Oklahoma Senator Won’t Support Tornado Relief Without Budget Cuts

[ProSense]

Oklahoma Senator Won’t Support Tornado Relief Without Budget Cuts

By Igor Volsky

The tornado that hit Oklahoma on Monday resulted in more than 90 deaths and is expected to cost the federal government untold billions of dollars in aid and recovery. But Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), who has long objected to federal funds being spent on everything from veterans benefits to relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, is already insisting that any additional appropriations should be paid for with cuts elsewhere. “That’s always been his position [to offset disaster aid],” Coburn spokesman John Hart said. “He supported offsets to the bill funding the OKC bombing recovery effort.”

Indeed, during his time in Congress, Coburn has portrayed his efforts to rein in federal spending as a principled stance against accumulating larger deficits and passing debt to future generations. But Coburn hasn’t always opposed government spending that is not offset by budget cuts. The senator known as “Doctor No” has voted to fund the war in Iraq, the 2008 bank bail out, and even relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina:

– 2005: The “Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act” (H.R. 1268) provided $82 billion to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Coburn voted for the measure.

– 2006: The Defense Appropriations Bill (H.R.2863) provided approximately $40 billion for the war in Iraq. Coburn voted for the measure.

– 2006: “Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act,” (H.R. 4939 ) provided $72 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Coburn voted for the measure.

– 2005: After Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, Congress passed two relief bills, allocating more than $50 billion and allowing the National Flood Insurance Program to borrow more money. One of the measures was adopted by unanimous consent and Coburn voted for the other.

– 2006: Congress approves a Department of Defense appropriations bill (H.R. 5631), including approximately $70 billion for the war in Iraq. Coburn voted for the measure.

– 2008: In October 2008, the Bush Administration and Congress enacted a rescue package to stabilize the financial system by creating the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Coburn voted in favor of the measure.

- more -

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/05/21/2039981/oklahoma-senator-wont-support-tornado-relief-without-budget-cuts/

Senator Coburn should be investigated, not for being an callous jerk, but for this:

The Lie Matters: What Did Sen Coburn Know about the Edited Benghazi Email and How Did He Know It
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022868542

[CBGLuthier]

1. Hey at least the jerk is a consistent jerk.

Maybe this will open the eyes of my fellow Oklahomans and we will toss both those idiot senators out.

[zerosumgame0005]

6. he consitantly

knee-jerks from his ass...a very difficult maneuver but he is very practiced at it...

[Salviati]

2. put forth a bill without any goddam offsets.

Dare the jerk to vote against it.

[Kber]

8. He'll vote against if if he thinks it will pass anyway

That way his state gets the aid and he gets to keep his political purity.

There may not be enough assholes, even in congress, to make him really have to take a political risk and having an aid bill fail.

[BlueCaliDem]

13. This is exactly how it will play out.

The question now becomes, *will the majority of Oklahomans now choose to vote Democratic now they feel, personally, how useless Republican congresscritters and senators are?

Dollars to donuts it's a NO.

Why buy the cow if you can get the milk for free?

[Sekhmets Daughter]

3. What always amazes me about this particular jerk,

and his voting record, is that he is a Doctor. His love of all things military makes me wonder if he studied Mengele....there is certainly nothing of the humanitarian impulse in the man.

[Ganja Ninja]

4. No aid for Oaklahoma unless we totally eliminate the subsidies to big oil.

Let's see how they like it when one of their sacred cows gets gored.

[mercuryblues]

7. +1

[uponit7771]

11. +1

[BlueCaliDem]

14. And Big Agri. eom

[LondonReign2]

23. But Big Oil NEEDS these subsidies

How do you expect Exxon Mobil to squeek by on only $9.5B in earnings next quarter if they don't get corporate welfare????

[Plucketeer]

29. + 1000

[ananda]

5. Fuck him!

Just fuck him!

That really gets my gall. That man is a sociopathic motherfukker!

[blkmusclmachine]

9. The Party of NO!

Keeps marching on.

