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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Time running short to raise the government's borrowing limit, President Barack Obama on Tuesday hailed a plan by a bipartisan senators' group on deficit reduction as the kind of "balanced approach" the nation is looking for. He said it's time for Congress as a whole to rally around such a proposal. "We don't have any more time to engage in symbolic gestures, we don't have any more time to posture. It's time to get down to the business of actually solving this problem," the president said. Obama spoke even as House Republicans pushed toward a vote on...

President Obama joined Democratic and Republican senators Tuesday in offering support for a $3.7 trillion deficit-reduction plan announced Tuesday morning by the five remaining members of the Gang of Six. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who pulled out of the Gang of Six in May, also rejoined the group and praised the plan as something that could win the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate. “The plan has moved significantly, and it’s where we need to be — and it’s a start,” Coburn said. “This doesn’t solve our problems, but it creates the way forward where we can solve our...

WASHINGTON (AP) — One of the Senate's staunchest budget-cutters unveiled Monday a massive plan to cut the nation's deficit by $9 trillion over the coming decade. The plan by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., is laced with politically perilous proposals like raising to 70 the age at which people can claim their full Social Security benefits. It would cut farm subsidies, Medicare, student aid, housing subsidies for the poor, and funding for community development grants. Coburn even takes on the powerful veterans' lobby by proposing that some veterans pay more for medical care and prescription drugs. Coburn was a member of...

Sen. Tom Coburn's deficit-reduction plan Details of Sen. Tom Coburn's $9 trillion plan to balance the budget NewsOK Related Articles Sen. Tom Coburn's plan: Would save about $9 trillion over 10 years, including $3 trillion from entitlements, $3 trillion from government departments and agencies, $1 trillion from defense, $1 trillion from ending or modifying tax breaks and deductions, and $1 trillion in interest on the debt. Would reduce the size of government by 25 percent over 10 years. Would balance the budget within 10 years. Read more: http://newsok.com/details-of-sen.-tom-coburns-9-trillion-plan-to-balance-the-budget/article/3586676#ixzz1SUBIXa8X

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said Sunday that fellow GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell's proposal to raise the debt limit was "a great political plan" but that it didn't solve the nation's debt crisis - and so he was not likely to vote for it. In an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation," Coburn claimed he no longer cared about the politics of the debate, and said that "I am only going to support something that actually solves the problem." "I haven't firmly decided, but I am unlikely to support it at this time," Coburn said, of McConnell's plan, which would allow...

Sens. Tom Coburn (R., Okla.) and Joe Lieberman (I., Ct.) have produced a Medicare-reform proposal. The bill would save Medicare $600 billion over ten years and extend the program’s solvency by 30 years. It would save money by raising the eligibility age to 67 by 2025, increasing premiums and co-pays, and means-testing benefits so that wealthier beneficiaries paid more. It would also curtail “Medigap” plans — which cover the difference between what Medicare pays and the total cost of a procedure, reducing the program’s already-modest incentives for seniors to economize on care. The proposal is a good one, and it...

Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) entered the debt and deficit debate Tuesday, proposing a Medicare overhaul they said would cut the deficit by about $600 billion during the next decade. The duo, which Coburn nicknamed the “brothers two,” now intends to drum up support by shopping its plan around, including to the “gang of six,” from which Coburn took a sabbatical. Coburn left the bipartisan group, which was exploring ways to decrease the deficit, because he felt it was not going far enough in cutting entitlements. But he has clearly found an ally in Lieberman, who in...

Oklahoma senator hopes is putting the finishing touches on his plan to reduce the federal deficit by $9 trillion. He expects to release it this week. WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, who has been working on a deficit-reduction plan worth $9 trillion over 10 years, said he hopes to release the blueprint late this week. That timetable may slip since the scope of the plan requires so many calculations (mathematical, not political). Coburn, R-Muskogee, and his staff have been working on the plan since the senator dropped out of the bipartisan Gang of Six deficit reduction talks in May....

...O’DONNELL: “We actually just heard a conservative Republican say that we're going to fix the country, and some of that is gonna be through revenue increases, tax increases. Doesn't want to use the word ‘tax’ but that's what it is. We’ve got a Republican here talking about tax increases. Is this the first flicker of hope that the Republican tax cut fever might be fading?” ROBERT REICH: “Lawrence, I think that it is a big deal…We’ve got to be practical, we’ve got to be reasonable, we’ve got to deal with this budget deficit’. And maybe we are seeing the beginning...

The Norquist–Coburn Feud ReignitesAre tax subsidies the same as tax cuts, or are they just subsidies? The feud between Sen. Tom Coburn (R., Okla.) and tax lobbyist Grover Norquist came to a head (again) this week as Republicans girded themselves for a potential deal on the debt ceiling. Sparks flew Tuesday when Coburn forced a cloture vote on an amendment to eliminate $6 billion in ethanol tax subsidies. Ethanol, however, was hardly the issue at stake. GOP leaders have made it clear that Republicans will not support a deal to raise the debt ceiling if it includes tax increases. But...

