Tom Coburn

Coburn: End 'Welfare For The Well-Off'

David Taintor | November 15, 2011, 12:59PM

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) thinks it's time America's millionaires pay their fair share.

And in a new report -- titled "Subsidizing the Rich and Famous" -- Coburn makes an argument for closing loopholes for millionaires. "From tax write-offs for gambling losses, vacation homes, and luxury yachts to subsidies for their ranches and estates, the government is subsidizing the lifestyles of the rich and famous," Coburn writes in the report. "This welfare for the well-off -- costing billions of dollars a year -- is being paid for with the taxes of the less fortunate, many who are working two jobs just to make ends meet, and IOUs to be paid off by future generations."

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Debt Ceiling

Democrats Eye Potential GOP Supporters Of Reid's Debt Limit Bill

Brian Beutler | July 29, 2011, 4:38PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

John Boehner's debt limit bill, dead-on-arrival in the Senate, is on autopilot for passage in the House this evening. If as expected he sends it over to the upper chamber to be killed, he will actually speed up the process by which the Senate can pass its final debt limit bill, for parliamentary reasons outlined at the bottom of this post.

So the great guessing game in the Capitol right now is figuring out 1). Which Republican Senators will ultimately support Harry Reid's debt limit bill, and 2). What changes will have to be made to it between now and midnight to make sure enough of them are on board so the bill doesn't go down in flames in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

Right now, Democrats are looking to about 11 gettable GOP votes: Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Susan Collins (R-ME), Bob Corker (R-TN), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Scott Brown (R-MA), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and Tom Coburn (R-OK). The last three were the Republican members of the Gang of Six deficit reduction group.

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Grover Norquist

Did Norquist Blink? Dems Herald Norquist Concession On Bush Tax Cuts

Brian Beutler | July 21, 2011, 10:57AM

Grover Norquist

The big question bedeviling the Capitol Thursday is whether anti-tax zealot Grover Norquist just gave House Republicans the coded signal that they can vote for a bill to reduce deficits and raise the debt limit even if the plan contains new tax revenue.

In an interview with the Washington Post's editorial board, Norquist addressed the question of the Bush tax cuts -- which are scheduled to expire at the end of 2012. "Not continuing a tax cut is not technically a tax increase," Norquist said. Would that violate his anti-tax pledge? "We wouldn't hold it that way," he said.

Democrats are latching on to this to press Republicans to back off their insistence that any debt limit package be revenue neutral. At a Capitol press conference Thursday, House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) read the quotes out loud to reporters. "I think Mr. Norquist has made a very important statement that I hope they each take into consideration," Hoyer said, referring to House Republicans.

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Tom Coburn

Back From The Dead? Obama Hugs Gang Of Six, Aides Caution Not To Conflate With Debt Limit Fight

Brian Beutler | July 19, 2011, 2:41PM

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)

President Obama likes it. A wide array of Senators, including influential conservative Tom Coburn (R-OK), have given it their blessings. Out of nowhere, the Gang of Six's bipartisan plan for addressing the country's fiscal imbalance has returned from legislative hinterlands -- and has become the only viable, publicly available framework by which Congress can make good on its supposed desire for a grand bargain on deficit reduction.

But according to an aide briefed on the Gang of Six's negotiations, the fledgling framework is still too new and incomplete to be included in a package to raise the debt limit before August 2nd -- and it's more likely to become the basis for a bigger-deal in the weeks and months ahead.

"It will play into getting us through August 2nd in absolutely no way," the aide said. Senators on Tuesday, according to the aide were given "a briefing on a framework of what could become a plan," but the imperative now is to get the debt limit raised one way or another.

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Barack Obama

Obama Embraces 'Gang of Six' Deficit Plan

Susan Crabtree | July 19, 2011, 2:16PM

President Obama heaped praise on a deficit-reduction proposal produced by bipartisan group of senators known as the "Gang of Six," calling it a "significant step" and arguing that members on both side of the aisle are beginning to coalesce around a balanced approach involving cuts to entitlements and tax increases.

"We're in the same playing field and my hope is that we start gathering everybody in the next couple of days" on an agreement, Obama told reporters in a brief appearance in the White House briefing room Tuesday.

