Tom Coburn Spending

For all the fanfare and bother that comes with being in the United States Senate, individual Senators usually have to be in trouble to get much national-level ink (think Sen. Chris Dodd's sweetheart mortgage deal). So when Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn was written about in both the New York Times and the Washington Post today for actually doing his job, it meant something.

The crux of both pieces is that Senator Coburn is a thorn in the side of the Democratic Leadership in the Senate. The "problem", if you were to call it that, is that because it would take too much time to individually consider all of the slices of pork that each Senator wants, the Senate usually deals with these spending requests by simply adopting them by 'unanimous consent' - that is, the bill passes because no one objects to it.

But Senator Coburn, who has earned a reputation for being a budget hawk during his four years in the Senate, hasn't been afraid to take on his colleagues who want their fill of the pork barrel buffet. Instead of rolling over and playing dead, he's been placing 'holds' on many of these bills - forcing the Senate to go through the normal process of considering each one with the whole legislative bit; you know, School House Rock-style, with votes and stuff.