50-to-1

Tom Coburn was in Oklahoma City today for a "town hall meeting".

Here's the story from the AP in The Oklahoman:

U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn defends bailout vote
By The Associated Press
Published: October 20, 2008

U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn rigorously defended his vote in favor of the economic rescue plan Monday as he faced hard questions at a town hall meeting in Oklahoma City.

Coburn, R-Okla., told a crowd at the Oklahoma City campus of Langston University that he would vote to same way "time and time again," remembering the failure of the country's leaders to act soon enough to head off the Great Depression.

Coburn said, like it or not, the country already "is in the midst of a recession" that would "probably last for several quarters." He said the bailout was needed to put money into the financial system so funds could be made available for lending to everyday citizens and to hopefully reduce job losses.

Some members of the audience at Langston expressed their displeasure with the bailout.

"We should have let it go. We should have let it fail," shouted one man.

"Your option is way too painful," Coburn said.

He said there was danger that a without the bailout, the nation's economy could have dipped to its level in 1960.

"How many of you think you'd still have a job?" he asked.

"We got the best deal we could and it stunk," he said of the bailout. He said his mail, e-mails and telephone calls from constituents are running more than 50-to-1 against his vote.

Coburn, who is known for his conservative approach to funding issues, defended holding up bills to expand small business programs and other projects.

He said he would oppose such measures until Congress includes criteria to determine if the programs work.

Coburn said most federal programs are funded and reauthorized without adequate oversight by Congress.

"That's 80 percent of the federal government. They don't know what they are doing," he said.

On another subject, Coburn said he is "a good friend" of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, though he is a vigorous supporter of John McCain, the Republican nominee.

He called Obama "a good man" who "just has a different philosophy than I do."

Here's the comment I left at The Oklahoman's website:

Coburn was wrong to vote for the bailout and he is wrong to support Paulson, who should be fired. Paulson's armtwisting of healthy banks who don't need the government's help will make matters worse not better.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can't be reformed and should be closed: so long as they are around they will be in the sights of politicians who want to further their careers by promoting the fantasy of home ownership without responsibility.

And how can Coburn rail about pork - which makes up less than one percent of the federal budget - and say nothing about the out-of-control growth of Social Security and Medicare, which account for one-third of the federal budget?

All this scare-mongering about credit is nothing but an excuse for a power grab on an unprecedented scale, and Coburn is a willing accomplice. He knows nothing about free markets or principles and is no defender of Capitalism.

AND I posted the URL for Repeal the Bailout!

If you scroll down to the beginning of the comments section for the story in The Oklahoman, you can read a letter Coburn is sending to his constituents containing his excuses for his vote on the "economic stabilization legislation", a.k.a. the bailout.