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Medicare

Top Dems Reject Coburn, Lieberman Plan To Raise Medicare Retirement Age

Brian Beutler | June 28, 2011, 5:35PM

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)

Republicans may be suffering politically for voting to phase out Medicare. But they moved the needle on the policy debate way to the right, and, as such, cutting Medicare now is basically a fait accompli.

The latest plan comes from Sens. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT). This is an interesting political coalition for a few reasons. Recall that Coburn left the Gang-of-Six Senate debt talks for proposing dramatic cuts to Medicare, and has now found comfort in the arms of liberals' darkest bete noire.

What they propose doesn't seek to replace Medicare with a private insurance scheme as does the GOP budget. Nonetheless it has already been rejected by the top Democrats on Capitol Hill -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).

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Tax Breaks

Dems See Opening To Push GOP On Taxes After Ethanol Subsidies Vote

Benjy Sarlin | June 15, 2011, 3:01PM

Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Tom Coburn (R-OK)

Looking to exploit a rare rift between Republicans and anti-tax groups, Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) renewed calls on Tuesday to include revenue increases in any deficit deal.

Some 34 Senate Republicans voted for an amendment ending ethanol subsidies on Tuesday, despite warnings from anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist that dropping tax credits counted as a tax hike. The divide over the issue is complicated and hinges on regional factors in both parties, but Democrats largely voted against the unsuccessful amendment due to stated objections to the procedure by which it was brought up.

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Health Care

GOP Sens Threaten To Block Key Element Of Health Care Law -- And They Can

Brian Beutler | May 24, 2011, 9:11AM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Senate Republicans are preparing to foreclose on the Democrats' single best hope for addressing the country's structural deficit without shifting a huge cost burden on to seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries. It's a testament to the deep division between the parties on the key driver of future U.S. debt -- which might not matter if debt wasn't the high-stakes issue du jour in Washington.

Broadly speaking, there are two competing schools of thought about how best to reduce federal Medicare spending. One version works much like the House GOP budget's Medicare privatization plan -- it involves capping overall Medicare spending, and outsourcing the financing of seniors' health care to private insurers. This shifts a significant cost on to seniors themselves, but Republicans like the idea for two reasons: (1) It reduces federal spending by fiat; and (2) It rations health care via the private sector -- based on what services seniors think they'll need, and what services insurers will agree to pay for.

The Obama administration's alternative is a gentle twist on government rationing. It preserves Medicare as a single-payer system but shaves off waste-creating incentives so that over time the provision of care to beneficiaries is more affordable, more efficient, more research-based than it is now without explicitly "rationing" by declining more services over time. Or at least that's the goal.

And that's where the Independent Payment Advisory Board comes in. It's the most promising of the many new cost-cutting initiatives created by President Obama's health care law. IPAB will be tasked with implementing new ways to reduce Medicare spending, and, though its powers are limited in several key ways -- for instance, it's explicitly forbidden to "ration" health care -- its recommendations take effect almost automatically.

There's just one problem: Each of the board's 15 members has to be confirmed by the Senate. That means filibusters and 60 vote requirements stand in the way of staffing a panel that Republicans decry as a government rationing board. And months ahead of the nominations, they're telling Obama "good luck with that!"

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Tom Coburn

Coburn: Revenue Increases Still Must Be Part Of Debt Reduction Agreement (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | May 20, 2011, 9:25AM

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)

If you thought Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) dropped out of the Gang of Six deficit talks because of all the heat he's taken from anti-tax zealots in the conservative movement, think again. The Oklahoma Republican -- and one of the only Republicans with enough credibility among conservatives to sell the idea of higher revenues to rank and file members of his party -- still says higher revenues have to be part of any consensus package to reduce deficits and debt over the long term.

"[R]ealistically we cannot solve our problems unless we generate growth in this country, and the only way we're going to do that is back off on a lot of regulations, create a tax structure that's going to cause investment to happen, and get dynamic returns that actually increase the revenues coming to the federal government," Coubrn said on CNBC Thursday evening. "We can't do it all by eliminating large sections and duplicate spending and waste. We can do a large portion of it, but there has to be some revenue component to that, and anybody that says that's not the case, I think they're just wrong and they're not thinking about the long-term health of our country."

