Coburn to Colleagues: Here Are the Groundrules
H/T: Langley: Sen. Trainwreck is at it again. Yesterday he sent out a Dear Colleague letter explaining to his fellow Senators that he would object to the consideration of spending bills that do not fit certain basic criteria. For example, he will object when bills duplicate projects already in existence without defunding such projects. Sen. Coburn, it`s worth noting, was also one of only three Senators to oppose the recent minimum wage hike.
While seeming simple and obvious to the average American, a number of Senators (cough, Ted Stevens, cough) are likely to flip out over such “outrageous” criteria. As stated in the movie Contact, the first rule of government spending is never build one when you can build two. It has been precisely that mentality that has caused a nearly $9 trillion debt, and it is precisely the sort of restraints that Sen. Coburn is suggesting that are needed to reign in the out of control debt. It is about time that someone in Congress has stepped up to the plate to oppose Congress` habit of spending money like it`s water.
Perhaps even more important, Sen. Coburn set one of the criteria as spending having to fall within the Constitutional powers of Congress. Those long forgotten criteria will once again come back into play. Not only will such a policy drastically reduce federal spending, but it will also remind Senators that they are not entitled to do something just because it sounds like a nice thing to do. The Constitution, now only relevant in civics classes, will once again be applied to Congress as the Founders intended. How this will play out over the coming year is anyone`s guess, but it appears certain that the culture of Washington will be forced to change quite dramatically, and that is definitely a good thing.