GOP SENATOR TOM COBURN RECEIVES MY: "HYPOCRITE OF THE YEAR AWARD"

It is becoming apparent that to be a member of the GOP, you must swear to an "Oath of Hypocrisy".

...Oaklahoma Senator, Tom Coburn

To be fair, I had never really paid much attention to the Oklahoma Senator until I heard his cross examination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor at her Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Everyone then got to see the video of the cross examination as it was shown for days on cable TV when the senator made fun of the judge´s Latino heritage. The so called "fun-making" occurred when the senator mimicked the voice of Ricky Ricardo from the 1950s television show, I Love Lucy, when he told the judge that "You have lots of 'splainin to do!". This comment was made as he was questioning the judge about her position on gun laws.

I was then again made aware of Senator Coburn when it was made public that he was the person that help negotiate the pay-off deal between Senator John Ensign (R-NV) and the Senator´s mistress and her husband, both former employees of the Nevada senator.

At first, Senator Coburn swore that he did not help the senator from Nevada. But later he changed his story and said that being a medical doctor, the discussions between him and Senator Ensign were confidential conversations between a doctor and his patient. At that time Senator Coburn stated that he would, "Never divulge any comments or information regarding the dealings between Senator Ensign and the other parties."

However, since making that statement, Senator Coburn has recently stated how stupid Senator Ensign was in his dealings with his previous mistress and her husband.

So much for swearing to not discuss this so called "privileged information".

Now, weeks later, the popular Internet Blog, "Buzz-Flash.net" has awarded Oklahoma Senator Coburn the "GOP Hypocrite-of-the-Week" award for his blocking a $9 billion bill to extend American jobless benefits for 30 days.

Now, Senator Coburn says that "very few people will be affected by his blocking of the unemployment benefits bill". However, his blocking halts benefits to 200,000 unemployed Americans just this one week. (And I´m sure many of these people are already living from benefit check to benefit check.) And this is the same single senator that last year held up a Veterans benefit bill that aided health care givers of American veterans returning home after fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

For these and the following reasons, I have decided to change the Buzz-Flash award to the "GOP Hypocrite of the year" award.

First, let´s see why Senator Coburn says he is blocking the unemployment benefits bill. His explanation is that "the bill isn´t paid for". In fact, he says he will "block any future bills that aren´t totally paid for". Too bad that´s not how he has felt in the past.

In 2005 and in 2006, Senator Coburn voted yes on war supplemental bills that totaled over $180 billion, none of which were paid for.

But when questioned as to why he voted for the 2005 war supplemental bill that wasn´t paid for, his explanation was that "he was new to the senate back then". Apparently, his explanation is that he didn´t really understand the senate´s voting circumstances.

But if that´s the case, then what happened when he voted "yes" for the same bill in 2006, which also wasn´t paid for…….?

And then the senator voted "yea" for Bush´s trillion dollar tax cut bill, which of course, wasn´t paid for.

He later voted "yes" on the Bank Bail-Out Bill. And you guessed it.....it wasn´t paid for.

But when the "Pay-As-U-Go" bill was introduced by the Democrats which required that all future bills must have provisions that showed how the bills would be paid for, this Republican Senator from Oklahoma, that says he won´t vote for bills that aren´t paid for…….voted "NO" on the "Pay-As-U-Go" bill ……..????

And for more hypocrisy, during the health care reform debate, Senator Coburn was recorded as saying untrue things like "This bill will cause people to die sooner than they normally would."

Senator Coburn has also made a disgusting comment that it would have been better if a Senator from the opposition would have happened to get deathly sick and die so that they would not have been able to vote yes on the health care bill.

Yes sir, perhaps "GOP Hypocrite of the year" should actually be increased to "of the Decade". But then again, there are also many more Republicans that could qualify for that extended award.

And then there´s Senator Coburn being an active part of Washington DC´s "C Street" scandal.

As of today, a Washington watchdog group has now filed a complaint accusing as many as eight members of Congress (including Senator Coburn) of paying below-market rent to live in the "C Street House".

This DC address is of a Capitol Hill townhome that is well-known for its connection to two recent political sex scandals of Senator John Ensign and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford.

The DC watchdog group is known as the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). They have filed complaints calling for investigations with both the House and Senate ethics committees.

The allegations center on the C Street House, which is just a few blocks from the Capitol. The highly secretive home is run by a religious organization called The Fellowship and it counts several prominent Christian lawmakers from both parties among its residents.

CREW, is citing a recent report pegging the lawmakers' rent at less than $950 per month. The report claims that this is well below market rates of at least double that for similar apartments in the same Capitol Hill area. Of course, the Fellowship residents deny the allegations.

CREW Director, Melanie Sloan, has said that such discounted lodging would count as a prohibited political gift. "It's a clear violation of the rules," she said.

The only exceptions would normally be if the lawmakers were having their expenses provided by a personal friend or if they were benefiting from "personal hospitality." Sloan repeatedly has stated that neither is the case. "It's considerably below market pricing, particularly when you add in the provided housekeeping services," she said, questioning the exclusivity of the location. "In addition, you have to be invited," she stated, and only Fellowship Members have been invited.

The complaint currently names Senators´ Sam Brownback, (R-KA); Tom Coburn, (R-OK); Jim DeMint, (R-SC); and John Ensign, (R-NV), as well as Representatives. Mike Doyle, (D-PA); Heath Shuler, (D-NC); Bart Stupak, (D-MI); and Zach Wamp, (R-TN). However, not all of the lawmakers still live at the C-Street house.

Coburn spokesman John Hart told the FOX Network that the CREW complaint was bogus, but no proof was provided. However, it has been established that in that area it is not uncommon for rental fees for similar housing to be between $3000 and $4000 per month because of its proximity to the capitol.

The C-Street connection to the Ensign scandals as well as that of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford was brought into the public spotlight last year after both politicians confessed to extramarital affairs.

Sanford, who had previously lived at C-Street, had reportedly gone to the home to seek guidance from the other Christian Fellowship members living there. The home was also reportedly the site of the 2008 meeting between Senator Ensign and the husband of the staffer with whom he was having an affair. This is where Senator Coburn reportedly acted as the mediator for that meeting.

Yes sir, it does appear that Senator Tom Coburn has rightfully more than earned the Buzz-Flash award for blatant political hypocrisy, but only for a week? I don´t think so.

Copyright G.Ater 2010

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