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Gang of Six

Source: Coburn Ditching Gang Of Six Over Plan To Cut Medicare

Brian Beutler | May 17, 2011, 5:30PM

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)

Not since David Lee Roth left Van Halen has a defection augured so poorly for team success. On Tuesday, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) told reporters he was stepping away from the Gang of Six negotiations -- a bipartisan working group of senators putting together a plan to reduce the deficit and debt -- over their inability to agree on entitlement spending cuts.

After a bit of confusion over Coburn's status in these talks, his spokesman John Hart confirmed the departure in a statement, "He has decided to take a break from the talks."

A source with knowledge of the negotiations says Coburn ultimately broke ranks after members of the group rejected his proposal to introduce a global cap on Medicare spending that would have cut $150 billion from current beneficiaries.

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Social Security

Parsing The Game Of Six: Will They Try To Cut Social Security Benefits?

Brian Beutler | April 21, 2011, 1:17PM

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)

The bipartisan group of six senators privately drafting a debt and deficit reduction plan have been unusually tight-lipped about their negotiations. That's probably necessary internally if the group's goal is to come to an agreement. But it's led to intense speculation about what's on the table, what shape their policy options are taking, and whether progressives will get a raw deal.

Of the six -- Dick Durbin (D-IL), Mark Warner (D-VA), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Tom Coburn (R-OK), and Mike Crapo (R-ID) -- only Durbin could be fairly described as a progressive. So the race is on to figure out where his bright lines are, and to what, if any, extent he's willing to walk away if the final agreement completely undermines progressive interests. But while his public statements in recent weeks don't lay out exactly what those bright lines are, he's tipped his hand in two important ways.

One big tell was his official public response to the House Republican budget, which doesn't meaningfully touch Social Security but basically obliterates Medicare and Medicaid, while not raising any new revenue, and lowering taxes on wealthy Americans.

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Budget

GOP Budget Includes Medicare Cuts GOP Insisted Would Hurt Seniors

Benjy Sarlin | April 6, 2011, 10:28AM

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)

When Democrats included cuts to Medicare Advantage as part of their health care bill, Republicans unleashed an all-out assault, claiming in dozens of campaign ads and public statements that the move would harm seniors.

"Americans support reform," Mitch McConnell said in 2009. "But higher premiums, higher taxes and cutting Medicare -- that's not reform."

"What it's going to do to our seniors, I have a message for you: You're going to die sooner," Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) said at the time.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) authored an entire op-ed decrying the cuts in The Journal Times, warning they would "dramatically increase premiums for seniors or simply kill Medicare Advantage outright." Speaker John Boehner warned of "massive cuts to Medicare benefits" in press releases.

And yet the new House GOP budget authored by Ryan himself and endorsed by Boehner includes exactly the same cuts to Medicare Advantage included in the Affordable Care Act -- even as it repeals the rest of the bill and piles on trillions in additional cuts to seniors' health care.

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Sunday Shows

The Sunday Show Line-Ups

Eric Kleefeld | February 18, 2011, 5:57PM

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)

Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:

• ABC, This Week: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

• CBS, Face The Nation: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).

• CNN, State Of The Union: Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

• Fox News Sunday: Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI), Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO).

• NBC, Meet The Press: Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice.

State Of The Union

Who's Got A Date To The State Of The Union?

Eric Kleefeld | January 24, 2011, 8:41AM

Sens. John Thune (R-SD) & Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY)

The biggest question headed into tomorrow's State of the Union address doesn't seem to be what President Obama will say -- it seems clear he will in some way acknowledge the recent Republican gains, talk about the need for spending cuts, defend health care reform against efforts to repeal it, etc. No, the big question is -- which Democrat is sitting with which Republican?

As you know, there has been a push in the last couple weeks for Democratic and Republican members to sit with each other, as opposed to the usual separated seating. There is no assigned seating, of course, but we've always been treated to the sight of separate aisles that stand to applaud the president, or sit stony-faced.

The idea this year was promoted by the think tank Third Way, which is associated with moderate Democrats, and taken up by Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO). It has also been promoted as a pro-civility measure to suggest a sense of Congressional unity, in the wake of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ).