[mick063]

10. Oklahoma has a history of voting against their best interest

They do what big oil tells them to.

[Thinkingabout]

12. I have had respect for Coburn but in order to stay in office as a republican they have to be RW

crazy. There are times major events not controlled by earthlings which needs to be handled. In the case of denying aid to Sandy Victims was just crazy coming from Congressional members who represents areas prone to weather events and all should realize it might be their area which will need the help next week. This was what the members in the Sandy area was trying to say after the No vote delayed the funding. Funding which has gone to vote to repeal ACA could go for things where natural disasters occur. The funding spent on witch hunt hearings by the GOP could go into a fund to prepare for these disasters but the GOP tends to waste money.

[Ilsa]

15. At least he's being torn to shreds on social media by Oklahomans. nt

[nineteen50]

16. NPR

just did a puff piece on this paramecium

[AnotherMcIntosh]

17. Publicly propose cutting the military's bloated budget even more and demand that he support that.

Win-win.

[Beacool]

18. I hope that the people of OK finally realize what a couple of turds

they elected as senators and throw them out when they are due for reelection.

[Auntie Bush]

21. That's something I could pray for.

Well... not to be so negative...I'll just pray for his opponent to crush him...in the polls that is.

[Beacool]

25. Well, that's what I meant too.

I hope that the people of OK vote for a Democrat next time around. These two are not their friends.

[LondonReign2]

24. Thing is, Oklahoma strongly supports people like this

If they throw them out, they are likely to elect even MORE rightward cretins.

[Beacool]

26. Then, I'm sorry to say, they deserve what they get.

In this case, no federal funds.

[redstatebluegirl]

39. Once Texas does we might...

[Historic NY]

19. OK is not OK with this A Hole in office....

itsd time to find someone competent to run against this useless excuse.

[gademocrat7]

20. Coburn is past the sell by date.

[JCMach1]

22. He just said on MSNBC the tornado is 'different'

from Sandy.


grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Kablooie]

35. He's right. Sandy was a hurricane. This is a tornado.

As different as Jonathan apple is from a Fuji apple.

[Blue State Bandit]

27. #F5LeadershipFail

If they named Tornadoes like they do Hurricanes, Coburn would be an apt choice. They are both catastrophucks.

[Brigid]

28. Where does the GOP find these idiots??

Do they grow them somewhere??

[nineteen50]

31. Thy are not called

colon flora for nothing.

[shebornik]

32. they are carefully bred

to prevent any infection of human decency.

[Politicub]

30. This is about helping our fellow citizens first and foremost

Fuck Tom Coburn and his ego. It's not about him.

Our country is better than the selfish and small-minded republicans. They're so blinded by their narcissistic ideology that they're unable to see the devastation in front of their own eyes.

He's basically saying drop dead to the residents of Moore, OK.

America is better than this, and the AMERICAN citizens of Moore, OK are entitled to federal aid. Period.

[JDPriestly]

43. The American citizens of Moore, OK are entitled to federal aid.

Last edited Tue May 21, 2013, 05:27 PM - Edit history (1)

And Tom Coburn? With his values, should he be entitled to a Senate seat?

Didn't he have something to do with the Ensign affair?

WASHINGTON — The Senate Ethics Committee publicly admonished Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) for improperly meeting with a lobbyist and former aide to Sen. John Ensign, the Nevada Republican who resigned from the Senate after having an affair with the aide's wife.

The qualified reprimand for violating the ban on meeting with former staff-turned-lobbyists falls short of a censure or criminal violation. But the committee said it was "improper conduct" for Coburn to meet with Douglas Hampton, the former aide who tried to work as a lobbyist after the affair forced him out of Ensign's office.

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may/26/nation/la-na-coburn-ensign-20120526

Then there is his amendment to require Congressional approval of research funding.

A measure limiting National Science Foundation funding for political science research projects passed the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, quietly dealing a blow to the government agency.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) submitted a series of amendments to the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2013, the Senate bill to keep the government running past March 27. One of those amendments would prohibit the NSF from funding political science research unless a project is certified as "promoting national security or the
economic interests of the United States."

