Who really gets hurt from hold by GOP's Bunning?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Transportation furloughed nearly 2,000 employees without pay Monday as the government began to feel the impact of Republican Sen. Jim Bunning's one-man blockage of legislation that would keep a host of federal programs operating.

Bunning's "hold" also affects jobless benefits for thousands of unemployed workers, rural television customers, doctors receiving Medicare payments and others.

...

"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," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. "This means that construction workers will be sent home from job sites because federal inspectors must be furloughed."

Federal projects shut down include more than $38 million in project funding for Idaho's Nez Perce National Forest and Fernan Lakes Idaho Panhandle National Forest and $86 million for bridge replacements in the Washington, D.C., area. Bunning's home state of Kentucky has no projects affected by his action.

However, nearly 1.2 million unemployed workers, including 14,000 in Kentucky, would lose federal jobless benefits this month if Congress doesn't extend them, according to the National Employment Law Project, a liberal-leaning research group. The U.S. Labor Department estimates that about one-third will lose benefits in the first two weeks of the month.

Letting the highway program lapse could mean an estimated 90,000 jobs lost. As many as 2 million families could lose access to local television because a copyright law expired overnight.

States hardest hit by the Monday cutoff, according to the law project, would be California, where an estimated 201,274 people could lose help, and Florida, where the total is an estimated 105,016. Other potential state totals: Georgia, 48,284; Texas, 82,850 and Illinois, 65,431.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/01/v-fu...-from-hold.html

[peejay 327]

Give it a break already! Blaming one guy for the financial sh*thole America is in? How long can the USA continue to run up the credit card? At some point someone has to say...NO!

They could easily stop sending anti-AIDS drugs to Africa to pay for the unemployment and COBRA insurance extensions. They could close some foreign military bases. They could do a lot of things.

Edited March 2, 2010 by peejay

[Ban Hammer 13,874]

Give it a break already! Blaming one guy for the financial sh*thole America is in? How long can the USA continue to run up the credit card? At some point someone has to say...NO!

it worked good with gwb. just gotta find a new scapegoat.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

it worked good with gwb. just gotta find a new scapegoat.

I heard Bunning lead the Major Leagues in headshots when was a pitcher. Now that Senator Kyle pushed him out of his seat in Kentucky to make room for a Teabagger, I think Jim will do a little more headhunting before he retires to bluegrass country.