Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is apparently making Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) life miserable.
That’s the good news.
The better news is that, apart from a few of his like-minded cohorts like Sen. Jim deMint (R-SC), he’s making a number of Republicans’ lives miserable also.
Reid is putting together a package of nearly 40 bills in order to avoid Coburn’s relentless efforts to stop—or at least reduce—pork-barrel spending. Such bills are usually referred to as an “omnibus,” but the Associated Press says this one is being unofficially called the “Coburn omnibus.”
Note: Wouldn’t it be nice if it were being called the “Republican omnibus” because so many Republicans were opposing those nearly 40-bill pork fests?
Coburn has taken it on himself to change the way the Senate—and by extension, Washington—does business. And the entrenched forces, both Republican and Democrat, don’t like it one little bit.
Too bad. Conservatives, and increasingly the public, are demanding that Congress reveal what it’s spending and why. Transparency is the new order of the day. Even the media are getting involved. CNN anchor Anderson Cooper frequently highlights politicians’ efforts to spend the public’s money while keeping it in the dark.
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) got upset with Coburn three years ago when the maverick senator was drawing attention to Stevens’ demand for $452 million to build a “Bridge to Nowhere” in Alaska. At the time Stevens said: “If the Senate decides to discriminate against our state [Alaska], I’ll resign from this body,” he claimed. “This is not the Senate I came to. This is not the Senate I’ve devoted 37 years to . . .”
Well, Alaska didn’t get the funding to build the bridge, but Stevens still decided not to resign. That would be the same Sen. Stevens who is under investigation with regard to a growing Alaskan statehouse corruption scandal. And that would also be the same Sen. Stevens who is trailing in the polls in his reelection bid against his Democratic opponent.
If a Democrat can win a Senate seat in Alaska, you know the voters are sending a message. But is Washington listening?
Based on the apparent willingness of most senators to vote for the Coburn omnibus—and therefore against Coburn—the answer is probably no.