Sen. Tom Coburn: Grover Norquist Not the Problem
Sen. Tom Coburn, who engaged in some high-profile battles last year with tax opponent Grover Norquist, says in a column in the New York Times that Norquist isn’t an impediment to a grand deficit-reducing plan but that Democrats are. …
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Sen. Tom Coburn’s Stock Trade Examined in Washington Post Story
In a story about stock trades made by members of Congress, Sen. Tom Coburn’s trade of stock in a genetic technology company is examined for the possibility that it was influenced by Coburn’s activity on legislation.…
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Sen. Tom Coburn Releases Report on Unspent Federal Money
U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, released a highly-detailed report on Thursday about how much federal money sits unspent in government accounts for numerous reasons. Some of the money has been targeted to specific projects but hasn’t been tapped, while a huge amount has never been obligated.
The exception to the proverb ‘a penny saved is a penny earned’ is the federal government, where an unspent dollar represents lost opportunities to reduce the debt or to assist an individual, a family, or a community,” Coburn said.…
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Oklahomans Urge Action on Federal Judicial Nominees
Three prominent Oklahomans visited the White House and Capitol Hill on Monday to urge Senate confirmation of federal judicial nominees. The process of approving judges to the federal bench often slows in the months leading up to a presidential election as lawmakers from the party out of power sometimes stall action in hopes that they’ll win the White House and get a chance to replace the nominees with their own.
Former U.S. Attorney Dan Webber, former Seminole Nation Chief Enoch Kelly Haney and Jeremy Aliason, executive director of the National Native American Bar Association, went first to the White House to meet with Attorney General Eric Holder and White House counsel Kathy Ruemmler about the vacancy rate.…
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Sen. Tom Coburn Addresses GSA Scandal, His Own Efforts to Trim Conferences
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, has fought losing battles on the Senate floor to cut the amount of money spent on government travel and conferences. So maybe the scandal over the General Services Administration’s conference in Las Vegas will help his cause?
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Alec Baldwin Says Arts Funding Helping Oklahoma Despite Sen. Coburn’s Opposition
Actor Alec Baldwin spoke at the National Press Club in Washington on Monday about arts funding in the United States, arguing that the country does not spend enough. He listed some of the Capitol Hill friends and foes of government funding for the arts and mentioned Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, as one who is “not as wonderful as we would like him to be on the issue of the arts.”
Baldwin then read some of the funding received last year by Oklahoma City-area arts organizations from the National Endowment for the Arts:
_ Two grants totaling $40,000 for the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition;
_ $45,000 for the Lyric Theater;
_ $773,000 for the Oklahoma Council of the Arts;
_ $20,000 for the Oklahoma Historical Society
Baldwin said, “I just want to mention, we find it not enjoyable but ultimately necessary to point out to some of these folks that there are constituents of theirs in their own congressional districts _ or statewide in the Senate _ who the NEA is bringing some wonderful, wonderful arts-related programming, and events, shows, what have you, and educational opportunities for young people there under the umbrella of the National Endowment for the Arts.”…
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Sen. Tom Coburn Releases New Report on Health Care Law
U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, a vocal critic of the health care law nearing its 2nd anniversary, released a report on Tuesday with Wyoming Republican Sen. John Barasso that examines some of the impacts and potential “side effects.”
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Oklahoma Congressional Delegation Promotes Direct Flight from OKC to DC
All seven members of Oklahoma’s congressional district sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood promoting Southwest Airlines proposal for a direct flight from Oklahoma City to Washington, DC. The lawmakers cite several reasons, including the large federal presence in Oklahoma City that requires travel to and from the nation’s capital. Of course, there is also the fact that members of Congress must fly frequently between Oklahoma City and Washington.
DCA-OKC Congressional Support Letter doc…
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Oklahoma Sens. Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn Have Written Books
Sen. Jim Inhofe’s book, The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future, was released this week, published by WND Books. It chronicles Inhofe’s crusade against scientists, politicians and others who have proposed tighter limits on greenhouse gas emissions to slow global warming.
Inhofe, R-Tulsa, has called man-made global warming a hoax.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, has written a second book, called The Debt Bomb, which is set to be released on April 17 and published by Thomas Nelson.…
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Sen. Tom Coburn Unveils New Report on Duplication in Federal Government
U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, unveiled the second annual report by the Government Accountability Office on overlapping and duplicative programs in the federal government.
Among the highlights in the report, according to Coburn’s office:
_ Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education.
There are 209 federal STEM education programs, administered by 13 different federal agencies, costing taxpayers more than $3 billion annually.
_ Department of Justice Grants
Since 2005, Congress has spent $30 billion in overlapping Department of Justice grants for crime prevention police and victims services from more than 200 DOJ grant programs, and $3.9 billion in grants just in 2010.…
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