Coburn's Principles

Wall Street Journal ^ | 1-20-14 | Editorial Board

[afraidfortherepublic]

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 than grandstand. He and his staff ground out reports that exposed the titanic amount of misspent government money, most recently on fraud in the Social Security disability program.

He also held his own party to account and coined the term "bridge to nowhere" on earmarks when the GOP was in charge, making him unpopular with the likes of Tom DeLay and other small-government pretenders. He succeeded in winning a Senate earmark moratorium and a federal database of online spending, and he more or less single-handedly killed the ethanol tax credit.

One problem with current conservatives is that too many aim to please the talk radio crowd with crusades they know can't succeed. Mr. Coburn was one of those who blew the whistle on the foolishness of shutting down the government to defund ObamaCare.

Conservatives are at a disadvantage to liberals in Washington because they don't define their lives by politics.

[dsc]

God bless Tom Coburn.

[LeonardFMason]

“Conservatives are at a disadvantage to liberals in Washington because they don’t define their lives by politics.”

An ABSOLUTE truth. A lot of Republicans, unfortunately, DO define their lives by politics. We call them RINO’s.

[bigdaddy45]

Careful.... a lot of folks here think he’s a RINO sellout because he’s dared to compromise and negotiate a few things. (but I agree with you)

[demshateGod]

He is a sellout. But not a RINO. He’s 100% Republican. A good man, but not a champion of liberty.

[NautiNurse]

I'll say it again:

Godspeed to Senator Tom Coburn as he transitions into the next chapter of his life. He has cared for his patients, delivered thousands of babies, and fought the good fight for conservatives. Time to take care of himself.

[Fightin Whitey]

Yes, he's such a good and reasonable man he makes a star turn every so often to rouse the troops at CBS, the Huffington Post and Morning Joe.

I listened to him trot this line out for two years leading up to the onslaught of Obamacare.

Had my damn fill of it and him.

The Health Exchanges Will Work Just Fine

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Fox New Be Damned & Hugz n Kissez to My Miz Nancy

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My Great Friend Schumer & I Will Bust Those 'Outside' Gun Groups