Despite being in the minority in a Senate that is more tilted to Democrats than at any time in the past three decades, Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, has gone head to head with Majority Leader Harry Reid - and won.The same is true of Dick Cheney. Since he is not running for anything and he is already a joke on every late night show and despised by the majority of Americans, he's strangely free to say what he truly thinks and ignore his critics.
His secret: He doesn't care.
Mr. Coburn's nonchalance about his own political future has given him the freedom to be Capitol Hill's most outspoken fiscal hawk and guardian of the Constitution. Most recently, his persistence paid off as he was able to attach an amendment allowing licensed firearms in some federal parks to a consumer credit card bill last week.
"I don't go away. He's learned that," Mr. Coburn says of his frequent floor battles with Mr. Reid. "Since I don't care whether I get beat up or not, I'm really dangerous for him."
In a chamber dominated by career politicians, Mr. Coburn has not shied away from ruffling feathers in his obsessive pursuit of shrinking the government. He rails against government waste with equal vigor be the culprits Democrats, Republicans or both.
If only more of our politicians were as liberated.
3 comments:
"If only more of our politicians were as liberated".
or
TERM LIMITS!
I've been impressed by Senator Coburn's commitment to principle over politics. If more Republicans stayed as true to conservative values as he has, there would be more of them in Washington.
One thing is problematic, however. What is a firearms provision doing lumped in with a credit card bill? I know this happens all the time, but it shouldn't. It's not good when Democrats do it, and it's not good when Republicans do it.
Too few Coburns and too many Specters. I'll second the call for term limits for Congress!
Post a Comment