Let's take a look at some of the key pairings that are coming up. I asked Udall's office about who he would be sitting with. Their response: "Stay tuned Eric!"

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State Of The Union

Schumer And Coburn To Sit Together At State Of The Union (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | January 17, 2011, 9:37AM

Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Tom Coburn (R-OK)

Two big names are now on board with the push to have Democrats and Republicans sit together at the State of the Union, with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) -- who previously endorsed the idea last week -- announcing that his date for the presidential prom will be none other than the very conservative Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK).

The idea was proposed by the think-tank Third Way, which is identified with moderate Democrats, and taken up by Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO).

"My colleague Senator Mark Udall called for Democrats and Republicans to sit together at the State of the Union," Schumer said on Meet The Press. "I called up Tom after he did that, and he graciously agreed, we're going to sit together Wednesday night [ed. note: The address is in face next Tuesday.] at the State of the Union , and we hope that many others will follow us. Now, that's symbolic, but maybe it just sets a tone and everything gets a little bit more civil."

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Tom Coburn

Coburn: There Will Be 'Apocalyptic Pain' If We Don't Cut Spending (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | December 27, 2010, 9:48AM

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) amped up his rhetoric on the dangers of government spending and debt yesterday, telling host Chris Wallace, "I told you the other evening, if we didn't take some pain now, we're going to experience apocalyptic pain."

Coburn was on Fox News Sunday, and Wallace described him as something of an "alarmist" when it comes to the debt and federal spending. Coburn agreed: "I think within 3-4 years, if we have not done the critical changes that we have to make, I think the confidence in our economy and our currency will be undermined significantly. And that may scare some folks -- it's not intended to."

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9/11

Congress Poised To Expedite 9/11 Responders Bill Over GOP Objections

Brian Beutler | December 22, 2010, 10:52AM

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)

After months of GOP obstruction, a bill to help 9/11 first responders cover their mounting health care costs is expected to zip through Congress. In addition to being a feather in the cap of New York and New Jersey Democrats -- who have been pushing the bill for months -- it will likely enjoy the distinction of being the last legislative item to pass the unusually productive 111th Congress lame duck session.

Republicans have blocked the bill in both the House and Senate over objections to its cost and financing mechanisms, but with a combination of tweaks and public pressure, Democrats say they've rounded up the 60 votes they'll need to break the filibuster. And with members eager to skip town for the holidays, the House and Senate have lined up to expedite final passage.

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Tom Coburn

Report: Coburn Might Block 9/11 First Responders Bill

Jillian Rayfield | December 21, 2010, 10:13AM

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) reportedly might block the 9/11 First Responders bill, or at least slow it down, according to Politico.

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Fiscal Commission

FAIL: Fiscal Commission Adjourns Without Holding Official Vote

Brian Beutler | December 3, 2010, 11:12AM

The 18-Member Commission on Fiscal Responsibility, Sept. 29th, 2010

After weeks of tumultuous negotiations, the White House's fiscal commission adjourned today without agreement on a controversial plan to reduce deficits by slashing spending and lowering income tax rates.

Recognizing that they'd fail to meet the 14-vote threshold for passage, the 18-member commission ultimately did not take a final vote. However, members announced their positions ahead of today's final meeting, and in the end a majority -- according to Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), 11 in total -- claimed to support the proposal.

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Mitch McConnell

Senate Republicans Pass Earmark Moratorium

Brian Beutler | November 16, 2010, 5:53PM

Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

As expected, the Senate Republican conference passed an earmark moratorium resolution this afternoon. It's non-binding, but expresses the view of the full GOP caucus.

Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn and Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill are pressing to make the ban statutory. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid isn't wild about the idea, but he promised to work with both members to bring the issue up for a vote in the Senate.

The GOP conference also approved a balanced budget resolution authored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).

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Earmarks

Much Ado About Earmarks: What Will The GOP's Ban Actually Do?

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 16, 2010, 12:50PM

Jim DeMint

Senate Republicans are expected to join their House colleagues in banning the time-honored practice of earmarking in a behind-closed-doors meeting later today. Much has been made in recent days of the proposed moratorium on porking up a Congressional spending bill with federally-funded goodies for your home state or district (or seeing to it that your constituents get their fair piece of the government money pie, depending on your point of view). The president wants earmarks gone. The tea party -- led by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) -- wants earmarks gone. And now, the Republicans want them gone, too.

