Lunch with Senator Tom Coburn

[Terry Britton]

A friend who had lunch with Coborn had this to say:

He was invited to a small luncheon with Senator Coburn.

Remembered highlights:

He estimates that the US has 89 trillion in unfunded debt...that will have to be passed on to our kids. This is about $500,000 per man, woman and child.

China could sell their US debt and send interest rates sky high with a dangerous falling dollar. US debt to China limits our foreign policy and our ability to deal with China.

The Senate health bill was not written by Senator Ted Kennedy. Kennedy has been absent from the Senate for three months. The bill was written by his "Marxist" aid.

Senator Coburn in committee got the committee to vote that members of Congress will use the same Public Health Plan that they pass. Senator Cris Dodd said: "I would be crazy to accept this for me and for my family". Coburn said his amendment will likely will removed by the Democratic leadership in the final Senate Bill.

The Senate Health Bill was not published by the Democratic leadership to avoid exposing the bill to public ridicule. The Bill will be published when Congress convenes.

The Senate has the votes to change the Senate rules and pass any health bill they like but it remains uncertain what they will do. Either they will pass no bill or they will pass a watered down bill and call it a "victory".

Most US Senators know very little about how the health care system works.

Democracies usually last only about 200 years someone said and then they then asked if it was too late for America?

Senator Coburn said America is a very special place and he thinks we can still turn America around. He is encouraged by all the recent interest of ordinary people in what is happening in Washington.

[Roger Perry]

Senator Coburn in committee got the committee to vote that members of Congress will use the same Public Health Plan that they pass. Senator Cris Dodd said: "I would be crazy to accept this for me and for my family".

I guess he would be crazy. Isn't the Congressional health plan subsidized by the government? He would be crazy to want to pay more for his and his family health care than he is paying now!

Maybe Obama should propose the same health care plan Congress has for all Americans.

[Pat G]

Terry,
My wife had the opportunity to ask our Rep a question at a town hall meeting we attended. She asked Rick Larson if he was familiar with house bill HR2520, Coburn is one of the co-sponsors and what he thought about it. Larson responded he knew nothing about it, but promised he would read it. I think Coburn makes way to much sense for alot of the DC crowd.
Pat

[Terry Britton]

Terry,
My wife had the opportunity to ask our Rep a question at a town hall meeting we attended. She asked Rick Larson if he was familiar with house bill HR2520, Coburn is one of the co-sponsors and what he thought about it. Larson responded he knew nothing about it, but promised he would read it. I think Coburn makes way to much sense for alot of the DC crowd.
Pat

That is because he is a physisian and concerned citizen first, and not a real politician. He tries to stick to the ethics that is required of his medical profession and not the ethics of political or legal professions.

If we required our representatives to be licensed professionals in fields that actually enforced normal ethics issues of lying, puffery, deciet, deflection of the truth, conflicts of interest, and so forth which are covered in "Organizational Theory, 8th Edition", we would have a much stonger representation in DC. Each representative could be prosecuted by their local proffesional board for violating ethical issues.

[Gerry Clinchy]

Maybe Obama should propose the same health care plan Congress has for all Americans.

It is my understanding that such an amendment was proposed and quickly quashed by the legislators

[Terry Britton]

It is my understanding that such an amendment was proposed and quickly quashed by the legislators

Tom Coburn actually got the amendment past the committee after I suggested that a "What is good for the goose, should be good for the gander" amendment should be added via twitter. We should watch for those that have the amendment removed, and write our senators to protect that amendment.

If you aren't on Twitter, it is the quickest and easiest way to reach these guys in DC. Just be sincere, polite, short, sweet, and expect it to be reviewable by the public.