Return of The Citizen Legislator: Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma Won't Give "Yes" For an Answer Because His Country Needs "No"

Mark Twain once observed, "There is no distinctly native American criminal class, except Congress." Today, in this era of horrendous budget deficits, even Twain would be stunned at the magnitude of untouchable fraud and waste perpetrated daily by politicians and government officials, all eager to strip the American wallet of every possible dime in their own selfish interest. And who stands against them?

A guy named Tom Coburn?

Wait a minute ... Wasn't he the guy who pissed off Congress by ranting about the infamous bridge to nowhere in Alaska. As George W. noted back as far back as 2006:

Coburn came to the nation's attention last October when he proposed taking the $223 million earmarked for Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere" and using it to repair a New Orleans bridge destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Because this threat to Alaska also threatened Congress's code of comity -- mutual respect for everyone's parochial interests -- his proposal lost by 67 votes. But rather than do the decent thing -- apologize, tug his forelock and slink away chastened -- he refused to stop talking about it, made it an embarrassment to the Senate and catalyzed revulsion against spending that is both promiscuous and parochial.

A lone warrior in a mire of corporate greed, soft money kick-backs, and home-grown sociopathology, Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and his staff struggle daily to restore some semblance of integrity to Congress. According to their estimates (which agree with mine), our government dedicates upwards of $300 billion per year to fraudulent and wasteful spending, i.e., enough money to build a fleet of spaceships and colonize the entire nation of Zimbabwe in lavish terra-domes on the planet Mars (minus Mugabe).

As I've said before, our government is like a morbidly obese human being, weighted to debilitation by an excess of budget fat resulting from a never-ending infusion of unneeded tax calories. Sure, the calories are good to a point, but once that point is passed, they only create layers and layers of pointless bureaucracy, and stagnant Treasury pools of money waiting to be pirated by the best and brightest. Arguably, the worst thing that ever happened to American government was income tax.

But, oh God, how can we live without it? Well, we've been conditioned my friend. If this government had a single accounting system that worked, if we had zero tolerance for reckless spending, if we stopped allowing the White House to facilitate the thievery, the average American could easily have his or her tax burden cut in half, or even more. Considering that the average American loses 40% or more of his or her income to taxes, is that such a bad idea?

Back to Senator Tom Coburn, also known as Dr. No because he says NO to all types of wasteful spending. Why? Because he understands that Congress is constantly earmarking money for programs and sprees that are not only pointless but often duplicated elsewhere. His yes-man enemies in Congress, like Nancy and Harry (of course), are attempting to end-run Coburn's tactics of delaying wasteful spending bills. Coburn, unlike most yes-woman and yes-man politicians in Congress, is not interested in doing favors to get ahead (he even imposed term limits on himself!), so he rejects earmarks without hesitation. Like any rational being, he understands the true costs. And unlike those without moral compass, he takes responsibility.

How dare he? What could make a politician more angry than a colleague who stands in contrast and in doing so reveals their perpetual complicity and hypocrisy?

According to The New York Times:

[Senator Coburn] said the Senate was shirking its duty by failing to give closer review to the hundreds of bills that slide through by unanimous consent. And he said Congress should not be clearing the way for billions of dollars in potential new spending — even on meritorious projects — without making reductions elsewhere. Fearful of the public debt piling up, he said he wanted the opportunity to at least propose those cuts.

You go Big Tom!

Clinton-appointed Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly Rejects FOIA, Sides With The White House, and Thereby Gives Democracy A Strong Slap in The Face

Anxious to avoid future criminal trials brought by a Justice Department not puppet-mastered by George Bush Jr., White House staff have been burning, losing, and generally destroying records of its wrong-doing. Stepping forth to assist them in this horrendous and thankless task is Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly (a favorite of former Chief Justice Rehnquist). Prior to her involvement, the White House office in question, the Office of Administration, had routinely responded to FOIA requests, that is until a request from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) wanted paperwork that might prove incriminating. And why? Because they were hot on the trail of millions of "lost" White House emails.

CREW argued that the Bush White House may have been covering up links to a lobbying scandal, alleged political influence at the U.S. General Services Administration and other problems by deleting the e-mail. White House staffers sometimes used outside e-mail accounts to conduct official business, CREW said in an April 2007 report. Rather than producing the requested materials, the Office of Administration quite suddenly reversed its decades-long policy of complying with FOIA requests.

Surprise!

According to Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director: "The Bush administration is using the legal system to prevent the American people from discovering the truth about the millions of missing White House e-mails," she said in a statement. "The fact is, until CREW asked for documents pertaining to this problem, the Office of Administration routinely processed FOIA requests. Only because the administration has so much to hide here, has the White House taken the unprecedented position that OA is not subject to the FOIA."

By splitting hairs with FOIA, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly was able to effectively dismiss the CREW lawsuit and thus deliver yet another blow to democracy in America.

How can we thank her enough?

After Years of Skimming, Stealing, and General Mismanagement, Governments Create Pension Fund Nightmare

It's spreading like a case of budgetary muscular dystrophy and it cannot be exaggerated. Local and state govs around the U.S. are floundering and vampirishly draining pension funds to cover for their mistakes, and in many cases, outright criminal behavior. And this has been going on a long time. The Washington Post reported just recently that both Maryland and the state of Virginia have "redirected" hundreds of millions per year out of employee pension funds and as a consequence are now avoiding a crisis created not only by their predatory behavior, but by the downturning economy. As the tide of wealth recedes, the hulls of old wrecks grow more visible, and the cries of denial must grow ever louder to compensate.

And further:

By their own assessment, state and local governments acknowledge that their funds for retiree benefits are increasingly falling behind, with the number that are severely underfunded soaring to 40 percent in 2006, a five-fold increase from 2000, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

From as early as 2006, as reported by THI :

• The City of San Diego was embroiled in its worst financial crisis ever, with an estimated pension deficit of $2 billion threatening to consume as much as one-third of the city's general fund. The city's failure to properly disclose pension liabilities prompted a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation and led to the suspension of the city's credit rating. So far eight former pension officials have been charged with criminal corruption by the U.S. Attorney's Office and state District Attorney's Office.


• In Illinois, taxpayers faced a pension deficit estimated at $38 billion--the worst in the nation.


• The state of West Virginia faced a $5.5 billion pension deficit and an additional $3.3 billion in unfunded workers' compensation liabilities--a total deficit nearly three times the state's annual $3.1 billion general fund budget.


• In California, the teachers' retirement system faces a shortfall of more than $24 billion, and the state's combined contributions to the public employees' and teachers' plans now exceed $3 billion per year.

Are we all going to bend over and take it in the ass as usual? I have zero love for bureaucrats, but even less for stealing.