Cynical Nation

Yesterday I bitched about Tom DeLay and other House Republicans ludicrously claiming to be fiscal conservatives while spending tax money like a drunken Kennedy. I did, however, point out the Jeff Flake and a few others still carry the lonely banner of fiscal restraint.

Today I'd like to point out that the Senate has some heroes as well -- chief among them, Tom Coburn and John McCain.

Sen. Tom Coburn, playing his familiar role of skunk at the Sunday school picnic, is arguing that massive federal spending in the wake of Hurricane Katrina must entail some sacrifice. By that he meant the pork so dear to his colleagues. That has evoked an icy response, not only from Congress but from the White House as well.

Coburn, a freshman Republican from Oklahoma, telephoned Joshua Bolten, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to ask support for $15.3 billion in offsets based on the administration's own proposed terminations and spending reductions. Bolten politely informed the senator that the administration's hands were full dealing with Katrina's aftermath.

Coburn told me he did not blame Bolten but his superiors. The superior he meant was George W. Bush.

On the Senate floor last week as the emergency Katrina bill was passed, Coburn declared: ''I am disappointed in our president for not bringing forward with this bill recommended spending cuts that would easily be achieved in the discretionary budget of this country to pay for the disaster assistance.'' Citing calls for ''sacrifice'' by Americans, he declared that ''it is no sacrifice on the part of Congress to steal $51.2 billion from our grandchildren.''
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When Congress was called back before Labor Day to pass a $10 billion first installment, Coburn on Sept. 1 declared Congress should ''make budget sacrifices of its own if we expect the American people to do the same.'' On Sept. 6, Sen. John McCain, a longtime anti-pork crusader, joined Coburn's effort. They declared: ''Members of Congress should, at least temporarily, deny themselves a few of the comforts of political office.'' But there has been no word of support from Republican leaders or the administration.

The $15.3 billion in OMB proposed cuts is just the beginning of the Coburn ''sacrifices.'' He would cut into $27 billion of spending earmarked by individual senators and House members in this year alone. As chairman of the Senate subcommittee on federal financial management, he has found $41.5 billion in government overpayments because of poor accounting practices, $1.2 billion in an ''over-priced'' renovation of United Nations headquarters, $18 billion in General Services Administration middle-man fees and $46 million in cost overruns at the Securities and Exchange Commission.