Coburn's Sobering Words

This morning, I listened to Dr. Tom Coburn explain his bail out vote on Tulsa talk radio station KFAQ. Coburn explained why he, perhaps the most fiscally conservative senator on the hill, voted for an admittedly unconstitutional and certainly too expensive bail out plan for the mortgage mess.

Tom Coburn has never been accused of having a lot of political finesse. He calls them like he sees them and he has called some wrong in the past. And, those wrong calls have hurt Oklahoma and Oklahoma's citizens. But, there has never been any doubt about his character and commitment to his principles. Tom Coburn believes that the United States economy is in such a serious state that it was necessary for him to abandon his principles to save the country from a Great Depression style failure.

Coburn is not a politician. He is a man of science and his scientific mind showed this morning in his KFAQ interview. He convinced me that his decision was based upon objective evidence and that he was willing to take the hit he is taking now to do what he thinks is in his constituents and the country's best interests. He quoted facts and figures that other politicians who voted against the bail out are not mentioning.

I was deeply concerned about the economy before I listened to Coburn this morning. I am now seriously frightened. If the information available to a U.S. Senator WHO IS NOT IN THE LOOP ON THE HILL is enough to make him cast a vote this out of character, then things are truly bad indeed.