Pirate's Cove

For shame, Mr. Coburn, for shame. Two stories, the first from The Hill

The feud between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) flared up again Wednesday over Coburn’s objection to a bill protecting sharks.

The shark legislation, which deals with a prohibition on the harvesting of shark fins, was one of several bipartisan bills intended to protect wildlife that drew objections from Coburn on Wednesday.

Reid called for unanimous consent, Coburn said “hell, no” over some really good legislation which would protect sharks, otters, and other sea creatures. And from USA Today

A letter from two senators is the only thing blocking congressional approval of a decade-long effort to build a women’s history museum in the nation’s capital.

Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Jim DeMint, R-S.C., have placed a “hold” on a bill that would sell land near the Smithsonian Institution for the National Women’s History Museum. A “hold” is a Senate practice that prevents bills from passing with unanimous consent — and implicitly threatening a filibuster.

He must be a misogynist or something, to go with his animal hating ways. But……not so fast

(the sharks issues) “The problems that are facing this country are so big and so massive that our attention ought to be focused on those large problems, not on five separate bills that have been proffered for special interest groups.”

Coburn said the bills would add to the federal deficit at a time “when our economy is languishing because we continue to grow the federal government.”

Oh.

(women’s museum) The senators say their concerns are financial: Though the museum would pay fair market value for the land, the group has raised little money. And they said the new institution would duplicate more than 100 similar museums — some of which already get taxpayer subsidies.

Abortion politics are also in play: The senators’ action came two days after the Concerned Women for America, a conservative group, wrote DeMint asking for a hold. The group’s CEO, Penny Nance, wrote in July that the museum would “focus on abortion rights without featuring any of the many contributions of the pro-life movement in America.”

Um huh. Coburn even wrote a letter to Mitch McConnel about his intentions. The cost would have only been about $124 million for the sea critters bills, but, $50 million would have gone overseas. Interestingly, Coburn introduced a bill, along with Rep Peter Roskam (R-Il),to stop Medicare and Medicaid fraud. It went nowhere. He also planned to introduce up to 9 pieces of legislation for unanimous consent, which include

1. Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution of the United States
2. Tax Hike Prevention Act of 2010
3. Tax cheats bill for members of Congress
4. Tax cheats bill for federal employees
5. The Earmark Transparency Act
6. Stop Secret Spending
7. Excluding Abortion Coverage from Health Reform Act
8. The Firearms Fairness and Affordability Act
9. Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act

Whether he was able to put them up for UC, we’ll have to see once Coburn’s website is updated, or when Thomas releases the daily digest, which will occur tomorrow.

Crossed at Stop The ACLU. Re-Change 2010!