"Studies of presidential executive power and Americans' attitudes toward the Senate filibuster hold little promise to save an American's life from a threatening condition or to advance America's competitiveness in the world," Coburn wrote in a letter to NSF director Subra Suresh last week explaining his proposal.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/21/tom-coburn-national-science-foundation_n_2921081.html

Look at his voting record. It is as if Coburn sort of comprises an axis of evil all by himself. His lack of compassion is hideous and frightening. He is such a caricature of meanness masquerading as a Christian that you begin to think you are watching a Monty Python movie when you look at his stands.

http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/Tom_Coburn.htm

If I recall correctly, on top of it all, he is one of those holier than thou Congressmen who lived in a special house in D.C. where pretended to be super-Christian and weren't at all.

I hope that in the future Oklahoma will elect better people to represent them in Congress.

I did not mean to suggest that non-citizens should receive no aid. I realized when I answered a response that my heading my be interpreted to exclude non-citizens from aid. We should not leave anyone who is a victim of such a terrible disaster without assistance.

[Politicub]

45. I agree - and I believe Oklahomans will think twice about voting for him

He seems like a sociopath drunk on his own power.

[SCVDem]

33. If Coburn or Inhofe have even one dime

in an offshore bank account.........

(Enter your choice of punishment here _____________)

[another_liberal]

37. He should be locked in a room . . .

He should be locked in a room with a few dozen of the people he manages to screw out of their Federal disaster relief.

[another_liberal]

34. Cut his salary.

I think something like minimum wage would be about right, minus deductions for his medical coverage of course.

[Rob H.]

38. He's using his constituents as pawns to try to push his own regressive agenda

I hope the people of Oklahoma remember this when the next election rolls around and vote this piece of shit out of office.

[jessie04]

40. OK.......please fire this idiot.

Please

[Bluenorthwest]

41. Obama said last month OK is lucky to have Coburn, who is his personal friend.

The people of Oklahoma are lucky to have someone like Tom representing them in Washington — someone who speaks his mind, sticks to his principles and is committed to the people he was elected to serve

Read more: http://time100.time.com/2013/04/18/time-100/slide/tom-coburn/#ixzz2Twakcc4O

Obama says they share bonds of faith. What faith teaches this disregard for neighbors in need? In the past, when Coburn has attacked gay people with hate speech, Obama has lectured us that Tom is very honest and his close friend, his wife is Michelle's friend and blah, blah.
Coburn is a bigoted liar, hypocrite and amoral piece of shit.

[Daniel537]

49. "My friend on the other side of the aisle"

I'm so sick of that horse shit. Politics turns people into such two-faced frauds.

[forestpath]

53. Obama loves to befriend and praise the most vile Republicans. I wonder why.

[JDPriestly]

42. Thanks for this post. I understand he is not running again.

He should resign now. And if he doesn't, I hope that Oklahomans will remind him of his cold-heartedness as often as possible.

[Old and In the Way]

44. Call his bluff....aid with no offsetting cuts.

Let's see how principled he really is.

[sofa king]

46. Oh, I'm sure we can find that.

Oklahoma wants a fucking budget offset? All right, let's defund all federal aid to Oklahoma for:

The Rural Utilities Service
Highway funds
Farm subsidies
Oil subsidies
Housing and rental subsidies

That ought to rake up the needed funds right there, and the only people harmed are the fine people who sent to Washington Members of Congress like Senator Coburn.

[Blue Owl]

47. GFY Coburn

n/t

[Daniel537]

48. What a sick cretin.

And this is the guy the media consistently trots out as some kind of a fiscal expert. Fuck this creep. Hope people jam his phone lines.

[Brigid]

50. Just wondering:

Is this story all over the media in OK so that everyone in the state knows about it?

[Cha]

51. Coburn's putting his hyporcritical inhumane ass on display for

for the world.

Taking a break from his Fake Benghazi Scam.

[Cass]

52. I hope his constituents remember this. nt