Bunning's chorus line

There's an excellent editorial in today's Courier-Journal. Here's an excerpt:

The national Republican Party has become a Jim Bunning karaoke act. A few short months ago, the lame duck senator stood by his lonesome in opposing jobless benefits for out-of-work citizens if the benefits weren't paid for in the budget. Never mind that Republicans had voted for such supports under former President George W. Bush, and that such expenditures are considered emergency responses to hard times. Now most of Mr. Bunning's party sisters and brothers in Washington have joined his chorus. They're betting your farm that more knees will jerk over “deficits” than “unemployment benefits” in November.

That won't happen if voters remember these things: The checks are in the mail this week because Democrats voted to bring some much-needed assistance to two-and-a-half million Americans whose jobless benefits had expired in June. Beyond the humanitarian aspects of the benefits extension lays an economic ripple effect: Those who receive the help actually spend the money in their communities; some analysts say there's a $1.74 impact for every dollar of unemployment benefits.