Tom Coburn

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Senate's Reading Marathon Ends Early
 Senate's Reading  
 Marathon Ends Early 
parliamentary maneuvers
Dec 16, 2009 4:12 PM CST

Senate's Reading Marathon Ends Early

Sanders pulls amendment after GOP delaying tactic

(Newser) - Pity the poor Senate clerk's office, which finds itself at the center of parliamentary games. Staffers spent nearly three hours today reading aloud an amendment—a move forced by Republican Tom Coburn to gum up the works—before independent Bernie Sanders angrily yanked it back. They had gotten only to...

Coburn Forces Hours-Long Reading to Stall Debate
Coburn Forces Hours-Long Reading to Stall Debate
SENATE games
Dec 16, 2009 1:25 PM CST

Coburn Forces Hours-Long Reading to Stall Debate

Parliamentary maneuver could take 8 hours or more

(Newser) - The Senate GOP has stalled floor debate on the health care reform bill with a demand that the entirety of a 767-page amendment be read aloud, a process that could take between 8 and 12 hours. The amendment’s sponsor, Independent Bernie Sanders, called the move by Tom Coburn a...

GOP: Congress, Prez Must Go On Public Option
GOP: Congress, Prez Must Go On Public Option
bluff and counterbluff
Dec 7, 2009 9:28 AM CST

GOP: Congress, Prez Must Go On Public Option

If there is one, which we hope there isn't. Good idea, say Dems.

(Newser) - In the circus that is the Senate these days, a couple of anti-public-option Republicans—Tom Coburn and David Vitter—rolled out an amendment to the health care bill Friday requiring members of Congress to enroll in any such plan that might come to pass. When Dems didn’t object—Sherrod...

Gun Nuts Firing Blanks in Power Play

Depleted GOP no "paper tiger — it’s a paper muskrat"

(Newser) - Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn has some gall. The fact that he can defend gun nuts calling for blood to "water the tree of liberty" after terrorist Timothy McVeigh wore the same Thomas Jefferson quote on his shirt in the Oklahoma City bombing infuriates New York Times columnist Frank Rich....

Power Meets Prayer at DC 'Family' House
Power Meets Prayer at DC 'Family' House
ANALYSIS
Jul 21, 2009 2:20 PM CDT

Power Meets Prayer at DC 'Family' House

C Street House members believe they 'transcend morality'

(Newser) - The C Street House, the Capitol Hill religious enclave that Mark Sanford, John Ensign, and Chip Pickering have in common, is more than a residence that happened to shelter three lawmakers involved in recent sex scandals, writes Jeff Sharlet in Salon. "If sexual license was all the Family offered...

Firefighters Drop In on Sotomayor
 Firefighters 
 Drop In on 
 Sotomayor 
CONFIRMATION HEARINGS
Jul 15, 2009 10:36 AM CDT

Firefighters Drop In on Sotomayor

(Newser) - The New Haven Fire Department arrived in uniform on Capitol Hill today to watch the third day of Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings, the New York Times reports. So far talk has swirled around abortion, with Sotomayor refuting reports that the Obama administration had given her a “litmus test”...

Husband Outed Ensign Affair to Fox News
Husband Outed Ensign Affair
to Fox News
UPDATED
Jun 19, 2009 1:55 PM CDT

Husband Outed Ensign Affair to Fox News

Hampton's lawyer made 'exorbitant demands': senator

(Newser) - The husband of John Ensign’s mistress sent a letter detailing the affair to Fox News just days before the senator’s public admission, the Las Vegas Sun reports. A spokesman said Ensign acknowledged the affair because Doug Hampton had approached “a major television news channel.” The senator's...

Obama's Pet Power Plant Gets Stimulus Cash

(Newser) - When the stimulus was in the works, President Obama went to great lengths to show he was sacrificing his top pet project—a clean-coal power plant to be built in Illinois—on the altar of fiscal responsibilities. “It shows that we’re serious,” a rep for Nancy Pelosi...

Questionable Projects Gobble Stimulus Funds
Questionable Projects Gobble Stimulus Funds
analysis
Jun 14, 2009 12:20 PM CDT

Questionable Projects Gobble Stimulus Funds

Report skeptical of $2M dance center, $1M Okla. guardrail

(Newser) - The economic stimulus is funding a variety of projects, but some possibilities—like a $1.1 million move to fix a guardrail no one uses—don’t seem to fit President Obama’s vision for the money, the Los Angeles Times reports. Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn will question such projects...

US Troops Will Exit Iraq by 2011: Odierno
 US Troops Will Exit 
 Iraq by 2011: Odierno 
TALK SHOW ROUNDUP
Apr 12, 2009 12:03 PM CDT

US Troops Will Exit Iraq by 2011: Odierno

Coburn praises Obama; Mexican envoy sounds off at NRA

(Newser) - The top US commander in Iraq said American combat troops may overstay a June 30 deadline calling for their withdrawal from some Iraqi cities, but will likely exit the country entirely as scheduled by 2011. “I think I feel comfortable with that timeline,” said Gen. Ray Odierno, who...

Senate Committee OKs Holder for Attorney General

Cornyn, Coburn dissent in 17-2 vote; full body could confirm tomorrow

(Newser) - Senate Republicans did little to stop the progress of Barack Obama's choice for attorney general, with the Judiciary Committee voting 17-2 today to endorse Eric Holder; John Cornyn of Texas and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Republicans both, were the lone dissenters. The Senate could vote as early as tomorrow to...

Senator Told It's Unethical to Deliver Babies

Ethics panel sees conflict in Coburn's pro-bono work

(Newser) - Sen.Tom Coburn, an obstetrician by profession, is a stubborn guy. Known around the cloakroom as Dr. No, he isn't about to let anyone tell him to stop delivering babies when he's at home in Oklahoma at recess. The Senate Ethics Committee insists it's a conflict of interest, even though...

Dems Fail to Override GOP's Bill-Blocker

Reid's bundled bill designed to trump Coburn falls short

(Newser) - A bill aimed at trumping one senator’s efforts to block dozens of pieces of legislation was itself halted yesterday, the Washington Post reports. Sen. Tom Coburn has held up some 80 bills to prevent spending he considers unnecessary; Democrat Harry Reid's legislative omnibus, which contained 35 bills in one,...

Democrats Out to Thwart Senate's 'Dr. No'

Big bill combines measures all blocked by prickly Coburn

(Newser) - While the Senate has long been in the business of passing catchall “omnibus” legislation, now Democrats are trying out the Tomnibus, a bill loaded with measures that have all been blocked by one man: Tom Coburn, alias Dr. No. The Oklahoma Republican wields Senate procedure like a deathray—he...

Senator Blocks Presidential Papers Bill

Anonymous hold delays attempt to overturn Bush's records-sealing order

(Newser) - An unidentified Republican senator is blocking a bill that would overturn President Bush's 2001 executive order allowing presidents to keep their papers permanently classified. The bill, approved by the House 333-93 in March, would easily survive a presidential veto if it passed the Senate. A hold is essentially a promise...

Ethics Reform Bill Sails Through Senate

Some Republicans unsatisfied with scope; Bush may not sign

(Newser) - The ethics reform bill, which tightens restrictions on congressional pet projects and lobbyist dealings, easily cleared the Senate today. The final vote was 83-14, with all of those opposed Republicans. Critics say the bill won't go far enough to curb earmark spending, the AP reports, but Dianne Feinstein praised the...

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