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Republican Senator Tom Coburn R-Okla. has some harsh words for his former boss Newt Gingrich who is currently the frontrunner in the 2012 GOP bid for the White House. “There’s a lot of candidates out there. I’m not inclined to be a supporter of Newt Gingrich’s having served under him for four years and personally experienced his leadership,” said Coburn said today on “Fox News Sunday.” Coburn served under then Speaker Gingrich after being elected to the House of Representatives in 1994 as part of the great Republican revival brought on by Gingrich. “There’s all types of leaders. Leaders that...

If you told me that somebody had published a comprehensive report on wasteful government policies which dole out billions of dollars to the wealthiest individuals in the country, one of the last people I’d expect to find as the author would be Senator Tom Coburn.(R-OK) But that’s precisely what unfolded when I found that the senator had borrowed a tag line from 1970s television programming and released, “Subsidies of the Rich and Famous.� U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) today released a new report “Subsidies of the Rich and Famous” illustrating how, under the current tax code, the federal government...

But under Thursday’s agreement, Coburn will be allowed to insert language into a longer-term highways bill that Democrats and Republicans will negotiate before the new round of funding expires in six months. Coburn’s provision would allow states to opt out of a program requiring them to set aside millions of dollars for beautification projects like bike paths, sound walls and decorative highway signs. The conservative Oklahoma senator - known for singlehandedly holding up Senate business — had come under increasing pressure from his GOP colleagues, and eventually relented-. Earlier Thursday, they said he was demanding too much on a bill...

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence is a day (or two) late and a few brain cells late to a major gun-related news story. Writing for yesterday’s opposingviews.com, Dennis Henigan excoriated Senator Coburn for joking about carrying a gun on Capitol Hill, referencing the possibility that presidential candidate Rick Perry might have a CCW. Why not let pols pack heat? “It is the same reason that ournational parks are less safe because (due to legislation sponsored by Senator Coburn himself) concealed carry of weapons is now permitted within their borders . . . It is the reason that our streets, restaurants and...

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) criticized his congressional colleagues Tuesday, calling them "cowards" and a "class of career elitists," adding that it was a good thing he wasn't allowed to carry a weapon on the Senate floor. "It's just a good thing I can't pack a gun on the Senate floor," Coburn told a crowd in Langley, Okla., as reported in Wednesday's The Tulsa World.The two-term senator, who has earned the nickname "Dr. No" for his frequent holds on legislation, has never been one to mince words. But his comments about carrying a gun come after the January

Navy Times is reporting that Senator Tom Coburn (R) has a plan to cut DOD by spending by $43 billion. His plan will force retirees off TRICARE Prime (HMO) and into TRICARE Standard (PPO). Then his plan is to raise the fees for standard so high (total out of pocket cost $7,500 annually) "working age" retirees (under 65) will opt out for mythical cheaper medical insurance from some as of yet unidentified employer. While I admit TRICARE Prime is cheap none of Coburn's figures add in Dental, separate plans under TRICARE. As a retiree my wife and I pay out...

President Obama and his Tea Party rivals find themselves on the same side of defense cuts. This is bad news for the country. If the so-called “super-committee” created by the deal to raise the debt limit does not reach agreement on future spending cuts, it would trigger automatic cuts of $1.2 trillion divided evenly between domestic programs and defense. In other words, the Pentagon could have to cough up $600 billion over the coming decade. As The Washington Post reports, “To put that $600 billion in perspective, it’s worth noting that the federal government was already looking at reducing projected...

Excellent speech from Sen Coburn telling it how it is. Then old Sen Kerry interrupts. http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/SenRe/start/14756/stop/16376

Last week, I wrote that the current deficit and debt ceiling negotiations happening in Washington represent politics at their worst – politics on steroids. Amidst the posturing and prevaricating, however, one conservative has emerged with a legitimate plan to liberate America from its bondage of debt. This week, Senator Tom Coburn released a 600-page plan that would reduce the deficit by $9 trillion over the next ten years by slashing wasteful spending and eliminating an estimated $1 trillion in tax deductions. The plan is not a gimmick, it's not smoke and mirrors, and it's not a media stunt. Senator Coburn...

The Pentagon and its supporters are bracing for the likelihood of much deeper reductions in the U.S. military's budget, as budget negotiators now eye defense cuts of $800 billion or more over the next decade. With talks intensifying ahead of an August 2 deadline to raise the debt limit, lawmakers hoping to shape an overall budget deal have advanced proposals that would cut defense spending by more than double the $400 billion President Barack Obama proposed just three months ago. Some proposals call for as much as $1 trillion in cuts over the next decade.

