Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) is a hero to the taxpayer even if most Americans don't know who he is. He has been driving Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Area 51) absolutely crazy by blocking nearly 80 spending bills the Democrats want to pass. Of course what happens in situations like this is that the majority party eventually rolls as many of the bills as possible into one gigantic hairball of spending called an "omnibus bill." Stuck in all that mess is usually so much "must-have" spending that the pressure gets terrific on the one or two senators standing up for accountability. Coburn is a rare breed and, quite often, our favorite Senator, Jim DeMint, is right there with him.
According to The Club for Growth blog, Reid's spending hairball is a "398-page, lard-stuffed, omnibus bill composed of more than 30 of those blocked bills. Preliminary estimates suggest that it authorizes over $11 billion in new spending...without any spending offsets. And it would create at least 36 new government programs." Included in this mess o' pork is $17 million for the Captive Primate Safety act-- essentially a ban on the interstate sale of monkeys. Now we love monkeys here. Our entire operation is built on a room full of monkeys throwing darts at a wall covered with stock tables. (Ssshhhhhh, that's called expert analysis you eeediot!-Ed.) But $17 Million might be extreme. Anyway, hang tough Senator Coburn. And give him a hand, Jim.
By the way, that cute little monkey up above? Whiplash the rodeo star. Check him out.