But what will the GOP's proposed ban actually do?

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Earmarks

DeMint Says He's Got The Votes To Ban Earmarks In The Senate GOP

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 15, 2010, 2:07PM

Jim DeMint

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), the defacto leader of the tea party-fueled movement to ban earmarking by Republican Senators in the next Congress, says he's got the votes to pass a moratorium when the incoming caucus meets for the first time tomorrow.

"We probably have the edge by a vote or two," DeMint told reporters on a conference call sponsored by the Heritage Foundation this morning. He credited the incoming freshman class -- which includes vehement anti-earmarkers like Mike Lee (UT) and Rand Paul (KY) -- with providing the extra votes needed to pass a moratorium over the wishes of caucus leader Mitch McConnell.

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Mitch McConnell

A Primer On The GOP Plan To Hold The Debt Ceiling Hostage

Brian Beutler | November 9, 2010, 11:39AM

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)

Fresh off their election day sweep, top Republicans in Congress are already threatening a high-stakes gambit to block what has traditionally been a fairly routine move: changing the law to increase the total amount of debt the federal government is allowed take on.

If the debt ceiling is not raised before the federal government uses up its current borrowing authority, then sometime in February the U.S. government will no longer be able to issue more debt -- at which point all hell will break loose.

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Jack Conway

Six Brutal Ads That Put Conway's Aqua-Buddha Segment To Shame

Brian Beutler | October 19, 2010, 8:51AM

Kentucky Senate candidates Jack Conway and Rand Paul talk with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

The campaign season was rocked this weekend when Senate hopeful Jack Conway (D) unveiled an ad raising questions about the sincerity of his opponent Rand Paul's faith in the deeply Christian state of Kentucky.

The ad quickly became the most contentious of the cycle. On Sunday, the two met for their second-to-last scheduled debate, which ended with Paul refusing to shake Conway's hand and threatening to skip their final encounter.

As is common when Democrats punch below the belt, the episode inspired an earnest round of handwringing among party members and progressive commentators, some of whom went to go so far as to call Conway's segment "illiberal" and "despicable."

Looking back on the past several weeks, though, there have been a number of ads (both Democratic and Republican) that are -- pick your adjective -- harsher, sleazier, bolder and more damning. Here are our top six.

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NV-SEN

Angle: I Would Help Anyone Meet With Coburn Or DeMint

Eric Kleefeld | October 7, 2010, 4:24PM

US Senate candidate Sharron Angle (R-NV)

Sharron Angle is offering a novel explanation for her seeming secret quid-pro-quo offer to a third-party conservative candidate that she could get him access to top GOP Senators if he dropped out and helped her win the race. Instead, as Jon Ralston reports, she now says she would help any constituent in Nevada meet with big-name Senators.

Earlier this week, Tea Party candidate Scott Ashjian released a secret tape of himself meeting last week with Angle. As she had told Ashjian: "That's really all I can offer to you (Ashjian) is whatever juice I have, you have as well...You want to see DeMint, I have juice with him...I go to Washington, DC, and want to see Jim DeMint, he's right there for me. I want to see Tom Coburn, he's right there for me. I want to see Mitch McConnell, he's there."

But that wasn't improper at all, Angle told conservative talk radio host Heidi Harris: "Well, of course, I offered him meetings with people that are friends of mine. Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn are friends of mine, and I would offer that to any constituent in Nevada."

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Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart: Sen. Tom Coburn Is An 'International A**hole of Mystery' (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | October 1, 2010, 10:21AM

Jon Stewart explained last night that about $1 billion of aid to Haiti was stalled in the Senate because one senator placed a "secret hold" on it. This means he was able to anonymously derail the legislation "because our system is stupid," Stewart said.

Stewart revealed that this "international asshole of mystery" was Tom Coburn (R-OK), and he stalled the bill because of a $5 million provision that he thought might waste taxpayer dollars.

So for any Haitian who right now lives on top of a pile of rubble washing their clothes in their own urine bucket, while Sean Penn gives your kids cigarettes while regaling you with Fast Times at Ridgemont High anecdotes, hang in there. Cause we need to sort all this out so you won't have to fill out duplicate forms. You're welcome!

