Coburn Doesn’t Tire Of Fighting For Fiscal Responsibility
Coburn doesn’t tire of fighting for fiscal responsibility
by THE OKLAHOMAN EDITORIAL BOARD
RETIREMENT from the U.S. Senate did nothing to temper Tom Coburn’s interest in the affairs of Washington or his concerns about the future of this country. They’re as evident as ever today.
Coburn, who turned 70 in March, wrote a book last year called “Smashing the DC Monopoly” about the need for an Article V convention of the states, and has traveled the country promoting that idea. He touched on it again last week in an interview with Rick Santelli on CNBC in a discussion about federal spending concerns.
“The only ultimate strategy is to have a constitutional amendment that requires fiscal discipline from Washington, which means you’re going to use generally accepted accounting principles, which they never use,” Coburn said.
“And No. 2, give them a period of time where they have to balance the budget, then you have a supermajority of the states say, ‘Yeah, you can spend more money than that.’ That’s the only way we’ll ever control it. We have to have a structural change in how we spend money in Washington.”