Tom Coburn

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Coburn: Immigration Order Could Cause Violence

Administration braced for legal onslaught

(Newser) - How angry are opponents of immigration reform about President Obama's upcoming executive order? Enough to riot, according to Sen. Tom Coburn. "The country's going to go nuts, because they're going to see it as a move outside the authority of the president, and it's going...

Secret Service Suspected of Drinking, Crashing Car

As new details about Netherlands debauch come to light

(Newser) - The Secret Service's Netherlands debauch wasn't the agency's first questionable incident this month: Two counter-sniper officers were involved in a car accident on March 7, during President Obama's visit to Miami, and they were suspected of drinking, multiple sources tell the Washington Post . The driver, however,...

Sen. Tom Coburn to Step Down Early

Health isn't the only reason, he says

(Newser) - One of the Senate's most conservative Republicans is retiring early—and Tom Coburn says his health problems aren't the only reason. The 65-year-old Oklahoman, a family doctor who earned the nickname "Dr. No" for his firm opposition to all spending he deemed wasteful, says the unhealthy, gridlocked...

Tom Coburn: Harry Reid Is 'an Absolute A--hole'

Comment ignites war of words

(Newser) - So much for playing nice in the Senate sandbox: At a New York Young Republican Club gala on Monday, Tom Coburn reportedly trash-talked Harry Reid. When asked about his relations with opponents in the Senate, the Republican senator replied that some Democrats are easier to get along with than others....

NFL Defends Its Nonprofit Status

Yes, the NFL is a nonprofit—kinda

(Newser) - Sen. Tom Coburn has introduced a new bill that would see the NFL's nonprofit status revoked. Wait, the NFL is a nonproft? Well, kind of, explains NBC News . Its $9 billion in annual revenue, from things like ticket sales, merchandise, and TV contracts—that's all subject to taxation....

Tom Coburn Doesn't Believe in the Debt Ceiling

Says threat of default is a 'rumor'

(Newser) - Sen. Tom Coburn says the US won't default on its debt if the debt ceiling isn't raised, because ... the debt ceiling doesn't exist. On CBS This Morning , the Oklahoma Republican dismissed the default as a "rumor" perpetrated by the media:
  • "The debt ceiling and the
...

NY Rep to Okla. Senator: I'll Overlook Your Hypocrisy

Inhofe opposed Sandy aid but wants tornado aid

(Newser) - You knew this was coming: Peter King, who fought hard for Superstorm Sandy aid for his home state of New York, thinks there's "a lot of hypocrisy" when it comes to lawmakers who opposed Sandy aid but are in favor of tornado aid. The subject of his attention...

Oklahoma's Coburn: I Want Offsets to Pay for Tornado Aid

But Obama promises resources for disaster

(Newser) - Tom Coburn represents Oklahoma, so you might expect him to call for tornado relief to flow to his state no matter the cost—but you'd be wrong. Instead, the Republican senator is demanding that all aid to his state be offset by cuts elsewhere in the budget, a spokesman...

Congress Could Force Saturday Mail to Continue

Spending bill includes 6-day-a-week measure

(Newser) - Congress is poised to derail plans to limit Saturday mail , via a spending bill that contains a provision for six-day-a-week mail. The provision, the same measure seen for the past 30 years, has already passed the House, and the Senate could vote tomorrow. But some Republicans say it's time...

Senate Sends Insider Trading Bill to Obama

Congress approves weaker version of bill designed to police itself

(Newser) - The Senate today sent President Obama a scaled-down bill to explicitly ban members of Congress, the president, and thousands of other federal workers from profiting from nonpublic information learned on the job. In an unusual move, the legislation passed unanimously without a vote on the measure itself. Instead it passed...

Tom Coburn: Millionaires Get $30B Yearly from US
 Top 1% Nabs 
 $30B a Year in 
 Federal 'Welfare' 
in case you missed it
Nov 19, 2011 11:30 AM CST

Top 1% Nabs $30B a Year in Federal 'Welfare'

Sen. Coburn investigates massive handouts

(Newser) - They’re already in the top 1%, yet they’re getting government handouts worth more than NASA’s budget. American millionaires rake in $30 billion a year from the feds, Republican Sen. Tom Coburn finds in a new report. That’s three times the EPA’s yearly allotment, yet it’...

GOP Debt Co-Chair: No Deal in Sight

Super committee talks 'like a roller coaster ride'

(Newser) - The Republican co-chair of a committee in charge of slashing the nation's deficit on today called deliberations a "roller coaster ride" and gave no indication that a deal could be struck before the panel's Thanksgiving deadline. Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling said the panel will fail unless Democrats...

Deal With Coburn Prevents FAA Shutdown

He'll get to insert language in upcoming bill

(Newser) - The FAA won't be shutting down after all. Under heavy pressure from fellow Republicans, Tom Coburn relented last night, removing a hold preventing the Senate from passing a transportation bill that would keep the FAA's doors open. The bill passed with flying colors, with only Coburn and five...

Coburn Holds FAA Hostage With One-Man Filibuster

Agency could face a second shutdown

(Newser) - The FAA could soon be shut down again, costing thousands of workers their jobs and the government $30 million a day in airline ticket taxes, all thanks to a single Republican senator. Tom Coburn is exploiting a Senate procedural rule requiring unanimous consent to switch from working on one bill...

Shrimp on Treadmill Study Not So Wacky: Irritated Researcher

Lawmakers mocking research are playing politics, scientists say

(Newser) - "Shrimp on a treadmill" has become a byphrase for wasteful government spending. But the scientist behind the study says lawmakers are distorting the facts. The treadmill test—singled out by Sen. Tom Coburn in an attack on National Science Foundation funding —was designed to study shrimp's reaction...

Coburn: 'Good Thing I Can't Pack a Gun' in Senate

Otherwise, those 'cowards' would be in trouble

(Newser) - Today's exercise in whether a politician's joke goes too far, courtesy of Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn: "It's just a good thing I can't pack a gun on the Senate floor," said the Republican, after describing his colleagues as "cowards" and a "bunch...

Behind the Gang of Six's Resurrection: Tom Coburn

Many Senate Republicans now back deal that includes new revenues

(Newser) - Tom Coburn got the old gang back together yesterday—the “Gang of Six” that is—reviving hopes that the Senate could forge a major debt reduction deal. “I’m back,” Coburn declared before a crowd of almost 50 senators from both parties, to a resounding round of...

GOP's Coburn Bares Plan for Mass Cuts, $1T Tax Boost

Medicare, Pentagon on chopping block in plan to slice $9T in debt

(Newser) - One of the Senate's staunchest budget-cutters has unveiled a massive plan to cut the nation's deficit by $9 trillion over the coming decade, including $1 trillion in tax increases opposed by most of his fellow Republicans. Sen. Tom Coburn's plan is laced with politically perilous proposals—like...

Senate Likely to Vote on McConnell Debt Deal

They'll also vote on a balanced budget amendment

(Newser) - Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid are busily hammering out a debt ceiling Plan B, and are likely to put it to a vote in the coming week, senior Democratic aides tell Reuters . It would be based on McConnell's widely panned plan to allow Democrats to raise the ceiling, but...

Senate Reverses, Votes to Cut Ethanol Subsidies

Shift could endanger $5 billion annually for farm states

(Newser) - The Senate voted today to repeal tax credits for producing ethanol, a vote that budget cutters hope will demonstrate a growing appetite in Congress to end special interest tax breaks to help reduce government borrowing. The Senate voted 73-27 to repeal the $5 billion annual subsidy, just two days after...

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