The best example of this is the plan's tax proposal, which alternately boasts that it cuts taxes by $1.5 trillion and raises them by $1 trillion, but which more likely will result in taxes going up by more than $3 trillion. According to the outline, the $1.5 trillion in "tax relief" is how the Congressional Budget Office would score the plan. But what the gang conveniently leaves out is that the CBO's forecast has $4.6 trillion in tax hikes already baked into it. That's because the CBO baseline assumes all the Bush tax cuts get repealed, that every other temporary...

(CNSNews.com) – Despite President Barack Obama’s vow to veto the Cut, Cap and Balance bill passed by the House of Representatives, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said he would bet a “Porterhouse steak” that the president would sign the legislation if it arrived at his desk. “It doesn’t matter what the polls are,” Coburn told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday. “We’ve got to fix our country, and this is the only viable plan right now that will do that. And I will bet you a Porterhouse steak that if it lands on his desk, he’ll sign this puppy.” White House...

A couple of times in recent weeks, the personal cellphone of Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma rang, and a baritone voice on the other end asked simply, “You know who this is?” Mr. Coburn did indeed know by the sound of the voice. The caller was President-to-be Barack Obama, dialing up to chat about what the senator calls “spiritual things,” and then some policy issues facing the new administration. The exchanges might seem unremarkable, except for the extreme odd-bedfellow nature of the Democratic president and the Republican senator he was calling. Mr. Coburn is among the most conservative lawmakers in...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and a startling number of Republican senators lauded a bipartisan deficit-reduction plan Tuesday that includes $1 trillion in higher taxes, raising hopes of a last-minute compromise to repair the nation's finances while averting a government default. Wall Street saluted as well. Obama said he hoped congressional leaders would "start talking turkey" as soon as Wednesday along the lines of the Senate "Gang of Six" proposal, which quickly overshadowed a no-tax-increase alternative that conservatives spent Tuesday pushing toward an evening vote in the House. .....

President Barack Obama said Tuesday that a proposal offered by Republican and Democratic senators is “a very significant step” that represents “the potential for bipartisan consensus” on resolving the impasse over cutting the deficit and raising the debt ceiling. In an appearance in the White House briefing room, Obama urged congressional leaders to embrace the “Gang of Six” proposal, which would slash the deficit by $3.7 trillion over 10 years, in part by raising about $1 trillion in new revenue. We have a Democratic president and administration that is prepared to sign a tough package that includes both spending cuts,...

The Gang of Six “Bipartisan Plan to Reduce Our Nation’s Deficits” claims their tax reforms would be scored by the Congressional Budget Office as a $1.5 trillion net cut. But no details are provided on how they arrive at this number other than saying they will abolish the Alternative Minimum tax. So how can this plan claim to be a “balanced approach” (which means higher revenues), yet also claim to be a $1.5 trillion tax cut? This probably means they are using a CBO baseline that assumes the AMT continues as written today and that the current Bush rates expire....

  The once moribund Senate “Gang of Six” regained new life Tuesday after Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn unexpectedly rejoined the group — and more senators are now coalescing around a new proposal that would cut the debt by as much as $3.7 trillion over the next decade. Other top senators are also getting behind the plan, including Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the No. 3 Senate Republican, who told a group of senators Tuesday he would back the Gang of Six’s proposal, sources say. The fast-moving developments mean that elements of the proposal could influence the stalled talks to raise the...

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...

A key senator has asked the Social Security Administration to investigate how people who live their lives role-playing as “adult babies” are able to get taxpayer-funded disability payments — after one of them was featured on a recent reality TV episode wearing diapers, feeding from a bottle and using an adult-sized crib he built. Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican and the Senate’s top waste-watcher, asked the agency’s inspector general to look into 30-year-old Stanley Thornton Jr. and his roommate, Sandra Dias, who acts as his “mother,” saying it’s not clear why they are collecting Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits instead...

Excellent speech on Senate floor by Senator Coburn on oil and gas prices and lack of knowledge by our Congress. He also addresses government regulation and rips the Obama administration. VIDEO 10:30 minutes H/T to blueyon for the heads up.

