Free Republic

Remember these sixteen names when they run for office again. The sixteen Republicans who voted to proceed were Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), Richard Burr (N.C.), Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), Susan Collins (Maine). Bob Corker (Tenn.), Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Dean Heller (Nev.), John Hoeven (N.D.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.), Mark Kirk (Ill.), John McCain (Ariz.), Pat Toomey (Pa.) and Roger Wicker (Miss.). List courtesy The Hill.com. As reported by RedState yesterday, this bill would allow doctors to add a person’s name to the national database currently used for background checks, and list them as...

Here is exhibit A of why we don’t trust current Senate leadership to do the right thing if they were to win back the majority; they refuse to block new spending when in the minority. Last week, House leadership decided to pass the “doc fix” bill (H.R. 4302) by voice vote. This bill reimburses healthcare providers for the scheduled 24 percent cut in payments for services rendered to Medicare patients. The bill extends the payments through next March. It also continues some new programs created under Obamacare. They used a hodgepodge of tenuous offsets spread out mainly over the next...

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz threw his support behind T.W. Shannon in Oklahoma's GOP senate primary, The Hill reported. Shannon is a former state House Speaker. This was the first primary endorsement made by Cruz, who has a strong following among tea party-aligned Republicans. The endorsement allows him to honor his pledge not to back insurgents in primaries involving Senate GOP colleagues, The Washington Post reported. Shannon is in an open primary. A special election in November will fill the seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Tom Coburn two years before his term ends in 2016. Cruz plans to attend...

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell now has an endorsement to go with his gun. The National Rifle Association's political action committee announced Friday it has endorsed McConnell in the May 20 Republican primary. McConnell made headlines last month when he appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference waving a rifle over his head. The rifle was a lifetime achievement award McConnell presented to U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. In a news release, NRA Political Victory Fund chairman Chris Cox called McConnell a true champion of the Second Amendment. Likely Democratic nominee Alison Lundergan Grimes mocked McConnell, saying he was holding...

Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma is battling cancer and will retire at the end of his term.... When Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., pointed out that the majority of cancer centers in the country aren´t covered under Obamacare while arguing that the law´s problems go beyond early website issues, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., dismissed the critique as too "in the weeds." Coburn, a medical doctor battling cancer, panned the coverage offered to cancer patients. "Nineteen of the cancer centers in this country, only five are covered under Obamacare," he told the Washington Examiner Tuesday, a data point he

New York Times columnist and Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman is questioning Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn’s claim that Obamacare caused him to lose his cancer specialist. “It’s a garbage story, it really is,” said Krugman in a back-and-forth with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on CNN after the State of the Union on Tuesday. Coburn, who announced earlier this month that he’ll resign from office at the end of the year as he battles his fourth bout with cancer, told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that his oncologist was no longer covered under his health care plan.

The special-election primary to replace resigning Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn is tightening after an advertising blitz benefiting Republican state Speaker T.W. Shannon. A poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies on behalf of Oklahomans for a Conservative Future, an outside group backing Shannon, found the state speaker cutting into the early GOP primary lead of Rep. James Lankford. Lankford, who is the favorite to fill the remaining two years of Coburn’s term, led with 37 percent, followed by Shannon with 28 percent and former state Sen. Randy Brogdon with 7 percent. A half dozen candidates are running to replace Coburn, a...

This may be the first and last time I ever write these words: America, follow Canada. Our neighbors to the north finally have wised up to the international cash-for-visas scam. Last week, the country ended its foreign investor program that put residency up for sale to the highest bidder. We should have done the same a long time ago. Canada's Immigrant Investor Program granted permanent residency to wealthy foreigners who forked over 800,000 Canadian dollars for a five-year, zero-interest loan to one of the country's provinces. The scheme turned out to be a magnet for tens of thousands of millionaires...

The introduction of an Obamacare replacement plan by Republican senators Richard Burr (N.C.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), and Orrin Hatch (Utah) has given Obamacare’s apologists — who admittedly have had very tough duty over the past four years — a rare opportunity to get out of their defensive crouches and go on the attack. Not surprisingly, fast out of the gate has been Ezekiel Emanuel, who has a piece up at the New York Times website claiming that the fatal flaw of the Republican senators’ plan is that it would raise taxes on millions of American households. There are a couple...

Obamacare won't cover the cancer specialist treating ailing Sen. Tom Coburn, forcing the Oklahoma Republican to pay out of pocket to continue receiving care from his oncologist, Politico reported Tuesday. "I’m doing well from a health standpoint, got great docs," Coburn told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Tuesday. "Fortunately, even though my new coverage won’t cover my specialist, I’m going to have great care, and I have a great prognosis." While he is being treated for a recurrence of prostate cancer, Coburn's coverage under his Obamacare insurance plan has been reduced, Politico reported, and he lost coverage for the oncologist who'd...

