Sen. Tom Coburn tells Newsmax that Delaware Republican Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell would “bring a lot to the table” to combat the “stupidity that goes on in Washington.”
The Oklahoma Republican, who considers himself a friend of President Barack Obama, also says Obama is a partisan president who is still on “the campaign trail,” but can use all the help he can get from Republicans in running the country.
In an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV, Coburn was asked why the Democrats are stalling on bringing an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts to a vote.
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“I think the reason they don’t want to vote on them is because they know the American people want them extended,” says Coburn, who was elected in 2004.
“Nobody should be raising taxes in a soft economy like we have now.
“We should concentrate on what the real problem is, which is not revenue, it’s spending — [including] $350 billion a year in fraud, abuse, and duplication. And you haven’t seen anything passed in Congress that would actually go after some of that.
“Nobody would agree that now is the time to limit capital investment and job creation, and in fact that’s what we’ll be doing if we raise taxes in this soft economy.”
Coburn believes no one can “reliably predict” if the GOP will take control of the House and Senate after the November elections. But he says it’s clear “the American people are now engaged. They’ve seen the waste. They’ve seen the stupidity. They’ve seen the lack of common sense coming out of Washington. They’re having to make hard choices themselves, but they’ve seen none of that happening in Washington.
“One of the reasons our economy is in trouble is that people don’t have much confidence in the future. So they’re looking for real leadership that will take on this nasty behemoth known as the federal government and start trimming it down.
“I think the elections are going to turn on who can best put forward what the American people really want. They’re afraid for the future and they want some grownups up here to start making the hard decisions, even though some of those hard decisions might have a small negative impact on them.”
Despite some early reluctance, Republicans are now fully supporting Christine O’Donnell’s run for the Senate in Delaware, says Coburn, who is backing O’Donnell and has offered to campaign for her.
“She’s not a career politician, and Washington is loaded with them,” he tells Newsmax.
“We have this sense of entitlement that we can decide who’s a good nominee and who’s not. The people of Delaware chose their nominee and our job is to back them.
“I think she’ll bring a lot to the table in terms of the common sense, everyday thinking of Americans about the stupidity that goes on in Washington.
“So I’m excited that she’s in the race, and my hope is that she will win and we’ll have another voice up here that’s based on common sense and not growing the government but rather shrinking it.
Coburn, who is a medical doctor, has been a sharp critic of Obamacare. But he doubts that Republicans can repeal the healthcare reform legislation “because the president would probably veto any bill that would repeal it.
“I don’t think we can totally repeal this until we have a different president.”
Asked about the impending departures of Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod, Lawrence Summers and others from the Obama team, Coburn observes that it is “not unusual” for White House insiders to leave after two years of an administration.
But he adds: “The real problem the president has is he has very few people with real world experience in the economy and our country advising him. That’s why the policies have been such a failure.
“I think there are a lot of competent individuals that can take those individuals’ place and probably do a far better job.”
Obama described Coburn as “one of my Republican friends” when they served together in the Senate, and they remain friends today, Coburn says.
“I do consider him a friend. I adamantly disagree with his policies.
“In this world that we’re living in, with the threats to our country and our freedom and our future, what we need is people talking, not talking bad about each other but talking about the issues.
“My hope is that I can maintain a friendship with him so that I can at least give him my input and I can hear his. And I think he can use all the help he can get from Republicans in terms of running the country.
“I think the biggest problem has been he’s not ever come off the campaign trail, and he’s been a more partisan president in his words. We ought to put the partisanship aside and talk about the real issues.”
Healthcare was a “fundamental debate” in this country, yet it was “carried out in a very partisan manner that did not allow good input from our side,” says Coburn. “We didn’t develop consensus, we developed partisanship.”
Coburn was elected to the U.S. House in 1994 but kept a campaign vow and left office after serving three terms. He favors term limits for all members of Congress.
“We need term limits,” he declares. “We need to limit the amount of time people serve up here, and we need people with real experience, real world exposure, to come here and make a difference.
“We’re going to get some of that this year, I think, and hopefully in 2012 we’re going to get more real Americans who aren’t career politicians coming up to serve this country.”
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