from Alaska to the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“As American families are struggling in tough economic times, I am keenly disappointed that political games are putting a stop to important construction projects around the country,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “This means that construction workers will be sent home from job sites because federal inspectors must be furloughed.”
 
Without the highway trust fund dollars, the federal government also cannot reimburse states for any ongoing construction projects. There is usually a federal-state match and the states get reimbursed on a real-time basis. States are scheduled to get some $768 million dollars from the feds this week. They will get the money eventually, but will have to figure out how to make do without, for now. 

The GOP bullshit also led to a 21% fee cut for already strapped doctors who accept Medicare, furthering GOP ambitions to destroy the system entirely.

The American Medical Association warned of this last week: "A Medicare meltdown now seems certain, as the U.S. Senate has left early for the weekend, abandoning seniors, military families and baby boomers," reads an AMA statement from Friday. "The Senate failed to repeal the Medicare physician payment formula that will cause a drastic 21 percent payment cut to physicians who care for Medicare and TRICARE patients. On Monday, the 21 percent cut goes into effect, forcing many physicians to limit the number of Medicare and TRICARE patients they see in order to keep their practice doors open."

Another big victim of Republican game-playing and Bunning's psychosis is the job the Small Business Administration is doing to resuscitate the economy by helping small businesses. As voters are starting to grow furious with Bunning, the GOP is beginning to withdraw the support they've been surreptitiously giving him. But the two right-wing loons running for Bunning's seat in Kentucky, Rand Paul and Trey Grayson, have both publicly endorsed his idiocy.

Late last night Ryan Grim at HuffPo exposed the Republican caucus' anti-working-family jihad. Arizona extremist Jon Kyl, second in command at the GOP, who's been cheering Bunning on from the sidelines, argued that unemployment benefits dissuade people from job-hunting "because people are being paid even though they're not working."

Unemployment insurance "doesn't create new jobs. In fact, if anything, continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work," Kyl said during debate over whether unemployment insurance and other benefits that expired amid GOP objections Sunday should be extended.

Update: It Isn't Just Bunning-- It's Out-Of-Control Conservatism's Worship Of Greed And Selfishness

This morning Roll Call pointed out that even some Republicans-- they singled out mainstream conservative Susan Collins of Maine-- were running away from the Bunning disaster as fast as their hind legs could take them.

Senate Republicans sought Tuesday to insulate themselves from the damage caused by Sen. Jim Bunning’s (R-Ky.) filibuster of a bill that would extend unemployment and health benefits and highway programs.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) took to the floor Tuesday morning to ask that the Senate vote within hours on the bill so that thousands of furloughed federal highway workers could go back to work and the unemployed could see a resumption of their jobless benefits... Collins said she was proffering the request on behalf of herself and “numerous” other GOP Senators with whom she had spoken.

Collins pointed out that "there are 500 Mainers whose benefits expired on Sunday," A friend of mine from Auburn, John Lavoie, who was laid off from a great manufacturing job because of criminal trade policies perpetrated by the Bushes and Clinton and crooked corporate-backed congressional scumbags on both sides of the aisle, is far more angry at Bunning than Ms. Collins. But no one is as angry as New Yorkers.

New York State is the biggest loser if the Senate fails to renew unemployment benefits soon.

The Labor Department projects that 54,300 claimants in the Empire State will lose their coverage if Congress fails to act on extending jobless benefits by Mar. 13.

The mistake being made by the media is to buy into the solo gunman theory. This isn't about a senile and hateful old kook from Kentucky. It's about the heart and soul of American conservatism. I like the way Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, framed the issue:

“Hard-working Americans facing a tough economy don’t deserve this. Putting benefits in jeopardy for hundreds of thousands, and potentially millions, of unemployed workers for the sake of a partisan political argument is an abuse of power, and should be treated as one... When it’s this easy for one person to make a bad situation worse, voters are right to be angry. Playing politics with peoples’ economic security, their homes, their children’s welfare and their livelihoods isn’t leadership and shouldn’t be tolerated by any party that claims to represent the American people. This is not an abstract debate about principle or philosophy. These are real people who are trying hard to find work and get back on their feet. Cutting off badly needed assistance at a time like this will only spread insecurity and greater hardship. Sen. Bunning did himself, his state and his country a great disservice and his colleagues should prevail upon him until he relents.”

Confidential to Curt S: Do you want to wind up a pathetic old stumblebum like Jim B?

Yes, it's the famous bloody sock in which Curt
Schilling, torn tendon sheath and all, beat the
Yankees in game six of the 2004 AL LCS.

"Curt Schilling, the former major league pitcher who won the allegiance of Bostonians by leading the Red Sox to the 2004 World Series, said Wednesday that he has 'some interest' in running for the seat held for nearly 50 years by Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy."

-- the AP, yesterday

by Ken

"That being said," the great ex-hurler went on, "to get to there, from where I am today, many, many things would have to happen." Nevertheless, according to the AP report: "Schilling told New England Cable News that he has been contacted 'by people whose opinion I give credence to,' but he did not elaborate. He declined to comment when The Associated Press called his office."

Let's give the guy a break. This is his first season in retirement (though not his first season out of uniform -- he missed all of last season with his shoulder problems), and it doesn't seem likely that he's settled into the kind of beer-distributorship situation that a player might once have been thrilled to retire to.

I can't imagine that anyone is serious about our Curt making a run for the Massachusetts Senate vacancy. But I am overtaken with dread that we are now doomed to a lifetime of speculation about his running for office -- until he either gets it out of his system or (cringe) does it.

Curt has been outspoken in his support for right-wing pols, and I would just encourage him to consider the cautionary example of another onetime Philadelphia Phillie, Jim Bunning, whose second career as a public crazyperson, now drawing to a humiliatingly pathetic close, may have caused people to forget what a truly stupendous pitcher he was. (At the same time, Bunning's heartbreaking descent into mental darkness, apparently already well advanced by the time of his 2004 reelection campaign, has tended to make people forget how crazy he was when he was still sane.)

Unlike Curt, who for all his prodigious gifts needed some swift kicks in the butt to become the pitcher he finally did (question: although he's unquestionably a Hall of Fame-caliber pitcher, with only 216 wins to show for his 20 seasons is he even a legitimate candidate for the Hall?), Bunning was simply a master of his craft. If you never saw him on the mound, well, you missed something. And I speak as a fan who mostly saw him against my Mets, who would have done little worse if they simply didn't show up on the days he pitched against them. The man was an artist with a baseball in his pitching hand. If he'd had Curt's arm and his stuff, he woulda won, I don't know, maybe 400 games. Make it 500 if he'd played on teams as good as Curt did.

I understand that when you've had an athletic career as successful as Curt Schilling has, it must be hellishly difficult to figure out what you do with the rest of your life. And it can't help when you've got foolish people telling you you're a natural to replace Ted Kennedy in the U.S. Senate. What I'm trying to suggest to you, Curt, is that as you try to decide where you go from here, this ain't it.

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