Posted on 10/30/2005 6:55:53 AM PST by Osage Orange
GOP Senator Takes A Stand
By Chris Casteel
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - He's the same Tom Coburn -- alienating some folks, inspiring others, inviting praise and scorn, prompting questions about whether he's the taxpayers' best friend and his own worst enemy.
Tom Coburn in word and deed
"Why would you want to be up here when you're 68 years of age? If you have any type of life, (Congress) is the last place you'd want to be."
"There are a lot of people who are in the Congress that would never achieve in the private sector anywhere close to the remuneration they receive as a member of Congress."
"You know, I immediately thought about silicone breast implants and the legal wrangling and the class-action suits off that. And I thought I would just share with you what science says today about silicone breast implants. If you have them, you're healthier than if you don't."
"It's OK if the Republicans lose control (of Congress) for our country in the long run because one cycle won't make a difference; two cycles won't make a difference."
Coburn's record
Held 19 subcommittee hearings to probe wasteful and fraudulent government spending.
Got amendments passed on some spending bills requiring that all the "earmarks" inserted by lawmakers for special projects in their states be listed in the legislation before a final vote.
Forced Senate votes on two high-cost bridge projects in Alaska along with other expenditures, such as a troubled electronic travel system used by the Defense Department.
Co-authored legislation to require a single administrator to monitor Hurricane Katrina relief expenditures and helped form a group of senators to find spending cuts to offset the federal money committed to rebuilding.
Much like he did during his six years in the U.S. House, the freshman senator has been challenging the establishment and attracting attention for his words and deeds.
Coburn, R-Muskogee, said he doesn't relish the spotlight, that he wants people "to focus on the message, not the messenger."
The overarching message so far from Coburn is that the federal government spends too much money on low-priority items at a time of war, natural disasters and high deficits.
But he also has sent messages about the age of some of his colleagues, the short-term irrelevance of Republican control of Congress and even the health benefits of breast implants. And he has been pushing the idea of "citizen-legislators" as he tries to persuade his colleagues to let him continue practicing medicine.
He conceded that some of his comments and actions -- particularly his move to kill funding for two controversial bridges in Alaska and for private art museums and an animal shelter -- probably haven't helped his causes.
"I can be marginalized just by what I did" on the bridges and the other special projects, Coburn said. "But I'm not going to stop being bold and being true to what I believe because it might have an impact on me."
If his colleagues choose to hold a grudge, he said, "then I'll have to suffer the consequences as a senator. And I'm willing to do that."
One Republican senator told The Oklahoman, "I think there is a cumulative effect that some of this will have," to the detriment of Coburn.
Sen. Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, chairman of the committee that drafted a resolution to allow Coburn to continue practicing medicine, told Congressional Quarterly, "he probably didn't do himself any favors" with his recent pork-busting efforts.
But Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said, "I think he helped himself. He's going to be a household name."
McCain paused briefly and said, "Look, he's a man of principle."
Coburn's attempts to strip the bridge and other special project funding annoyed some of his colleagues and enraged at least one, Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, who even threatened to quit the Senate.
It was a scene reminiscent of 1998, when Coburn attacked the process of handing out highway projects to lawmakers, likening it to bribes.
The chairman of the Transportation Committee erupted on the House floor. And though Coburn rejected any road projects for his district, the highway bill passed that year, and the money he turned down was spent elsewhere.
An effort in futility
In the Senate, he has made several attempts to eliminate funding he considered wasteful or shift money from one purpose to another he thought more worthy. Most of his efforts have failed by a large margin.
But Coburn said he is proceeding, methodically, to change the hearts and minds of lawmakers -- by appealing to their bosses, the voters.
"The plan is to create awareness with the American public of what is happening and how it happens," he said.
His efforts on the Alaskan bridges and the art museums led to editorials favoring his cause. Internet blogs also weighed in, and outside groups such as Club for Growth -- whose members helped finance Coburn's campaign -- vowed to remember the way senators voted on it.
