Tom Coburn: Dr. No or Senate Savior?

Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. is making the news in his usual way - by voting "no". This time, however, he is joined by forty of his senate colleagues in blocking the attempts of Senator Harry Ried to move his new "Omnibus" bill forward.

For those of you not following this daily drama over the last three and a half years, Senator Coburn has used a senate rule to put a "hold" on bills he doesn't like or agree with. This allows even one senator to keep practically any bill from moving forward, unless at least 60 of his or her fellow senators will vote to move it forward.

This comes as no surprise to me, or most Oklahomans, having become very familiar with then-Congressman Coburn's similar beliefs when he was in the U.S. House. Whatever you you say about him, and you can say a lot, the man is consistent in his actions to change how government works.

That is why I don't understand how Senator Reid, and the entire Democratic Caucus, seem to be so befuddled by Senator Coburn's actions. Even if you weren't familiar with his work in the House, they've had more than three years to see this. For more than a year and half in the majority! How, in all that time, do you not come up with a strategy?

Really, there are only two options:

1. Find a way to get 60 members to go against him.
2. Realize he isn't going to stop, and begin to draft bills in a manner that fit his criteria.

Since it is unlikely that even with a huge tidal wave of Democratic support this fall the Senate Democrats get to sixty seats, the first option is unlikely. Getting the Republican Caucus to break decisively on anything is as tough as getting a Sooner to cheer for Mack Brown, so Senator Reid will be stuck losing votes with a smaller than necessary majority.

That leaves option number two, changing the nature of how you do business. I admit, this is a tough pill to swallow. Yet with Congressional approval ratings in the single digits, it should soon become clear to someone that business as usual isn't going to work. If you believe the bills being blocked are actually quality legislation, and their passage is critical in nature, then it is time to find a new way to get them to the floor.

Working with other Republican Senators will be necessary in order to assure passage and even to bring them to a vote. This may not be the most effective method of work, but as elected officials sent to do a job, it is, as the saying goes, what you get paid the big bucks for.

Of course, this might not work. It requires bi-partisan cooperation in an election year, and that is pretty rare in D.C. - especially with an election coming up. But by doing the right thing, and putting individual Senators on the spot, is a fight worth fighting.

Time and history will judge if Senator Coburn is right or wrong, Senator Reid's job is to move the Senate forward and it is time that happens.