Kentucky Republican Sen. Jim Bunning was the canary in the federal-spending coal mine, but no one listened to him. Instead, he was shouted down, vilified and ridiculed by Democrats, the media, AND Republicans.
As blogger John Hawkins said on his Facebook page yesterday, if Republicans treated Bunning this badly on this issue, how can we ever expect them to make courageous choices on spending if they win the majority? Good question.
Meanwhile, a half a world away, Greece is showing us what awaits us if Bunning’s message goes unheeded:
Government officials said the measures would include cuts in civil servant’s annual pay through reducing their Easter, Christmas and vacation bonuses by 30 percent each, and a 2 percentage point increase in sales tax to bring it to 21 percent from the current 19 percent.
In a dramatic speech to his Socialist party deputies in Parliament Tuesday night, Papandreou said his country was in a “state of war” and was fighting for its national survival.