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Social Security

Meet The 18 People Who Could Determine The Fate Of Social Security

Brian Beutler | August 30, 2010, 11:55AM

President Obama meets with the leaders of his bipartisan debt commission, Democrat Erskine Bowles, on left, and former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson, on right.

Last week former Republican Senator Alan Simpson, who co-chairs the White House's fiscal commission, drew a storm of criticism for comparing Social Security to a "cow with 310 million tits." But Titgate isn't really about language. It's about both Simpson himself -- who has long viewed Social Security as a bloated program for spoiled old people -- and about the commission as a whole. Comprised of nine tax-averse Republicans and nine Democrats, many of whom have expressed support for Social Security changes in the past, the commission will almost certainly be biased toward benefit cuts, and away from raising taxes, when it presents its report on December 1. Below, the cast of characters who will be making the calls.

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Debt Commission

Source: Debt Commission Fights Over Freezing Military Pay, Slashing Benefits

Brian Beutler | August 5, 2010, 2:30PM

President Barack Obama with Defense Secretary Robert Gates (left), and Navy Admiral Michael Mullen (right)

Republicans would like you to think that Democrats have sinister plans for the post-election lame duck session of Congress, and Democrats are at pains to insist otherwise. But the one winter initiative progressives fear most is being crafted off the Hill by the White House's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. Though most of the commission's work occurs behind closed doors in small working groups, early reports indicate that the GOP's unwillingness to support any significant tax increases are pushing the group toward proposed entitlement slashes and larger budget cuts.

And while Americans might expect that the commission would look at all spending, some members are seemingly using their positions to advance professional interests. A source familiar with the proceedings of the working group on discretionary spending tells TPM that some commissioners, including one military contractor, would prefer to save money by freezing military pay and scaling back benefits, rather than by eliminating waste in defense contracting.

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John McCain

Coburn, McCain Acknowledge Positive Effects Of Obama's Stimulus

Brian Beutler | August 3, 2010, 3:26PM

Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Tom Coburn (R-OK)

It's hard to find any Republicans these days who will admit that the President Obama's stimulus had any positive effect on the economy. But today two GOP senators acknowledged candidly that the Recovery Act did indeed create jobs... just not enough of them.

"Anytime you spend $600 billion in a $14, $13 trillion [economy], you're going to have a positive effect, because you put that money into the economy," said Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) at a morning press conference. "It's had a positive effect in terms of people keeping their jobs that work for state governments and local governments. But the question is could we have had a more positive effect. And that was the problem with this stimulus from the get-go. That's the problem with these programs. If you spend $300,000 in Tucson, could you have spent that money and created more jobs and created something of real value."

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Republicans

It's Unanimous! GOP Says No To Unemployment Benefits, Yes To Tax Cuts For The Rich

Brian Beutler | July 13, 2010, 5:36PM

(Clockwise from top left) Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY), John Cornyn (R-TX), Judd Gregg (R-NH), John Kyl (R-AZ)

For weeks, Senate Republicans have filibustered an extension of unemployment benefits on the grounds that Democrats aren't willing to cut spending or raise taxes to pay for them. At the same time, the Bush tax cuts are set to expire, and Republicans want them to be renewed. For two days, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl has raised eyebrows by insisting that emergency aid to unemployed people -- what he called a "necessary evil" -- be paid for through either tax hikes or spending cuts, while the tax cuts (which mostly benefit wealthy people) not be offset in any way. Yesterday claimed that this view is shared by "most of the people in my party."

He was correct.

"That's been the majority Republican view for some time," Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told TPMDC this afternoon after the weekly GOP press conference. "That there's no evidence whatsoever that the Bush tax cuts actually diminished revenue. They increased revenue, because of the vibrancy of these tax cuts in the economy. So I think what Senator Kyl was expressing was the view of virtually every Republican on that subject."

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Supreme Court vacancy

Kagan: I'm Not A Socialist And Can't Remember All The Dumb Memos I Wrote

Christina Bellantoni | July 13, 2010, 1:33PM

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan and Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK)

The Senate Judiciary Committee today agreed to delay the vote to approve Solicitor General Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court for another week. Republicans argued -- as expected -- they needed more time to review the answers Kagan submitted to their questions for the record after her hearings earlier this month.

