what is Bunning talking about?

[WhiteTara]

"Everybody knows that a member of this body that anybody, 100 of us, can object to anything that is brought to the floor of the U.S. Senate, whether it be a nominee, whether it be a judge, whether it be somebody that is appointed to the Treasury. Anybody can object. And there is a procedure that takes place that you can overcome that objection. Why doesn't the Democratic majority use that procedure?"


Here are his remarks from the floor of the United States Senate:

Mr. Bunning: Mr. President, it's -- it's amazing to me that the Senator from Illinois has what we call a convenient memory just last week, there was a bipartisan bill proposed by Senator Baucus and Senator Grassley that would have covered these extension of unemployment benefits, cobra health care assistance, flood insurance, highway bill assistance, the doc fix, small business loans and the rural satellite television viewer act, and his convenient memory loss allowed him to forget that his Leader, Senator Reid, did not allow that bill to come to the floor, and instead substituted his jobs bill which was also not fully paid for, by the way. $10 billion wasn't, $5 billion was. And so $10 billion from the jobs bill that was passed went to the bottom of the deficit.

There comes a time when 100 senators are for something that we all support. If we can't find $10 billion to pay for it, we're not going to pay for anything. We will not pay for anything fully on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Now, he said I only offered one way to pay for this. That's untrue. I offered more than one way. I negotiated with the Leader -- the Leader's staff, rather, and we had worked out two-week extension to $5 billion with a different pay-for. The debt that we have arrived at , even the head of the Federal Reserve Bank, Chairman Bernanke, said it's not sustainable. It's unsustainable. What does that mean to the American people, to the same people that are struggling to pay their bills, that are on unemployment, that could have been covered had the Baucus-Grassley bill been considered, and could have been covered not for 30 days but for three months?

Now, because there were some tax extenders in that bill, the Democrat majority stopped the bill from being considered. I'm not filibustering the bill. A filibuster is -- a filibusterer is somebody who talks a long time. I am exercising my right as a senator duly elected from Kentucky to object to a U.C. that's completely different than filibustering. Everybody knows that a member of this body that anybody, 100 of us, can object to anything that is brought to the floor of the U.S. Senate, whether it be a nominee, whether it be a judge, whether it be somebody that is appointed to the Treasury. Anybody can object. And there is a procedure that takes place that you can overcome that objection. Why doesn't the Democratic majority use that procedure?

So I'm going to make one more shot, and as long as we continue to have the extenders being brought forth and paid for, I'm going to make it. I ask Unanimous Consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 4691, that the amendment at the desk which offers a full offset be agreed to, the bill be amended -- as amended be read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

The Presiding Officer: Is there objection?

Mr. Durbin: Mr. President,... I object.
http://bunning.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=NewsCenter.NewsReleases&ContentRecord_id=1be39297-0da2-791d-e60f-6534d5717bb6
(While you're there, call him and tell him what you think http://bunning.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.OfficeLocations)

[FarCenter]

1. Basically, he's saying that Reid can't get his shit together

Baucus and Grassley had negotiated a bipartisan bill in committee.

When it came out of committee, and would have had time to be passed on the floor according to regular procedures, Reid stopped it and substituted his own version of the bill instead.

Due to the deadlines for expiration of unemployment benefits, Medicare doctor fees, etc., there was not time for the Reid bill to be considered according to regular order.

The Reid bill needed to be passed by emergency procedures, which require unanimous consent, i.e. one objecting Senator can stop its consideration.

The bottom line is that Reid and the other Senate Democrat leaders have not managed this legislation properly and have gotten themselves in a position where one Senator can hold them up.

[WhiteTara]

3. but what is this procedure to overcome his objection?

"And there is a procedure that takes place that you can overcome that objection. Why doesn't the Democratic majority use that procedure?"

[jaxx]

2. He's trying to pass the buck to the dems.

He wants out now, it looks like, and can't bow out gracefully so he attempts to dump it on the dems.

[apnu]

4. Why would Bunning want out now? He's not running for re-election, so he has nothing to lose. (nt)

[jaxx]

5. He's done what he set out to do, and it has escalated.

Now it involves KY politics too....and voters. People who will go down without the benefits.