Though Coburn said he wasn't trying to anger anyone or "cast judgment on anyone here," he also warned that his colleagues need to heed the "rumble" coming from voters.
"I've had lots of private assurances -- 'Keep doing what you're doing, even though I didn't vote (with) you,'" Coburn said.
"They're either going to start voting for it, or they're not going to be here."
A team player?
Sen. John Sununu, R-New Hampshire, one of only 15 senators who voted to kill funding for the Alaskan bridges in order to shift funding to a vital bridge in New Orleans, said Coburn's colleagues have worked with him and have "come to see he's very principled."
Even people who don't agree with him should respect him for doing what he thinks is right, Sununu said.
"Be consistent, be upfront about what you believe in and people will respect you for standing up for principle," he said.
Time will tell whether the respect translates into more support for Coburn's amendments. Last week, when he tried to shift money from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention construction project to AIDS assistance, he swayed only 14 of the 99 senators voting.
But on other matters, his persistence has paid off, at least for now. He was able to amend some spending bills to require more openness in the special projects that have been included. Concerned about runaway costs at some departments on out-of-town meetings, he authored successful amendments to cap the amount those departments could spend on conferences. He will be watching to see whether his amendments survive in the final versions of the bills.
Coburn has held 19 subcommittee hearings, primarily to explore problems in government spending and bureaucracy. Like his time in the House, and in his 2004 campaign, he's sometimes received as much attention for some of the unusual things he's said and done than for his work on issues.
Comedy Central showed footage of him doing a crossword puzzle during confirmation hearings on then-Supreme Court nominee John Roberts; he got razzed by the Washington Post and the Oklahoma Democratic Party for saying during a hearing on class-action lawsuits that silicone breast implants might be better for women than not having them; he apologized to his colleagues after questioning why some would stay in the Senate past normal retirement age; and, most recently, he said it wouldn't matter if Republicans lost control of Congress for a time.
The comment about Republicans losing control might strike some as particularly odd, since a major theme of his 2004 campaign, pushed especially hard by the national GOP leaders that went to Oklahoma to campaign for him, was that his election was necessary so the Republicans could retain control of the Senate.
Asked last week to explain what he meant, Coburn said, "What matters is the long-term success of our country. And majorities rise and fall based on what the American people expect. If the Republican Party stands for fiscal conservatism, why aren't we practicing fiscal conservatism?"
Despite the angst Coburn has caused for his GOP colleagues with his comments and amendments, he insisted last week, "I'm trying to be a team player. I have been a team player. My goal is to work through the process."
Lott, just another poster-boy for TERM LIMITS!!
Coburn should run for President.
In a nutshell.........
Why indeed?
A-men to that!!!
If this were only so......
We'd find out...how many people on both sides of the aisle don't stand for anything.
I am thinking that when Tom Coburn is up for renomination the RNC will throw several millions behind any challenger and see him defeated, even if it means loosing the seat to a rat.
Thanks for the ping, OO.
Too bad Coburn isn't a principled conservative like Arlen Specter. Then he could count on the support of George W. Bush
You would be correct....
Here in OK he's not been the candidate of choice of those who "decide" those matters....
He tweeks too many good ol' boy networks....and those folks don't want their gravy train to stop.
No they won't -- RNC knows OK grassroots is solidly behind Dr. Coburn. Not going to waste any money on getting him a challenger as it would go down the drawin.
Dr. Tom is doing what we elected him to do in D.C.
They are not going to mount a challenge to Dr. Tom in 2010 -- he is way too popular with the grassroots and the powers at be know when to keep their wallets closed for a challenger. Not going to happen.
Maybe not overtly....but IMO, they dang well will do it covertly.
We will have to agree to disagree...And hope that I am wrong.
The good ol' boy network is very strong...and powerful. I don't...put anything past them.
FRegards,
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