After repeatedly blocking an extension of unemployment benefits last night — telling Democrats “tough sh*t” and whining about being forced to miss a college basketball game — Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) returned to the Senate floor this morning to once again object to a motion to move the extension forward.

Last night, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) supported Bunning, saying that “everybody in the country now knows that the senator from Kentucky has a hold on this bill…That’s something that we honor in this body.” And today it was Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-TX) turn to justify Bunning’s obstruction. Cornyn said that he admires Bunning’s stand because “if there is one message that I hear from my constituents in Texas and from people around the country it is ‘stop the spending‘ and be responsible when it comes to these unmet liabilities”:

I admire the courage of the junior senator from Kentucky, Senator Bunning. It’s not fun to be accused of having no compassion for the people who are out of work, the people for who these benefits should be forthcoming, and I believe will be forthcoming. But somebody has to stand up, finally, and say enough is enough, no more inter-generational theft from our children and grandchildren by not meeting our responsibilities today. And that’s what I interpret him to have done.

Watch it:

Cornyn said that he wants to redirect money from the economic stimulus package into the jobless benefit extension, which would cause money already dedicated to tax cuts and other stimulus programs to be revoked. Democrats want to consider the benefits extension emergency spending instead. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) even agreed to hold a vote on Bunning’s suggested options for paying for the extension, but Bunning refused because he “did not expect his colleagues to adopt it.”

The House passed an extension on a voice vote last night (meaning no one objected to the measure), and today Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) criticized Bunning’s obstructionism. “It is really hard to understand why one senator in the United States Senate is holding up the extension of unemployment insurance at this time,” she said. Vice President Joe Biden also weighed in, saying “I wish that senator would think about how that man or woman [whose benefits expire] would explain to their kids how they’re going to get by.”

The Senate adjourned today without the extension passing, and is not scheduled to return until Monday. 1.1 million workers are scheduled to have their unemployment benefits expire in March, and 5 million will lose their benefits by June if no extension is put into place.

Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed an extension of unemployment benefits on a voice vote. The Senate, however, has yet to act on the same measure, as various senators are throwing up procedural roadblocks. On Wednesday night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) asked for unanimous consent to approve an extension, only to see the motion blocked by Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) over “a dispute over how [the bill] should be funded.”

Late last night, Democrats made repeated attempts to pass the extension by unanimous consent, and Bunning blocked them all. He then complained that the Democrats’ insistence on trying to ensure that unemployment benefits not expire had caused him to miss a college basketball game:

I want to assure the people that have, heh, watched this thing until quarter of twelve — and I have missed the Kentucky-South Carolina game that started at 9 o’clock, and it’s the only redeeming chance we had to beat South Carolina, since they’re the only team that has beat Kentucky this year — all of these things that we have talked about and all the provisions that have been discussed, the unemployment benefits, all these things. If we’d have taken the longer version of the job bill…we wouldn’t have spent three hours plus telling everybody in the United States of America that Senator Bunning doesn’t give a damn about the people that are on unemployment.

(Bunning’s beloved Kentucky Wildcats went on to defeat South Carolina.) Watch it:

At one point, while Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) were asking him to relent, Bunning was overhead blurting out “tough sh*t” as he sat in the back row.

Not only did Bunning’s antics go on all night and ultimately prevent an extension from passing, but other Republicans went to bat for Bunning, arguing that the Democrats should simply respect Bunning’s hold. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) said, “I believe we’re stooping to a low level. This is not the way the Senate functions. Everybody in the country now knows that the senator from Kentucky has a hold on this bill. … That’s something that we honor in this body.”

“I just don’t think one senator ought to be able to heap this kind of suffering and misfortune on people who are already struggling in this economy,” Durbin said. “This is a wild pitch you are throwing tonight because it is pitch that is hitting somebody in the stands.” 1.1 million workers are scheduled to have their unemployment benefits expire next month, and 5 million will lose their benefits by June.