Coburn: ‘Real Disappointed’ In Budget Deal
Sen. Tom Coburn can’t support budget deal
By Seth McLaughlin
Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican who serves as the Senate’s unofficial watchdog, panned the budget package that congressional negotiators unveiled that would restore some of the previously agreed-to spending cuts, force federal employees to pay more into their pensions and raises airlines fees.
Mr. Coburn said he is “real disappointed in the deal.”
“It is not anything I could support,” he said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “We are going to raise spending back up because the political powers that be want to spend more money rather than be responsible with what we know needs to be done up here, which is hard work eliminating all the stupidity, fraud and duplication that is going on.”
House and Senate budget negotiators — Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Patty Murray — outlined their compromise in a joint press conference Tuesday on Capitol Hill. The deal funds government programs through 2015, but does not address the long-term increases in mandatory spending, which automatically rises based on formulas.