Pitching for America

“If we cannot pay for a bill that all 100 senators support,” Bunning said, “how can we tell the American people with a straight face that we will ever pay for anything?” Good question.

Indeed, the behavior of senators suggests that neither party appreciates the depth of the crisis we are in or the pain that will be required to get us out. Last week, Bunning did more than any senator in many moons to raise the consciousness of the country to the magnitude of the deficit-debt crisis.

His taking to the barricades may have inconvenienced some, but Bunning forced us all, briefly, to stare into the chasm. 

Sen. Bunning is not running for re-election so his effort to enforce the Senate's Pay-as-you-go rule could not hurt him politically. Democrats and Republican cohorts were less principled and very critical of him in order to convince their constituents that they will continue to dole out the cash, whether or not they can pay for it.