‘A Fly In The Soup’: Coburn’s History Of Obstructing Medical Research
‘A Fly In The Soup’: Coburn’s History Of Obstructing Medical Research
On Monday, the Wonk Room reported on Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) stubborn insistence that the bipartisan President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief bill (PEPFAR) include a wasteful earmark mandating that “55 percent of the money go to treatment programs.” Speaking on the Senate floor, Coburn suggested that his insistence on restoring the mandate saved the PEPFAR program:
Maybe treatment wouldn’t have been eliminated but it would have taken a back seat… the commitment to treatment would have eroded over time and PEPFAR would have been like any other aid program.
But Coburn is no hero. Far from it. In his three years in the senate, Coburn has earned the reputation of “a fly in the soup,” abusing the senate’s hold privilege — a technique which allows senators to “object to bringing a bill or nomination to the floor for consideration” — to prevent “the Senate leadership” from bringing matters to a vote.
Remarkably, Coburn’s obstructionism has even led “senate aides to now take legislation directly to Coburn’s office” to ensure “he has no objections“:
Senate aides on both sides of the aisle now take legislation directly to Coburn’s office before moving forward to make sure he has no objections — whether he’s on the relevant committee or not. If he does, they often swallow their pride and make the changes he’s asking for.
Currently, “Coburn has holds on about 80 bills” which are “non-controversial, bipartisan bills that he just doesn’t like.” Here is a small sampling:
- Caroline Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Act (S.911): The bill, named “in memory of Caroline Pryce Walker, daughter of Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (R-OH), who succumbed to neuroblastoma in 1999 at age nine,” authorizes $30 million over five years, “to significantly increase federal investment into childhood cancer research.”
- The ALS Registry Act of 2007 (S.1382): Creates a single nationwide patient registry for incidences of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, to improve ALS research, disease management and the development of standards of care.
- The Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act (S.1183): The bill coordinates and collaborates paralysis research, prevents research redundancies and hastens the discovery of better treatments and cures.
- Stroke Treatment and Ongoing Prevention Act of 2008 (S.999): Amends the Public Health Service Act “to improve stroke prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation.”
Coburn argues that his holds make legislation “better” and claims that he is “not hard to deal with if you talk with us, but if you won’t talk with us, we are hard to deal with.”
This week, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) plans to “deal with” Coburn’s attention-seeking theatrics. According to the Crypt, Reid will “wrap most if not all of the bills held by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) into one large measure to be voted on by the Senate.”
The “broad popularity of the bills means that there would likely be more than enough support for veto-proof passage.”
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has often cited Congress’ low approval rating and has suggested that it is failing Americans. Will he vote against Coburn’s obstructionism?
Cross-posted in The Wonk Room.
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Yet another Reicher who hates science.
¶ AIO
July 16th, 2008 at 1:33 pmAnd we thought Jesse Helms was dead!
July 16th, 2008 at 1:39 pmI thought doctors took an oath to “first do no harm”. How is holding up funding for medical needs not doing harm?
Got a tip for ya, Tommy-Boy. Your Hippocratic oath says, “First do no harm.” Not “First do nothing.”
Your other oath says you will support and defend the Constitution against ALL enemies foreign and domestic. Remember that one, too.
Last thing, have that got that epidemic of lesbians using the high school bathrooms in Oklahoma fixed yet?
July 16th, 2008 at 1:42 pmWOW! It’s almost as if he’s overcompensating some sort of inferiority complex with power.
Whazzamatter Thommy? Took the nickname of Pee Wee to heart??
July 16th, 2008 at 1:51 pmNot really a “fly in the soup” so much as a skid-mark on the shorts.
July 16th, 2008 at 1:53 pmSpeaking of flies,…
Have you heard about the fly who sat down at a table at the fly resaurant and asked to see the shit list?
July 16th, 2008 at 1:59 pmGosh, there exist idiot Republicans of every flavour.
July 16th, 2008 at 2:03 pmAnd the fly waiter replied, yes sir, I recommend the Coburn 2006!
July 16th, 2008 at 2:14 pmWow! Oklahoma has Coburn AND Imhoffe. They must be SOOOO f’ing proud!