TPM read through the dozens of questions and answers so you don't have to. While most of the answers were a little, well, dry, we've collected the Top 5 most noteworthy below.

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Supreme Court vacancy

Grilling Ms. Kagan -- The 7 Toughest Questioners At SCOTUS Hearings (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | July 1, 2010, 5:47PM

(Clockwise from top left) Senators Arlen Specter (D-PA), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) question Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan (center, inset).

It wasn't quite a supreme grilling, but some of the Judiciary Committee's members were surprisingly tough on Solicitor General Elena Kagan this week. Although at first the Republicans spent their time deriding Thurgood Marshall as a so-called "activist judge," by day three they took up all the hot button social issues they had largely ignored in the first round of questions.

Since Kagan's testimony is complete -- Chairman Pat Leahy told her it was "The last time you'll ever have to be in a public hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee." -- TPM rounded up the toughest questioners. They might just surprise you, since some Democrats gave Kagan as hard a time as their colleagues across the aisle.

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Supreme Court

GOPers Who Slammed Marshall's Activism Can't Name A Case Typifying It

Brian Beutler | June 29, 2010, 10:26AM

Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

Republicans raised eyebrows yesterday when they criticized the first African-American Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall, as a way to attack nominee Elena Kagan, his former clerk. One would think that, to avoid any appearance of racial dog-whistling, the senators attacking Marshall's record would be able to name the decisions or opinions with which they so vociferously disagreed.

After the hearing broke last night, TPMDC asked three of the top Republicans on the Judiciary Committee which of Marshall's opinions best exemplified his activism. And while two of the three were careful to praise Marshall the man, none of them could name a single case.

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Supreme Court vacancy

Coburn Asks Kagan To 'Set A New Standard': Answer Questions! (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | June 28, 2010, 5:54PM

Coburn at Kagan confirmation hearing

Sen. Tom Coburn didn't mince words today when he acknowledged that Supreme Court confirmation hearings are often newsless snoozefests. Coburn (R-OK) said today during the Senate Judiciary Committee's opening session for Elena Kagan's Supreme Court nomination that the hearings can be a disservice to the nation since nominees just "dance" around their beliefs.

Coburn framed his request to Kagan that she "set a new standard where you really answer questions" around an appeal to her patriotism and a desire to change what many say is a broken process. "Why should we have this dance if we're not going to find out real answers about real issues about what you really believe?"

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Elena Kagan

Republicans Prepare Tough Questions For Kagan

Brian Beutler | May 14, 2010, 1:38PM

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), SCOTUS nominee Elena Kagan, and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

If Elena Kagan's going to be a Supreme Court justice for the rest of her career, Republicans want to know as much about her ideology as they can. There's just one problem: She's a mystery to almost everybody. For that reason, they say they may spice up her confirmation hearing when she comes before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In interviews, three of the top Republicans on the Judiciary Committee told me they're likely to approach the Q&A a bit differently than they usually do. They're just not saying--or don't know--how.

"I think there's gonna be some, yes, absolutely, gonna be some difference in the approach," said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)--the committee's ranking member. "I'm not sure how that'll play out."

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Financial Reform

The Republican Duo Behind The Demise Of The Financial Reform Filibuster

Brian Beutler | April 29, 2010, 11:16AM

Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)

The GOP's bid to block debate on Democrats' financial regulatory reform bill ended with a whimper. After a three day standoff--during which they voted repeatedly, and to a number, to sustain their filibuster--the Republicans acknowledged that they'd be unable to extract further concessions behind closed doors, and agreed, unanimously, to allow the bill to come to the floor.

That decision didn't please everybody. In a statement announcing that bipartisan negotiations had reached an impasse, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL)--the ranking member on the Banking Committee, and the Republicans' top financial reform negotiator--said that the common ground he'd found with Democrats was "not sufficient to garner my support for moving this bill to the Senate floor." And last night, after a meeting of the GOP caucus, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) told reporters that he planned to vote against proceeding to debate again...but he never got the chance.

So who was pushing for the filibuster to end--and why?

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