Digital artwork by Jay Keating using TwistedBrush Pro Studio July 28, 2008

“The Flower Ballerinas” by Jay Keating 2008

A ‘Dr. No’ We Can Believe In July 28, 2008

THE
MORNING BELL
MONDAY,
JULY 28, 2008

A
‘Dr. No’ We Can

Believe In

Today both the The Washington
Post and The New York
Times have front-page stories on Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-Okla.) use of
legislative “holds” to bring debate on spending priorities back to the U.S.
Senate. A “hold” prevents the majority party in the Senate from moving forward
on a bill until it has been debated. But in this Congress, the liberal majority
does not want to debate issues or allow amendments.

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Of the 890 bills that have
been passed in the 110th Congress, only 50 of them have been debated. For simply
insisting that the Senate debate a bill before it is passed, Coburn has been
labeled “Dr. No” by both the Post and Times. If Coburn is Dr. No, then he is a
Dr. No our country desperately needs.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) tells the Post, “For those of you who may
not know this, you cannot negotiate with Coburn. It’s just something that you
learn over the years … its a waste of time.” But the Times disagrees,
reporting:

Even some Democrats have a grudging admiration for Mr. Coburn’s
determination. They point out that Mr. Coburn has shown an occasional
willingness to make concessions, as he did after long months of effort with
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, on a genetic
nondiscrimination law. And he has worked with Senator Barack Obama of Illinois,
a fact that the Democratic presidential candidate has proudly referred to when
talking about his ability to reach across the aisle.

Frustrated with Coburn’s insistence on debate, Reid has bundled 35 separate
bills, each with at least one Republican co-sponsor, into one omnibus bill. Reid
hopes Coburn’s GOP colleagues will force him to relent. So far Coburn is holding
firm: “I am OK taking the consternation of my colleagues. I take my oath
seriously.” Coburn is quick to point out he doesn’t even oppose much of the
spending in the bills. He just wants to see other federal spending reduced so
that our already record
deficit does not get worse.

Coburn, for example, supports a bill that spends money creating a new Justice
Department cold-case unit that would investigate unsolved civil rights cases.
But Coburn believes we should pay for that new unit by cutting back on Justice
Department spending on conferences. The department has spent $312 million on
conferences this decade. Reid will not allow Coburn to offer this amendment.

When Reid isn’t claiming that Coburn refuses to negotiate, he falls back on
the claim that the bills in question only authorize money, and that no money is
actually spent until an appropriations bill is passed. Coburn ably exposes the
blatantly dishonest game senators play when they deploy this argument:

Now, you will hear the argument over the next 10 days to 2 weeks, as we
debate this bill, that these are just authorizations, that it is not money that
is actually spent until it is appropriated. But if you go to the Web site of all
of the Senators who are supporting these bills, they have already sent out press
releases bragging about what they have done. They intend to spend the money. So
one of three things comes about from that. One is they plan on authorizing it
and spending the money; two is they are just gaming their constituency, they are
planning on passing the bill but never spending the money, which is highly
unlikely, or three is they just want on the bill so they can get a positive
parochial benefit and do not really care whether the money gets
spent.

In 2006, Coburn introduced the Federal Funding Accountability and
Transparency Act, which requires the full disclosure of all entities or
organizations receiving federal funds. Obama and Sen. John McCain both
co-sponsored the bill so that Americans could better hold government accountable
for wasteful spending. But that database will be useless unless our elected
leaders also have the opportunity to debate and vote to end that wasteful
spending. Let’s hope Dr. No wins the fight to have those debates.

QUICK HITS

• According
  to the Associated Press, in Iraq the United
  States is now winning the war that two years ago seemed lost.
• Barack
  Obama told Newsweek that his 16-month timetable for troop withdrawal is “entirely
  conditions-based.”
• Virginia
  has implemented a law that requires jail officials to notify federal
  authorities of all foreign-born inmates regardless of their immigration
  status.
• According
  to the Los Angeles Times, the stimulus checks Congress authorized have “done little to
  boost [consumer] confidence in the economy.”
• According
  to Rasmussen
  Reports, 71% of American believe suspected terrorists should be tried by
  military tribunals rather than in U.S. courts.