The U.S. Senate has been criticized heavily of late for allowing partisanship and bitterness between factions to prevent important decisions from being made. Many in the country argue that while senators are busy bantering about personal opinions and there is increasing animosity between parties, important issues are not being resolved. Most Republicans and Democrats, however, were finally able to see eye−to−eye on one recent controversy that has been causing contention within the body.
Following the proposal last week of a bill that would provide a month−long extension of expired institutions — most notably unemployment benefits — while the Senate sought future legislation, Sen. Jim Bunning (R−Ky.) single−handedly blocked the spending bill for several days before finally acquiescing last night under heavy pressure from both parties that convinced him to comply. The bill will allot $10 billion toward measures such as unemployment relief and health insurance subsidies, as well as allow construction workers to resume work on federal highway construction projects. Bunning's unwillingness to vote for the bill caused a slew of problems for unemployed people dependent upon federal aid.
As a result of Bunning's actions, some 2,000 Department of Transportation employees were forced into unpaid furloughs and jobless Americans saw their unemployment checks and health insurance come to a halt on Monday. Although the bill has now been passed, senators worry that the delay may still cause holdups for people seeking unemployment checks.
Bunning argued that he was holding up the bill because the $10 billion allotted to unemployment relief will only add to the country's current deficit. He demanded that the money be displaced from somewhere else if it was going to be allocated toward unemployment relief, and he finally complied only after a new payment method was agreed upon. While he may be correct in saying that the government cannot afford to spend extra money or add to the deficit, at this point, no other option was feasible, as abruptly discontinuing federal aid for unemployed Americans would be extremely detrimental and unreasonable. Bunning's decision was also questionable because the senator has a history of blocking bills to protest the federal deficit; he recently held up a different bill that would have provided an extension for some federal funding programs, such as flood insurance, for the same reason.
Disagreement over diverging principles is an inevitable and necessary function of the way that the Senate is structured. However, a position in a government office should not be used as a forum for protest against issues that an individual senator finds to be problematic. Bunning's protest was a misuse of his power. Senators — whose job it is to look out for the best interest of the country — should put personal grievances aside and work together to amend the situation that is the faltering economy. While vast numbers of jobless Americans' needs were put on hold on Monday and most of Tuesday, Bunning continued to fight a battle that he knew he would eventually lose. The fact that Bunning was chastised not only by Democrats but also members of his own party is indicative of how senseless his actions were.
It is the responsibility of anyone elected to a government position to put his or her own bias aside and make decisions that will help the greater good. Jim Bunning wrongly tried to make a point based on his own opinions about the deficit instead of trying to help those who are unemployed and rely on the government for help.
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