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Tom Coburn, a US senator from Oklahoma for less than four months, l ast week was up to old tricks he started playing in the House a decade a go. He was making colleagues' lives miserable by exposing wasteful, unne cessary spending that is supposed to stay hidden. In a legislative body where members spend much of their time off the Sena te floor begging for money, it is worthy of Kafka that the only pending ethical proceeding involves Coburn's concept of the citizen-legislator. Unless the rules are changed, Coburn must either break his campaign pled ge of continuing baby deliveries or leave the Senate. His early departure from the Senate would occasion rejoicing there, as he showed April 20. Not observing a freshman senator's customary silent pe riod, he proposed reducing the $592 million for a new US Embassy in Ba ghdad provided by the emergency supplemental appropriations bill. The Oklahoma GOP establishment thought it was finished with Coburn when h e fulfilled his term-limit pledge and left Congress after three terms, e nding in 2000. His subsequent memoir showed his contempt for Capitol Hil l mores. When a Senate seat opened for the 2004 election, Coburn withsto od vicious attacks in both the Republican primary and general election c ampaign. George Voinovich, the Senate Ethics Committee's GOP chairman, and Sen. The staffer was no stranger to Coburn: Robert L Walker, staff director o f the Senate Ethics Committee. He held the same post for the House Ethic s Committee the year after it made the same demand in 1998. House rules were not as firm, and the ethics panel backed down in 1998 when Coburn m ade clear he would quit Congress before he quit medicine. But Senate rul es prohibit ''substantial'' outside income. During six years in the House, Coburn's campaign against pork-barrel spen ding made him anathema to Republican leaders. He planned a lower profile in the Senate, but the ethics complaint made that impossible. He also h ad an agenda ensuring him more attention than ordinary freshmen: bringin g free market principles to health care, oversight of federal programs ( as chairman of the Federal Financial Management Subcommittee) and assaul ting congressional pork. For the first time since Phil Gramm left the Se nate, Sen. In the April 20 debate on the supplemental appropriations bill, Coburn wa s the only senator to support McCain against Sen. They are not stopped from padding their bankrolls with book royalties, farm income and investments. With little chance Voinovich will bury the complaint in the Ethics Commit tee, Coburn can hope that the Senate Rules Committee under Chairman Tren t Lott will save the Senate from embarrassment by amending the rule. Wha t is sure is that Tom Coburn will neither yield nor shut up.
View Replies To: Txsleuth Yes, that will be the only way. Coburn is very conservative and will back ending the filibuster of judges, etc.... Coburn is like McCain is when it comes to fighting pork. Coburn a ctually takes to the Senate floor and names names about those wanting to waste our money.
View Replies To: churchillbuff His subsequent memoir showed his contempt for Capitol Hill mores. BTW, Coburn was just wonderful today during the Judicia ry Committee hearings on the asbestos fund legislation.
View Replies To: churchillbuff Richard Shelby sits as Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, with ove rsight jurisdiction over laws affecting real estate, yet still owns a ti tle insurance agency in Alabama from which he earns millions. John Kerry did not show up in the Senate for months last year while he ran for Pre sident, yet continued to draw his full Senate salary. I'll bet if he were flying home on weekends to perform abortions nobody w ould be saying anything.
View Replies To: adam_az I think it's great that they made his quote larger than their request to get him to apologize. I wonder how many people, reading that sign, agree with him? I bet it's more than the people who are against him will admit.
View Replies To: Ol' Dan Tucker Doesn't Senator Frist also still practice medicine? I'm sure that I read somewhere that he still does surgery on weekends. How much does Jon Corzine earn annually, excluding his Senate salary?
View Replies To: politicalwit One thing the Republican Party doesn't want is an elected conservative But they'll piss and moan when their RINO candidate loses because conserv atives opted to vote for the Libertarian or Constitution party candidate .
View Replies To: 12 Gauge Mossberg "But they'll piss and moan when their RINO candidate loses because conser vatives opted to vote for the Libertarian or Constitution party candidat e" We conservatives are suppose to kiss arse and just be happy someone with a behind their name gets elected. Today's Republicans are not conser vatives and should be identified as such and votes cast for real conserv atives regardless of party affiliation..
Because they bankroll the election of people like Senator Tom Coburn of OK who believes in the radical concept that families will spend their money better then government.
repo rts: The Oklahoma GOP establishment thought it was finished with Coburn when he fulfilled his term-limit pledge and left Congress after three te rms, ending in 2000. His subsequent memoir showed his contempt for Capit ol Hill mores. When a Senate seat opened for the 2004 election, Coburn w ithstood vicious attacks in both the Republican primary and general elec tion campaign.
The Club For Growth's financial backing was a prima ry reason he won Dr. Tom Coburn, a US senator from Oklahoma for less than four months, last week was up to old tricks he started playing in t he House a decade ago. He was making colleagues' lives miserable by expo sing wasteful, unnecessary spending that is supposed to stay hidden.
reports tha t thieving Senators are stuffing a must pass emergency military spending bill with tons of pork: Meanwhile, Sen. As Mark Twain said: It could probably be shown by facts a nd figures that there is no distinctly American criminal class except Co ngress.
View Replies To: yellowdoghunter I have never been prouder of my Senator. IIRC, Oklahoma didn't have a single county that voted democrat du ring the 2004 presidential elections, not one, and Dr.
If anyone would be able to expose these litigious abestos scammers and th eir schemes-which are simply an extension of the fraudulent lawsuits lau nched against tobacco and firearms companies-it's Coburn. He's the type of individual that the rest of the GOP should seek to emula te, not heap scorn upon.
View Replies To: Do not dub me shapka broham He's the type of individual that the rest of the GOP should seek to emula te.... I could not agree more, especially after watching him today. It was hilar ious today when Feinstein asked him, with great scepticism in her voice, how he knew all this medical stuff.
Hillary's Lovely Legs Thanks, travis, that was excellent. I appreciate these brave men who actu ally work on our behalf, rather than to solely continue their careers as politicians.
I'm seriously thinking about sending a buck to this guy to GET him to run . He helps deliver e m If the Senate doesn't think it's right, they ought to get over themse lves.
View Replies To: Do not dub me shapka broham I heard that Bill Frist knows a thing or two about performing surgery. I think his resistance to being bombastic about the judicial nominees and about Bolton, and wo rking behind the scenes, is going to reel these two matters in quite nic ely.
I haven't had faith in the Senate Republican Caucus since former Senate M ajority Leader Dole retired. First Alan Simpson-who should have held that post, if there were any just ice in this world-and then Thad Cochran were beat out for the position b y lesser men. Let's hope that they show some good judgment and spine for once!
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