Coburn Trying to Strip FutureGen Earmark

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Looks like Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) reads TPMDC … he’s now threatening to hold up progress on the stimulus bill today until Democratic leaders allow a vote on 15 of his amendments limiting funding in the bill.

And at the top of Coburn’s list is the $2 billion in funding for a “near-zero emissions” coal plant — money that could go straight to FutureGen, the Illinois-based “clean coal” project that the Obama administration had said it would keep out of the stimulus.

Coburn’s office has rustled up yet another reason to put the brakes on the FutureGen cash: impeached former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) has lavished hundreds of thousands of dollars on lobbyists to restart the cash flow to the project since the Bush administration canceled FutureGen funding one year ago.

It’s unclear as of now whether Coburn’s threat will win him a vote on the FutureGen amendment, but we’ll keep you posted.

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