Sen. Tom Coburn thinks he's a principled conservative. Too bad that's the same attitude that causes him to be, in the words of today's New York Times, "a thorn in the side of both parties."
The issue is Coburn's abuse of the Senate's "hold" policy, a procedure by which Oklahoma's junior senator stops action on bills he doesn't like. The problem is that Coburn finds "principled" reasons to object to dozens and dozens of bills, even ones that almost all the other 99 senators agree upon.
That makes Coburn the odd man out, which, as the Tulsa World recently noted, makes the senator "the least effective man in the Senate."
Good work, Doc. While you're preening and grandstanding, Oklahomans are getting inferior representation.
9 comments:
Oklahomans are getting inferior representation.
I don't see it that way. Senator Coburn is blocking dozens and dozens of idiotic, pork-laden, public-treasury-abusing bills. If it makes him unpopular with a senate full of people trying to buy their re-elections, that's fine with me. More power to 'im.
While you're preening and grandstanding,...
That's the heart of it right there. Coburn is an egomaniac who loves to be the center of attention at the expense of doing his job.
Here are a few of those "pork" bills that Coburn is sitting on.
I'm sure he's studied them all, in between working his crossword puzzles and keeping tabs on those threatening southeast Oklahoma lesbians.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Registry Act (S. 1382/HR 2295)
Christoper and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act (S. 1183/HR 1727)
Stroke Prevention (S. 999 - Cochran/HR 477)
Postpartum Depression (S. 1375/HR 20)
Vision Care for Kids (HR 507/S. 1117 - Bond)
Downs Syndrome support (S. 1810 - Brownback/HR 3112 - Sensenbrenner)
Emmitt Till Unsolved Crimes (S. 535/HR 923)
Mentally Ill Offender Treatment (S. 2304 - Domenici/HR 3992)
Star-Spangled Banner and War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission (S. 1079/HR 1389)
Drug Endangered Kids (HR 1199/S. 1210)
Runaway and Homeless Youth (S. 2982/HR 5524)
Child Pornography Prosecution (HR 4120)
Enhancing Child Pornography Prosecution (S. 2869 - Vitter/HR 4136)
PROTECT Our Children Act (S 1738/HR 3845)
Paul Simon Study Abroad (HR 1469/S 991)
Reconstruction Civilian Management (HR 1084/S 613) - Lugar
OPIC Reauthorization (HR 2798/S 2349)
Tropical Forest Conservation (S. 2020 - Lugar/HR 2185 - Kirk)
Funding for victims of torture (HR 1678 - Smith (NJ)/S 840 - Coleman)
Museum of the History of Polish Jews (HR 3320 - Smith (NJ))
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (S. 1446/HR 401 - Tom Davis (VA))
Preservation of Records of Servitude, Emancipation, and Post-Civil War Reconstruction (HR 390)
Pre-Disaster Mitigation Act (HR 6109/S. 3175 - Lieberman)
Broadband Deployment (S. 1492/HR 3919)
Ocean Exploration, Mapping & Research (HR 1834 - Saxton/HR 2400/S. 39 - Stevens)
Hydrographic Services Improvement (S. 1582/HR 3352 - Young (AK))
Coastal and Ocean Observation System (S. 950 - Snowe/HR 2342)
National Sea Grant College Program Amendments Act (S 3160/HR 5618)
Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring (S. 1581/HR 4174)
Realtime Writers Grants (S. 675/HR 1687) (passed House in Higher Ed bill)
Smithsonian construction bill (HR 5492)
Captive Primate/Animal Safety (S. 1498/HR 4933)
The Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network Continuing Authorization Act (S. 2707/HR 5540)
Beach Protection Act (S 2844/HR 2537)
Appalachian Regional Development Act (S. 496 - Voinovich/HR 799)
Oh, they might not be pork; they might be idiotic, public-treasury-abusing bills. :)
Actually, just going by the names, most of them do look like that to me, or like they violate the tenth amendment.
Like I said, thank God for 'im. He's said he's gonna run for one more term, and I would be willing to bet that he'll be getting not only my vote, but enough votes to win. He's doing exactly what we sent him there to do. For your part, you'll get to enjoy another six years of gnashing your teeth at him.
I'm hopeful that Oklahomans may eventually become weary of pleasuring themselves with identity politics, and vote for some effective representation in Congress. We can start with Inhofe this year. While Coburn is merely a lunatic, Inhofe is a corrupt career politician. Neither work for Oklahoma's or the country's interests. Both need to be sent packing.
Operational definition of the term "laughing stock" from the transcript of the Judiciary Committee hearing of John Roberts:
COBURN: Would you agree that the opposite of being dead is being alive?
ROBERTS: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
I don't mean to be overly cautious in answering it.
(LAUGHTER)
Darned if I don't like Inhofe, too--not as much as I like Coburn, but I still like 'im. Betcha he wins, too.
I think Rice will scare Inhofe enough to "make" him go negative to a ludicrous degree. Inhofe will likely top himself in that department, no mean feat. Remember, you heard it here.
From DailyKos:
The list of vulnerable Republicans this cycle who have taken from Stevens includes, but is not limited to:
John Sununu
Norm Coleman
John Cornyn
Mitch McConnell
Elizabeth Dole
Susan Collins
Gordon Smith
Pat Roberts
James Inhofe
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