As Garry Augustine, Executive Director of Disabled American Veterans Disabled Veterans, argued recently in the Wall Street Journal, the VA needs “more money – and a predictable funding stream – to do its job.” Augustine and others are right to fault Congress for not doing its job of setting priorities but a lack of funding is not the VA’s main problem.

The numbers show the VA has hardly been strapped for cash. Funding for the VA has gone up 57 percent since 2008. And at facilities where...]]> Mon, 23 Jun 2014 00:00:00 -0500 Now that the Affordable Care Act's subsidies have kicked in and millions have supposedly enrolled in exchanges, much is being said about Republicans backing away from repeal and replace. I would propose a more honest and accurate phrase about what comes next: rescue and recovery.

In both the executive branch and Congress, Americans witnessed an unwinding of the country's founding principles and of their government's most basic responsibilities. The rule of law gave way to the rule of rulers.

The good news, though, is our country is poised for not just a long-overdue recovery but an economic boom. Our global competitive advantage and our vast reserves of both energy and capital have us primed for another American century. What’s missing is leadership in Washington that has the courage and vision to turn our...]]> Fri, 24 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 (CNN) -- Millions of Americans have been shocked by the devastation caused by the tornadoes in Oklahoma. Having toured the area, it's impossible to put the scope of the damage in words. Not just homes but entire neighborhoods are gone.

Americans also may have been surprised to hear about a disagreement in Washington about delivering disaster aid to victims. The good news is this disagreement doesn't exist. No one in Washington is opposing delivering aid to victims. In fact, there is no aid bill for Oklahoma to even debate.

I agree with President Obama that sequestration's across-the-board rather than specific cuts are a "dumb" way to reduce spending. That is why I voted against the plan two years ago. But if sequestration is dumb, it's even dumber not to cut spending at all.

Cutting spending can be a powerful pro-growth strategy, but the outcome of sequestration depends on how the administration chooses to cut. Not all dollars are spent equally: The Obama administration's decision to...]]> Thu, 23 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0500 The more voters learn about Congressman Paul Ryan's leadership style and his thoughtful and creative approach to solving problems, the more they will decide that the Romney-Ryan ticket looks presidential and electable. That's why there has been a coordinated effort in recent days to ramp up not just the "Mediscare" rhetoric against Mr. Ryan, but to depict him as a partisan ideologue who was instrumental in derailing a grand bargain on the deficit. This line of attack is cynical and, most of all, false.

First, Paul Ryan didn't force President Obama to abandon the budget recommendations of his own 2010 deficit commission, known as Bowles-Simpson. Mr. Obama's decision to punt on...]]> Wed, 18 Jul 2012 00:00:00 -0500 "Both parties have equally participated in abandoning the limited role of the federal government," says Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma), whose new book, The Debt Bomb: A Bold Plan to Stop Washington from Bankrupting Our Economy, argues that Republicans and Democrats together have brought the U.S. to the brink of fiscal calamity.

First elected to the house in 1994 as part of the "Republican Revolution," Coburn is a staunch fiscal and social conservative, who's been outspokenly critical of members of his own party for compromising their principles out of political expedience. Coburn has publicly taken former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to task for lacking leadership and resolve during...]]> Tue, 19 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0500 President Obama’s claim that “the private sector is doing fine” is sure to be repeated over and over and over again the next few months. And the White House will continue to argue that the president’s comments were taken out of context. That’s missing the point. The context is the problem. The administration’s and Congress‘ misplaced faith in the power of government to solve problems and stimulate the economy is what is holding back our recovery.

In fairness, let’s look at the president’s whole statement: “The truth of the matter is that, as I said, we’ve created 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months, over 800,000 just this year alone. The private sector is...]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Where is the Senate?

Our country is facing the greatest threat to our freedom and future since 1941. Any honest view of our debt, deficits, size of government and demographic challenges shows we must make major changes if we are going to pass on the American way of life to our children. Each week seems to bring new warning signs: slower-than-expected growth (already as much as 25 to 33 percent every year, some estimate), higher-than-expected unemployment numbers, admonitions to get our act together from the international financial community.

Key elements of Ryan's plan would essentially turn Medicaid into a state-based block-grant program and apply a premium-support model to Medicare (for those now under 55).

"Social Security is a program that works, and it's going to be - it's fully funded for the next 40 years. Stop picking on Social Security," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) at the beginning of session on Meet the Press. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.), head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, echoed this message on...]]> Tue, 15 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0600 The President and Congress will never close our fiscal deficit until we close our leadership deficit. Our debt and deficit crisis cannot be solved without strong presidential leadership and this budget does not come close to reflecting the severity of the problems before us.