July 16th, 2008 at 2:19 pmupside ~ Former NFL great Steve Largent was in the Congress for a two year stint, but bailed after that. I’d imagine he just couldn’t stand the company from his poor damn state.
July 16th, 2008 at 2:24 pmA better question might be, will McCain bother to show up for the vote?
July 16th, 2008 at 2:24 pmOh, and upside, may I interest you in a bottle of the Coburn ‘06?
July 16th, 2008 at 2:25 pmdkxkee ~ Yeah, right. The odds of that happening are beyond calculation.
July 16th, 2008 at 2:25 pmRU,
I know, he could have run for Senate but decided he had enough mental punishment, having to try to defend those two idiots in the Senate.
July 16th, 2008 at 2:33 pmForgot this, huh Dr Coburn?
I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.
I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.
I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.
I will not be ashamed to say “I know not,” nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient’s recovery.
I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.
I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person’s family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.
I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.
I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.
If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.
July 16th, 2008 at 2:45 pmWe already know Sen Coburn forgot this one:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.
July 16th, 2008 at 2:47 pmWill he vote against Coburn’s obstructionism?
Nope. He won’t make it in time to vote on anything between now and November.
July 16th, 2008 at 2:58 pmWhich at this point is probably a good thing.
July 16th, 2008 at 2:59 pmJebus. I swear, I hate these evil morons. All of them.
July 16th, 2008 at 2:59 pmCoburn is like a dumber version of Frist when Billy said he diagnosed Terry Shiavo from a video tape. Neither of those asreholes deserve to be called Doctor of Medicine, just scumbags.
July 16th, 2008 at 3:14 pmAnd another wacky Okie, James Inhofe thinks attention to global warming is a trick by the Weather Channel to raise ratings.
July 16th, 2008 at 3:18 pmCoburn was slammimg down beers at a local bar last week and a fly just kept pestering him, buzzing around his head, landing on his arm. Coburn got annoyed and said to his buddy, “Man, this fly is treating me like shit,”
Friend nodded, “Hard to fool them flies.”
July 16th, 2008 at 5:00 pmCoburn’s “holds” are honored, but not Chris Dodd’s (on the FISA bill). Who’s in charge, here?
July 16th, 2008 at 6:20 pmIf one person can bring the process to a halt, how is this a democracy? Our system is so broken.
July 16th, 2008 at 7:12 pmCurrently, “Coburn has holds on about 80 bills” which are “non-controversial, bipartisan bills that he just doesn’t like.”
[...]
This week, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) plans to “deal with” Coburn’s attention-seeking theatrics. According to the Crypt, Reid will “wrap most if not all of the bills held by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) into one large measure to be voted on by the Senate.”
How is it that Reid has allowed this one Senator to obstruct so much legislation while refusing to honor Senator Dodd’s hold on the FISA bill earlier this year, arguably the most important piece of legislation to cross the Senate floor in recent memory.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
July 16th, 2008 at 9:59 pmFu(king Okies…can we just purge that wasteland of a state. Lets hope a big tornado takes out both Coburn and Inhoffe.
July 16th, 2008 at 11:41 pmAwe shucks lets all just get pissed off!
Have you ever wondered why is it this one Republican Senator could hold up so many bills many want to see enacted and we on the left wanted one bill held up no force on heaven or earth could accomplish that? Damn, if only Coburn felt like we did FISA never would have seen the light of day. How is that?
Am I mistaken in the fact that 60 votes could get any one of these bills moving again?
July 17th, 2008 at 1:21 amWhy does Colburn hate medical research? Instant Karma is going to get him.
July 17th, 2008 at 8:26 am“Theatrics” is a great way of describing Colburn’s behavior. These Republics, they are all such children.
July 17th, 2008 at 8:30 amThese incompetents ran for office because they were not qualified as doctors. Kind of like McCain who downed 5 planes. They got the degree but not smart enough to do the job.
July 17th, 2008 at 8:37 amThey never take into consideration that in this country we have a COMPULSORY education system whereas in other cetcountries students are subjected to a series of exams to determine if they are to continue on an academic track.Bedava mp3 indirLook around the world. Many countries are being way more sucessful than we are at both taskssohbet.
April 16th, 2009 at 10:39 pm