...Coburn and Thune on the floor: THUNE: “One of our colleagues from South Carolina has introduced an amendment to this bill which would end that, and I assume -- I don't know this for a fact -- that my colleague from Oklahoma would support that amendment. Which would do away with the Renewable Fuel Standard. Certainly.” COBURN: “You obviously didn't hear what I was saying as you were conversing. I said I support ethanol. I wouldn't support that. And I said that. And I’ve been very up front with you in the past. You know what my position is on...

...During a C-SPAN Newsmakers interview aired on Sunday, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) repeatedly reiterated his support for tax increases. The guest reporters for this edition of Newsmakers were Lori Montgomery of the Washington Post and Andrew Taylor of the Associated Press. Below are key excerpts from the interview: ... Coburn: “I would much rather have a smaller government. Not everybody would. But I would much rather have a smaller government. But I know we have to pay more for what we have if we are ever going to get reform and some of the other things. It’s called a compromise....

Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn Report Shows Taxpayer Money Spent on Robots That Fold Laundry, Shrimp on TreadmillsBy JONATHAN KARL and MATTHEW JAFFE May 26, 2011 You've probably heard of shrimp on the barbie, but what about shrimp on a treadmill? The National Science Foundation has, and it spent $500,000 of taxpayer money researching it. It's not entirely clear what this research hoped to establish. But it's one of a number of projects cited in a scathing new report from Sen. Tom Coburn, a Republican from Oklahoma, exclusively obtained by ABC News. It's not just shrimp on a treadmill. The foundation...

Video..Good information http://www.c/coburn-on-budget-negotiations-send-me-some-senators-with-gonads/

Coburn, Toomey: Drop the Policy Riders April 8, 2011 1:03 P.M. By Daniel Foster Here’s Senator Toomey: “I’d like to defund Planned Parenthood, but I understand that Republicans don’t have complete control of the elected government,” Toomey said on MSNBC. “I think what we should do is cut spending as much as we can, get the policy changes that we can, but move on, because there are other, bigger battles that we are fighting.” And here’s Senator Coburn: COBURN: The one thing I’ve learned in my years here is there’s one reason to talk about something, if you want to...

(CNSNews.com) - Two Republican senators on Friday introduced a bill to stop taxpayer subsidies to public radio and television. Since 2001, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has received nearly $4 billion in taxpayer money for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said with the nation on the brink of bankruptcy, some decisions to cut spending are difficult -- but not this one: "Americans struggling to make ends meet shouldn’t be forced to fund public broadcasting when there are already thousands of choices for educational and entertainment programming on...

Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn blasted the Education Department Wednesday for what he called “very significant inappropriate behavior in tipping hedge funds on short selling private education” and called on a key Senate panel to investigate the matter. Coburn was referring to documents released last week by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a watchdog group that has called for federal authorities to investigate market manipulation by famous Wall Street short-seller Steven Eisman. Coburn said the charges even could result in jail time for Education Department officials. “Utilization of facts in the Department of Education in advantaging investors...

Call it the party of one? After taking a “sabbatical” from the “gang of six” talks on deficit reduction, Sen. Tom Coburn is writing his own budget blueprint that will aggressively tackle entitlements. “I’m working hard on my plan,” the Oklahoma Republican said Thursday, adding that he and his staff have been working on it for about six days — before he walked out on the bipartisan group of Senators. “I want everybody to shoot at it and tell me why it won’t work,” Coburn said. He added that he wouldn’t be concerned if others join the gang of six...

I want to call this a palate cleanser, but it’s so acidic — especially his memory of the sign in Newt’s office on the Hill — that it’s more likely to burn your tongue. Can’t use it as evidence of the upswell in conservative anger towards Newt after his MTP appearance either, I’m afraid: Coburn is a Gingrich critic of loooongstanding, which makes this less of a standard “what happened to Newt?” lament than a bitter “I told you so.” To follow up on an earlier analogy, it’s as if Coburn jumped into the ring, pushed Drago aside, and started...

On the other hand, watch the clip below. If this guy’s not “disabled,” who is? “Given that Mr. Thornton is able to determine what is appropriate attire and actions in public, drive himself to complete errands, design and custom-make baby furniture to support a 350-pound adult and run an Internet support group, it is possible that he has been improperly collecting disability benefits for a period of time,” Mr. Coburn wrote in a letter Monday to Inspector General Patrick P. O’Carroll Jr…In an email response to The Washington Times, Mr. Thornton threatened to kill himself if his Social Security payments...