Senator Jim Bunning is Standing on Principle & Trying to Enforce PAYGO

From The Hill:


"The ink is barely dry on the pay-as-you-go law, and Democrats are seeking to bypass it to enact parts of their job-creation agenda.


Democratic leaders said extensions of unemployment insurance and COBRA healthcare benefits should be emergency spending that isn’t subject to the pay-as-you-go statute, which requires new non-discretionary spending to be offset with spending cuts or tax increases.


This year, facing record deficits and a debt that has exceeded $12 trillion, Democrats touted the new pay-go requirements as a necessary step to get spending under wraps. President Barack Obama signed the pay-go bill into law on Feb. 12 and Democrats are ready to waive those requirements to help get the economy going."

What is the point of the Pay-as-You-Go(PAYGO) Law if the Democrats are going to circumvent PAYGO and not enforce it ? The Democrats have decided not to abide by PAYGO which they passed earlier in the month so that they are able to pass government funding legislation to assist in funding highway projects, welfare, unemployment benefits, and medicaid without implementing spending cuts to offset costs of this specific piece of legislation. Sen. Bunning is standing on principle in this instance. He is speaking out against bypassing the PAYGO legislation and keeping with the promise of fiscal responsibility and deficit reduction as promised by President Obama and the Democratic Congresss. But, once again, Democrats are not living up to their promises. Sen. Bunning is not against individuals receiving unemployment benefits, funding highway projects, medicaid, or welfare benefits but just wants to stick to the law that the Democrats just recently passed in Congress.

Sen. Bunning (KY-R) has offered various ways to pay for this legislation, but Democrats are not adhering to their own law-PAYGO LAW- which they just passed in mid-February. Here are quotes that Sen. Jim Bunning said when Trying to Enforce PAYGO Legislation:

"It seems to me people have not been listening, particularly the Senator from Illinois. He has been through two of these with the leader. He heard the arguments on both sides. Unfortunately, he has a one-side-only view of this situation. I have offered the same COBRA, flood insurance, unemployment insurance, Satellite Home Viewing Act, highway funding, SBA loans, small business provisions--I have offered to do the same thing for the same amount of time. The only difference I have, and some of my good friends from the other side of the aisle, is that I believe we should pay for it. There is a right over the last 3 years of the Democratically controlled Congress. We have run up $5 trillion in debt. There has to be a time to stop that." (2/25/10)


"Well, we have tried to work this out with the majority, particularly after the pay-go vote last week. When 100 senators are for a bill and we can't find $10 billion to pay for it, there's something the matter, seriously the matter with this body. I've said that last night. I don't want to repeat myself. I have offered several ways to pay for it. If everybody in this chamber -- and there is no senators except me here right now, but there are 100 members of this body -- believes as the senator from Illinois does that this is essential and we should pass it, then we should pay for it. There are going to be other bills brought to this floor that are not going to be paid for, and I'm going to object every time they do it. I don't much agree with the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, but it was striking yesterday when he said if at the present level of debt and the present administration's budget is passed, that the debt of the United States will be unsustainable, unsustainable to me means that there is a chance of one of the rating agencies downgrading the rating on our debt. We cannot allow that to happen. Because I have got too many young grandchildren that want America to be the same America that I grew up in. And I'm worried to death that that's not going to be the case." (2/26/10)

Rush: Bunning is just trying to enforce PAYGO rule the democrats passed