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Coburnt
Submitted by Scott Scheule on Sat, 2005-10-22 21:33.
I like this one. As I recall, he was the only one on the judiciary committee who sounded like he believed what he was saying during the Roberts hearing.
He'll never last.
From the Wall Street Journal:
On current trends, freshman Tom Coburn of Oklahoma is soon going to need a food taster to accompany him to the Senate dining room. Which is all the more reason for the rest of us to admire his political nerve.
Mr. Coburn yesterday took to the floor not once, but twice, to force his colleagues to defend some of their more egregious "earmarks," or pork projects they plan to funnel to home states. The Republican dared to use the "p" word ("priorities") and suggested that taxpayers might be better served if hurricane relief was offset by deleting earmarks for a sculpture garden in Washington state, an art museum in Nebraska, and a Rhode Island animal shelter, among other national necessities.
Washington Democrat Patty Murray escalated immediately to Defcon 1, vowing that if her colleagues so much as blinked at her sculptures she'd personally see to the untimely demise of their own projects. Mr. Coburn lost 86-13. The miracle is he got 13.
Senator Non Grata returned to the floor later in the day, this time to suggest shifting $223 million from the infamous "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska to a bridge over Lake Pontchartrain that was damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Alaska's alleged Republican Lisa Murkowski responded that the very idea of refusing to spend $4.5 million per each of the 50 residents on Alaska's Gravina Island -- so that they would no longer have to take a seven-minute ferry -- was, well, "offensive." As we went to press last night, the vote on this amendment was still being tallied, but you already know how it turned out.
Rest assured that none of this is making Mr. Coburn popular with his colleagues, Republicans or Democrats. The Senate is a club and one thing that is beyond ideology is "earmarks." They're almost considered to be a perquisite of service, like a golf membership for a CEO (at least before Sarbanes-Oxley). Mr. Coburn is risking his dinner invitations by daring to shine a public light on his fellow Senators as they practice their everyday, routine outrages. Good for him, but he'd better hire a bodyguard.
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Scott Scheule, Lower than
Scott Scheule,
Lower than mine apparently. :razz:
The irony of the whole
The irony of the whole interchange about spending priorities is that this whole Katrina disaster relief effort has itself become an example of pork. No one seems to want to take the chance of suggesting that the amounts of money we are spending and will be spending seem way out of proportion to need. There are plenty of people in Washington state, Alaska, and here in Kentucky that do not see the need for the federal government to rebuild New Orleans.
We are about to reconstruct New Orleans so that selected individuals will become quite rich from its revival -- a massive land-grab seems inevitable.
you're right, Young is a
you're right, Young is a Rep. But, Coburn is no worse, and in some cases marginally better, than the rest of what's in the Senate. Whether it is writing your religious ideology or your nanny state ideology into law doesn't make a lot of difference.
Eric, Don Young isn't a
Eric,
Don Young isn't a Senator. Have you even bothered to check who is or isn't a Senator? :shock:
No, Coburn is a slobbering at the mouth Christian nutjob who is proud to have the backing of folks like James Dobson (the latter claiming that gays would bring about the end of the earth). I'm not particularly inclined to engage with people who have social attitudes (that they would write into law) which would transport us back a couple of centuries.
Castillon, have you bothered
Castillon, have you bothered looking at the Senators? Teddy Kennedy, Barbara Boxer, Ted Stevens, Don Young, Patty Murray, John Kerry, Harry Reid, Arlen Specter. Come on, in that group Coburn IS good. Which, of course, is not saying much. Sadly, it's true. He's also figured out a way to gain national prominence on an issue that many taxpayers are, rightly, upset about. Instead of smacking him down, we should be figuring out how we can get better Senators. Or make them of less consequence.
Even more information on
Even more information on Coburn: http://www.answers.com/topic/tom-coburn
Apparently he thinks people are aroused by nude images of holocaust victims.
The "Gay Agenda" has become
The "Gay Agenda" has become something like the Gay version of the "Protocols of Zion" as far as I can tell. Its worse though in a way, as at least the latter was written down.
Scott Scheule, Heh. If
Scott Scheule,
Heh. If Coburn is an example of the "good," then you have very low standards. Anyway, is there something wrong with having a little more knowledge about this guy?
What's the old saying about
What's the old saying about not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good?
But I'll grant you that that seems a remarkably silly statement.
"The gay community has
"The gay community has infiltrated the very centers of power in every area across this country, and they wield extreme power … Why do you think we see the rationalization for abortion and multiple sexual partners? That’s a gay agenda." - Rep. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Heh. If Coburn is an example
Heh. If Coburn is an example of the “good,” then you have very low standards.
When it comes to Senators, yes.
Anyway, is there something wrong with having a little more knowledge about this guy?
Not at all. I thank you.