The only way to solve this problem is for the president and Congress to first educate the American people about the urgency of the problem, and then outline the shared sacrifices and hard choices that will be necessary to put us on a sustainable path. Everything has to be on the table. No one can protect their sacred cows. As a member of the President's Debt Commission, I voted to force Congress to at least...]]> Mon, 27 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0600 "The history of republics is they average 200 years of life. And they all fail in the history over fiscal matters. They rot from within before they collapse or are attacked," Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) told "Fox News Sunday."

However, the answer that emerged after former President Bill Clinton’s recent trip, which followed a chaotic non-debate about Haiti legislation in the Senate, is typical of election-year politics.  Our relief effort is stalled because one senator supposedly is single-handedly holding up our mission in Haiti.  That senator, of course, is Tom Coburn.

Our mandate, should we gain seats, will be simple: stop wasteful spending and slow the growth of government. Call it the contract to live within our means. Republicans can set three core priorities around this mandate that will bolster the party's credibility far beyond November.

First, Republicans should offset any new...]]> Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0500 The Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Elena Kagan provided key exchanges about the Commerce Clause, natural rights, and other issues that have convinced me to vote against her nomination. Based on her own testimony, she’ll violate her oath as soon as she’s sworn in.

The hearings, though, were not merely about Elena Kagan per se but about the political culture and philosophy that shaped her views. Her answers exposed profound flaws in the prevailing Big Government wisdom of the Supreme Court and Washington over the past few decades.

The public isn't buying these arguments. Four out of five Americans have little or no confidence in the bill, according to a Bloomberg Poll. Respondents also said the plan is more likely to help the financial industry than individual consumers, a fact that was confirmed by Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein during...]]> Mon, 24 May 2010 00:00:00 -0500 Last week's election results confirmed, if anything, that the mood of the electorate is decidedly anti-Establishment. Across America, candidates anointed by the Establishment - the president, congressional leaders, party leaders, etc. - are being taken out in places like Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Kentucky, West Virginia and Utah.

It was curious then that someone as adept as President Obama declined to reassure the public that he is on their side and eager to rein in both parties in an unpopular and out-of-control Establishment Congress. Instead, the president lashed out at his critics with party-line talking points. The president derided Republicans as the "just say no"...]]> Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 By U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D.

Congress's latest final push in its ideological crusade called health reform is shaping up to be an act of historic arrogance and deception. 

For months, the American people have been telling Congress to scrap the current bills. A recent CNN poll found that 7 in 10 Americans want Congress to start over on health care, or quit working on the issue altogether. Yet, the majority in Congress continues to march on in the face of overwhelming public opposition.   The American people have good reason to be concerned. The bill that may become law in a few days is not a collection of so-called fixes or compromises but the exact bill the Senate...]]> Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0600 Massachusetts voters sent Washington a clear message this week that they want members of Congress to change their behavior today – not after the next election, but today.  Also, the election was not a referendum on President Obama, health care, or any single issue per se, but on the size and scope of government. 

With the Senate set to vote once again to raise the debt limit – the amount the government can borrow – I intend to give my colleagues a chance to change their behavior by forcing the Senate to choose between raising the debt limit and cutting spending.  The logic of the choice is simple: Millions of families in America have to make hard choices.  So should...]]> Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0600 This vote is indeed historic. This Congress will be remembered for its arrogance, corruption and stupidity. In the year of 2009, a Congress ignored the coming economic storm and impending bankruptcy of our entitlement programs and embarked on an ideological crusade to bring our nation as close to single-payer, government-run health care as possible. If this bill becomes law, future generations will rue this day and I will do everything in my power to work toward its repeal. This bill will ration care, cut Medicare, increase premiums, fund abortion and bury our children in debt.

This process was not compromise. This process was corruption. This bill passed because votes were...]]> Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0600 I recently suggested that seniors will die sooner if Congress actually implements the Medicare cuts in the health-care bill put forward by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. My colleagues who defend the bill—none of whom have practiced medicine—predictably dismissed my concern as a scare tactic. They are wrong. Every American, not just seniors, should know that the rationing provisions in the Reid bill will not only reduce their quality of life, but their life spans as well.

My 25 years as a practicing physician have shown me what happens when government attempts to practice medicine: Doctors respond to government coercion instead of patient cues, and patients die prematurely....]]> Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600 Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 The day after White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's Clintonesque plan to triangulate and divide Republicans and doctors failed a major newspaper published this headline: "Democrats Lose Big Test Vote on Health Legislation." The title was so fair and balanced many media obsessed White House advisers could have attributed it to Fox News. Yet, it was the New York Times that captured in a well-written, fair and subtle story the depth of the challenge the White House faces in its push to enact major health care reform legislation.

As the Times reported, "[Majority Leader Reid] needed 60 votes to proceed. He won only 47. And he could not blame Republicans. A dozen Democrats and...]]> Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0500