If you haven’t realized it by now, I am a big fan of Senator Tom Coburn, the good doctor from Muskogee. I may be bragging a bit because he is one of the Senators who represents Oklahoma in Washington, but I think he speaks forthrightly and honestly about the issues facing our
country and what he believes needs to be done to stop the bleeding. To that end, he has been participating in discussions to reach an agreement in Congress to do just that, and he has caught no end of grief from different parties. In particular, he has been getting an earful from Grover Norquist, the President of Americans for Tax Reform. Norquist has taken it on himself to pressure most Republicans in Congress to sign a pledge, saying they will not consider raising taxes for any reason. While that seems like a noble and just cause, with all of our dislike for taxes, new and old alike, the man has taken that to an entirely new level.
If you know anything about Senator Coburn, you will know that he has one major pet peeve, namely the fact that our government is so adept at wasting it’s money. Above and beyond anything else, he chews on that bone and I believe he will continue to do so until he retires from the Senate at the end of this term. He is a firm believer that the waste and fraud in our government has to be treated seriously and taken care of, if we are to properly address the budget problems we are facing. His focus has been and continues to be on that. He has, however, let it be known that more revenue may have to be raised, in order to fully address the aforementioned budget problems. What he is trying to do is to place the focus on the wasteful spending first.
To that end, he has been sponsoring a bill in the Senate to remove the subsidies our government pays to ethanol producers. For those of you who are not aware, that subsidy/tax break amounts to $6 billion each year. Really now, that is but a very small drop in the very large bucket of our federal budget, but am I the only one who thinks it is the principle of the matter that counts? Why should our government continue to prop up an industry that seems to be doing just fine on it’s own, even if it’s product is a total sham and a total waste of corn. (For what it’s worth, corn was made to eat, not to power our automobiles.) Mr. Norquist has taken it on himself to publicly feud with Senator Coburn over this, saying it amounts to raising taxes and that he is going back on his pledge to not raise taxes, ever. Here is quote from a story on NPR.
“Coburn would like to make this some sort of fight with me, but that’s silly,” he says. “His commitment, which is to the people of Oklahoma, is that he wouldn’t vote for a tax increase. He’s basically told them, ‘I lied.’ “
For what it’s worth, I am from Oklahoma and I feel Tom Coburn is representing me just fine. In no way do I feel like he has lied to me and is going back on his pledge to not raise taxes. Here is a portion of what Coburn had to say.
Norquist insists that Coburn’s drive for a Senate repeal of a $6 billion annual tax break for ethanol was really a bid to raise taxes. Coburn says it was about ending a bad policy. It doesn’t matter what anybody else’s definition of that is,” Coburn says. “Stupidity is stupidity.”
I think it’s about time for more of our politicians to realize, just as Senator Coburn has realized, that stupid is stupid, no matter how it is dressed up. Our readers know full well that I am against raising taxes, especially before our spending issues are addressed, but I do not consider ending ethanol subsidies raising taxes. It is, as Coburn has tried to explain, bad policy, and it’s time things like that were given a very serious and closer look. Grover Norquist can stay stuck in the muddy and murky waters of his no new tax pledge if he wants, but that doesn’t change the facts. If that means I am to be considered a tax hike advocate, then so be it. I figure I am in good company with Senator Coburn.