Yesterday, three Republican Senators—Tom Coburn (Okla.), Richard Burr (N.C.), and Orrin Hatch (Utah)—put forward a plan to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. They call it the Patient CARE Act, and my colleague Avik Roy says it is “the most credible plan yet” offered by the GOP. Except the Coburn-Burr-Hatch plan (read it here) amounts, among other things, to a big tax increase. The main way that it remains budget neutral is by making employer-provided health insurance plans, which are currently not taxed, partially taxable as income. In fact, this income replaces income that, under...

Cancer-stricken Sen. Tom Coburn revealed Tuesday that his health insurance under Obamacare doesn’t cover his oncologist, but said he still is receiving excellent care. “I’m doing well from a health standpoint, got great docs,” Coburn said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday when asked about his health. “Fortunately — even though my new coverage won’t cover my specialist — I’m going to have great care and I have a great prognosis.” The Oklahoma Republican’s spokesman confirmed to POLITICO that since the senator enrolled in his health insurance plan under Obamacare, his coverage has been reduced and he lost coverage for...

The retirement of Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn poses a challenge for Republicans that extends beyond the party trying to preserve his Senate seat.

Ah, the sweet and sour smell of a political race shaping up. Tom Coburn's announcement that he will be resigning his seat in the United States Senate has the GOP and conservatives (the two groups are not necessarily the same) scrambling to find the right candidate to take his place. James Lankford has already declared he will run. Jim Bridenstine and T.W. Shannon are both thinking about the race. I've already stated in a previous post that the timing may not be right for Shannon to make a run. But, that's for him to decide and I would consider supporting...

We knew Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn would be retiring after his 2nd term in the United States Senate, but we really didn't expect him to cut that term short. That is exactly what he has done, announcing his early retirement at the end of 2014. Several reasons played into that decision, including his health and his desire to spend more time with his family. I suspect he has also tired of playing the games that are required in the Senate. Regardless of his reasons, it is now time to find a successor to Tom Coburn. While that may sound easy...

Congress is more unpopular than ever, but some Members are better than its reputation. One of them is Tom Coburn, the Oklahoma Republican who announced on Friday that he'll leave the Senate at the end of this year. Mr. Coburn's second term doesn't officially end until 2016, but he is battling a recurrence of prostate cancer and said he felt he could "best serve my own children and grandchildren by shifting my focus elsewhere" than Congress. Mr. Coburn's tenure on Capitol Hill has been notable for his convictions on behalf of limited government combined with a determination to do more...

The field to replace retiring Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn is only beginning to take shape, but some conservative groups are already backing Rep. Jim Bridenstine, who has yet to announce his intentions, and have come out swinging against announced candidate Rep. James Lankford. Coburn announced last week that he would cut his Senate term short. He is currently battling a recurrence of cancer. Lankford announced he would run for the seat on Monday; Bridenstine has not yet announced a decision. Senate Conservatives Fund endorsed Bridenstine for re-election to the House last year, calling him “the real deal,” and saying that...

Just days after Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-Okla.) announcement that he’ll retire at the end of the year, the race to replace him began to settle with Rep. James Lankford (R) expected to announce his decision to run at a Monday-afternoon press conference, sources tell The Hill. Rep. Tom Cole (R) announced in a Sunday-night press release that he will not run, citing his seniority in the House. The state’s attorney general, Scott Pruitt (R), also announced in a Sunday Facebook post he won’t run. The decisions of Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R) and Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon still remain unclear....

To answer the question that keeps invading my vacation in the form of tweets, Facebook messages, texts, and emails — Congressman Jim Bridenstine. Jim is the guy I would support in an instant to replace Senator Coburn in Okalahoma. I don’t know whether he is running or not, but conservatives would be insane to not draft him into the race. In fact, I think conservatives should draft him, rally around him, and let the establishment be the side divided behind multiple candidates. When Coburn ran for the Senate in 2004, the establishment rallied behind his opponent in the primary. Coburn...

The Democrat-controlled Senate voted 72-26 Thursday to pass a $1.1 trillion “omnibus” spending bill to keep government operations funded until Sept. 30. All 26 “nay” votes came from Republicans. Two Republicans, Sens. Saxby Chambliss (Ga.) and Tom Coburn (Okla.), did not vote. Here are the 17 Republicans who voted to pass the bill: