The headline makes you chuckle when know Dr. Coburn.  The only thing I could find wrong with the article was at the end when the author talked about Dr. Coburn putting reelection last.  We just elected him in 2010 for six more years.  When he ran for Senate in 2004, he said he would serve two terms and then retire so re-election for Dr. Coburn is not a thought.  It wouldn't make any difference if he was up for re-election, he would do the same thing.

We could use a lot more Dr. Coburn's in the Congress who put the Country first -- wouldn't be a bad idea to include the occupant of the White House on putting America first instead of his reelection.  Coburn has a 100% conservative rating but it is not good enough for some conservatives because horror of horrors he actually will work across the aisle for the benefit of America.  That is not a novel idea but it is one that has been missing for awhile from some of the hard headed people on both sides. 

This is my favorite part of the excerpt from the NY Times:

Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma was a Tea Partier long before the movement even had a name, the family physician who came to Washington to hammer on Democrats and Republicans alike.

Some people have asked why Oklahoma doesn't have a large Tea Party movement -- it is because we were the conservative grassroots here long before the Tea Party became the name of the day.  We are the ones who sent Dr. Tom to DC to hammer on both parties and their runaway spending.

In 2004. Dr. Coburn was joined by the Oklahoma grassroots to take on the GOP/Bush establishment candidate in the Republican Primary.  Heard the news he was getting in the race on the radio on my way to a Republican Women's Meeting.  His establishment opponent in the primary was going to be at the meeting.  When I told his aide that I heard on the radio Dr. Coburn was getting in the race, the candidate overheard and gave me a snarky reply filled with arrogance.  Next morning, I called the Coburn office and offered to do what I could to help him win.

In the end the establishment candidate showed his arrogance at a meeting which in turn tanked his campaign.  Dr. Coburn won the primary without a runoff, and he beat the Democrat pretending to be Conservative in the general.  Great day for Oklahoma and America when Oklahomans sent Dr. Coburn to the Senate to do exactly what he is doing.

Tom Coburn: Lady Gaga of Fiscal Conservatives

James Joyner · Sunday, July 24, 2011

If a crisis over the national debt is averted, Oklahoma’s Tom Coburn may be the unlikely hero.

NYT: “A Rock-Solid Conservative Who’s Willing to Bend”

Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma was a Tea Partier long before the movement even had a name, the family physician who came to Washington to hammer on Democrats and Republicans alike. His years of bill blocking earned him the nickname Dr. No.

Now that the debt limit negotiations between the White House and Republican lawmakers have collapsed, however, Mr. Coburn suddenly seems more like Dr. Probably. Months after he abruptly exited the so-called Gang of Six, a bipartisan group of senators in search of a solution to the nation’s increasing deficits, Mr. Coburn reappeared last week, saying he supported the group’s path. 

With that, he advocated revenue raising as a way to break the stalemate over the budget deficit, embroiling him in a verbal war with Grover Norquist, the activist responsible for the antitax pledge taken by so many Congressional Republicans. Mr. Coburn said Mr. Norquist“represents the silliness of our political situation today.”

And so Mr. Coburn, a Republican and one of the longest-standing deficit hawks on Capitol Hill, finds himself on a divergent path from the Tea Party newcomers whose spirit and politics he shares but whose means he is at odds with. It is a divide that underscores just how intractable the spending debate has become. 

But please don’t call him a moderate. “I have a 100 percent conservative rating,” Mr. Coburn, 63, said in an interview in his Senate office. “I’ve offered more ways to cut the government than anybody in the last 30 years in Congress. I know who I am and I know what I believe.” 

His conservative views were underscored Friday night when he issued a statement praising John A. Boehner, the House speaker, for holding out for more spending cuts. “Raising the debt limit without addressing the cause of our debt — out-of-control spending, especially in entitlements — will be as damaging as a default,” he said. 

Last week, Mr. Coburn presented his own plan to cut $9 trillion from the federal government over the next decade — far more than others have proposed — in a manner that would radically reduce government services but also produce $1 trillion in new tax revenues. 

President Obama invoked Mr. Coburn in his weekly radio and Internet address on Saturday, saying: “Earlier this week, one of the most conservative members of the Senate, Tom Coburn, announced his support for a balanced, bipartisan plan that shows promise. And then a funny thing happened. He received a round of applause — from a group of Republican and Democratic senators.” 

Mr. Coburn is known for objections that delay votes on bills for days, infuriating even his fellow Republicans. Yet he almost always strikes a deal eventually, as was the case recently with his plan to end ethanol subsidies. ”I’m contrarian,” he said. “I’m not much of a partisan. I go after Republicans as much as Democrats.” 

Mr. Coburn said that the 87 freshmen Republican House members are “the most wonderful thing to happen to our country in a long time,” and that they “are a fantastic addition to the debate in this country.” But he also talked about balancing the passion for ideas with the need to get on board with things you dislike in part, even sometimes in large part. ”The No. 1 thing people should do in Congress is stay true to their heart,” Mr. Coburn said. “But you have to recognize that we’re in a situation that’s dire for our country. If you put your name on something that will move the ball forward, you’re going to get hit.” 

[...] 

"Tom Coburn is very, very conservative,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate. “He is a true believer, but he is one who can see the other side, which is not the case with what is going on in the House right now.” 

Mr. Coburn, who served on the president’s fiscal commission and then the Gang of Six, walked out of the group’s talks this spring over his request for $130 billion more in Medicare cuts than others had proposed. His exit devastated the other members, particularly the Republicans who needed his backing. 

When he saw the group’s presentation last week, he felt that it was no panacea for ending the impasse over raising the federal debt limit, but was the right start. ”My idea with the Gang of Six was to try and get something moving,” Mr. Coburn said. “Is it my ideal? Absolutely not. It is a compromise? Yes. Will it go a long way toward helping us get off the dead center? Yes. If I had my pleasure and I was king, we would lower revenues. But I’m not king. So that’s where I am.”

All emphases above added by author.

Coburn is way more socially conservative than I am and probably even more hard core on fiscal policy. But he’s smart, fairminded, and willing to adjust to the landscape around him. He’s also got his priorities in the right order: country, political principle, party, and re-election.

Source:  Outside the Beltway

Dr. Coburn's remarks on the Freshman Republican Congressman are so true.  This is not normal times and they have to be willing to listen and make those hard decisions that may not be the most popular but that will be good for the Country.

Too many people get caught up in ideology and forget sometimes you have no choice but to compromise for what is good for the whole Country.  We don't send people to Congress to only represent one group -- they are there to represent all their constituents and too many times that has been lost.  There are some Democrats who will only answer mail from supporters.  I would hope Republicans are doing a better job in answering mail and listening to their constituents.  NOTE that I said listening and did not say they had to take their advice.

What galls me in the NY Times article are the comments by Sen Schumer after the Republicans have just gone through four years of having bills rammed through the Congress especially the previous two where you had to pass a bill to read it according to Pelosi:

"Tom Coburn is very, very conservative,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate. “He is a true believer, but he is one who can see the other side, which is not the case with what is going on in the House right now.” 

Under Pelosi for two years, most of the times Republicans were shut out of Committee meetings and not allowed to speak about bills the Democrats rammed through or even see the bills before they were passed.  Goes to show you that Shumer doesn't want to admit what got us to this point -- runway spending by the Democrats who rammed everything through but didn't have time to do a budget as they were getting us further in debt.  Schumer has a habit of sticking his foot in his mouth and this is one of those.

The fact Dr. Coburn will go after Democrats and Republicans on spending is what common sense conservatives will do when they see overspending or new programs that are not needed on both sides.  Republicans contributed to the runaway spending under President Bush but then a lot of it came after 9/11 which Democrats like to conveniently forget.  There were programs under President Bush that we thought were unnecessary and too expensive.  Now it looks like a drop in the bucket compared to the last four years -- first two when they controlled Congress with President Bush and especially the last two under Obama when the deficit became a runaway freight train.   Democrats with Obama just threw money everywhere they thought there might be votes in the future.  No thought was given to the deficit or to actually doing a budget.

Take the FAA fiasco with not yet extending their budget for the 21st time since September 2007 which happened when the Democrats were in charge of the Congress.  Now FAA is furloughing employees as the House and Senate have not agreed on their budget as it is conference committee.  Some airlines took advantage of no taxes to up their fares.  Will the FAA logjam finally break tomorrow?

Will Congress do the job they are sent to do instead of all this posturing to score points as they are sent there by the American people to work for us not grandstand.  This is one more fail on the part of Obama as his partisan attacks on Republicans finally bit him hard as he is no longer a part of negotiations.  With his anger visible his press conference Friday night when he attacked Republicans, he showed he is not able to handle when someone has the nerve to stand up to him as he let his anger show to the White House Press Corps.  Bad trait out of a President and someone who needs sent to the unemployment line in 2012.