Remember what Alan Simpson said after Obama’s disastrous, demagogic, compromise-destroying attack on Paul Ryan a few weeks ago? He knew he’d just seen any chance of a deal between the Republican and Democratic leaderships go up in smoke. Quote: “Just pray for the Gang of Six,” he said. “You guys your age, keep praying.” What happens if the Gang of Six fails? Mr. Simpson was asked. “Guys like you will be picking grit with the chickens when you are 65,” he replied. Start boning up on grit-picking, my friends:

Earlier this week, Tom Coburn quit the Gang of Six negotiations in the Senate, saying that the bipartisan working group on the budget wanted to go in a substantially different direction than Coburn would travel. Given that context, Coburn’s essay in today’s Washington Post prompts a question — just where exactly did the Gang of Six want to go? Coburn argues in his article that conservatives are going to have to swallow some tax hikes to get the spending cuts they want (via OTB):

A key senator has asked the Social Security Administration to investigate how people who live their lives role-playing as “adult babies” are able to get taxpayer-funded disability payments — after one of them was featured on a recent reality TV episode wearing diapers, feeding from a bottle and using an adult-sized crib he built. Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican and the Senate’s top waste-watcher, asked the agency’s inspector general to look into 30-year-old Stanley Thornton Jr. and his roommate, Sandra Dias, who acts as his “mother,” saying it’s not clear why they are collecting Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits instead...

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), arguably the most prominent fiscal conservative in the Senate, is declaring his independence from one of the country's leading anti-tax groups, Americans for Tax Reform - and its fiery founder, Grover Norquist.

A surge in global food prices has prompted fresh criticism of US subsidies for ethanol, which diverts massive amounts of corn from global food supplies for energy. Senators Tom Coburn, a Republican from Oklahoma, and Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat, introduced a measure last month to scrap the tax credit of 45 cents per gallon for ethanol in gasoline. "The ethanol tax credit is bad economic policy, bad energy policy and bad environmental policy. The $6 billion we waste every year on corporate welfare should instead stay in taxpayers' pockets where it can be used to spur innovation, stimulate growth...

Gang of Six negotiators are close to striking a deal on a deficit-reduction package, according to Senate sources.  White House officials and Democrats are pressing for the six negotiators to wrap up their talks by the Easter recess beginning on April 16. There is no deal yet, however, and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has made clear that he will not be held to an arbitrary timeline.  Coburn has also insisted that a broad deficit reduction package include Social Security reform, something that Democratic negotiators such as Sens. Kent Conrad (N.D.) and Dick Durbin (Ill.) argue should be handled separately.  The...

In a report released today, GAO confirmed what many Americans already know: the government has no idea what it is doing. The report, commissioned by Senator Tom Coburn who amended the request into last year’s debt limit increase, shows that overlap of responsibilities amongst government agencies costs taxpayers billions a year, with more waste and abuse still likely to be uncovered. The report’s findings are astounding: it shows at least $100 billion is wasted each year in redundant missions and spending; responsibilities are conflated across various agencies and programs, providing little reason to believe any of these programs are serving...

A Government Accountability Office report to be released on Tuesday concludes the federal government "could potentially save billions of taxpayer dollars annually" by "reducing or eliminating duplication, overlap, or fragmentation" in federal government programs. The report was mandated by a provision included by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., in a bill passed last year raising the federal debt ceiling. And Coburn said on Monday evening that the findings bolster his long-standing attempts to consolidate or eliminate duplicative programs. "It makes us all look like jackasses," Coburn told reporters, arguing both the legislative and executive branches can barely track federal programs. "Anybody...

The room was packed with dignitaries last week as President Barack Obama addressed the annual National Prayer Breakfast. But Mr. Obama singled out one person—Sen. Tom Coburn—as a particular friend and "brother in Christ." "I keep praying that God will show him the light, and he will vote with me once in a while," Mr. Obama told the crowd, to laughter. "It's going to happen, Tom!" he added playfully. "A ray of light is going to beam down!"

What we have been covering all week on the radio show has finally burst into the view of the MSM. Even CNN has now figured out that the debate over spending within the House GOP caucus is hugely important. The vast class of House freshmen know that if they budget cuts delivered in the final CR are not more than $100 billion they will be either primaried in less than 20 months or flogged with "broken promise" charges in their campaign for re-election in districts newly redrawn because of the census. My new Townhall.com column deals with the specifics, but...

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), one of the fiercest Second Amendment defenders on Capitol Hill, supports another look at gun laws designed to block firearm sales to the mentally ill, his office said Thursday. Congress passed such a law in 2007, following the shooting deaths of 32 students and teachers at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Yet the suspect in this month's Arizona shooting reportedly had little trouble buying a handgun in November, even despite earlier concerns about disturbing behavior and habitual drug use. The tragic episode — in which a federal judge was killed and a congresswoman critically injured — has...