Posted on 08/07/2008 4:57:05 PM PDT by wagglebee
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Members of the U.S. Senate don't typically earn money from another job after they're elected to the august body because of concerns that they will be unduly influenced by customers or colleagues. Oklahoma pro-life Sen. Tom Coburn is an OBGYN and is coming under fire for helping his patients.
When he is not in Washington, Coburn works at the Muskogee Regional Medical Center.
The hospital changed from a public one to private ownership in April and, following that decision, Coburn has come under fire for working there. However, Coburn changed his practice and now delivers babies at no cost.
But that hasn't allayed the concerns of the Senate ethics committee, which is controlled by pro-abortion Democrats who have threatened Coburn with censure for delivering babies at the medical center.
Coburn spokesman John Hart recently told The Hill newspaper that he thinks the charges are politically motivated by abortion politics.
“The committee has shown us zero empirical evidence to back up its flimsy claim," he said.
He cited other work other senators have done that was for commercial or private companies like pro-abortion Senator Pat Leahy, who recently appeared in a popular movie.
“If Sen. Coburn can only deliver babies for free at a public hospital, shouldn't Sen. Leahy only be allowed to donate his notable thespian skills to a public entity like PBS?" he asked.
“The parents of babies Dr. Coburn delivers don't choose him hoping to sway his vote, and they never have," he told The Hill.
'In the 10 years Dr. Coburn has provided free healthcare to his neighbors while serving in Congress, the Ethics Committee has never pointed to a single conflict of interest. No lobbyist or any individual has ever attempted to infiltrate his medical office under the guise of an invasive medical exam to discuss Senate business," he concluded.
Tony Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council said there is some hypocrisy involved. He said the pro-abortion senators targeting Coburn wouldn't have any concerns if he worked for Planned Parenthood doing abortions for free.
Exactly!
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Obama income soared in 2007
The Democratic candidate and his wife earned $4.2 million last year – four times as much as they had in 2006 – mainly from his book sales.
April 17, 2008 in print edition A-16
Campaigning for president has been very good for Sen. Barack Obama’s pocketbook, with his household income jumping from $991,296 in 2006 to $4.2 million in 2007, tax records show.
The Illinois Democrat had a net profit from book sales of $3.9 million, according to a copy of a 2007 tax return released Wednesday by Obama and his wife, Michelle. That total includes $169,706 in foreign income from overseas sales of his two best-selling books.
Bingo! In fact, IMHO, it should be required that Congressmen have a “real” job. Washington comes up with stupid and insane laws precisely because the lawmakers are so disconnected from the reality of the everyday working citizen. And if he’s doing it for free, that means he’s helping people who can’t afford health care. Sounds win-win to me.
I don’t see how what Senator Coburn is doing is any different from a member of Congress volunteering at a homeless shelter or Habitat for Humanity.
Note to the Senate: I really don't think y'all wanna go there...
wagglebee: “Exactly!”
That’s certainly true. Can you imagine how much praise he’d get from the left if he was an abortionist?
At a homeless shelter, he would be keeping probable democrat voters alive. By delivering babies for free, he is interfering with a woman's sacred right to kill her baby.
Insane. I’m no political fan of Coburn, seeing as how I’m 100% pro-choice. But ANYBODY who provides ANY kind of medical services free of charge deserves praise and thanks, not criticism and harassment. God knows the Senate Ethics Committee has got plenty of urgent business languishing on its to-do list. It’s obscene that they’re wasting time and energy harassing Coburn. We have a critical shortage of obstetricians willing to deliver babies in this country, thanks to abuse of the legal system by unethical lawyers like John Edwards.
I watched him during the Senate confirmation hearings of Justices Roberts and Alito. He was on the committee and asked questions regarding abortion. The way he spoke on the sanctity of life was inspirational. One of our very best in the Senate.
Precisely, a lot of OB/GYNs are no longer willing to deliver babies because of the cost of malpractice insurance.
He should demand a public hearing.
My God! Just when I thought I couldn’t hate democrats enough out comes a story like this and Zap, I hate them even more.
“But that hasn’t allayed the concerns of the Senate ethics committee, which is controlled by pro-abortion Democrats who have threatened Coburn ...”
A democrat ethics committee. Figures.
That Pro-Abortion senators should make such specious accusations without the slightest blush shows how absurd our society(they?) has truly become.
Thank you!
God Bless him. Pregnancy Care Service centers all over the U.S. have been praying that a man like this would come through.
If I were Coburn I would just ignore it all. Letting the Dems make a huge issue out of this will only hurt them in the real world most of us live in
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