Coburn on Exec. Privilege: Dems Repeating GOP MistakesWhile Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) hasn’t “expressed a specific opinion yet on this latest development,” according to spokesman John Hart, the White House-Senate Judiciary Committee showdown over the U.S. Attorney firings puts him in mind of GOP blunders with the Clinton administration. It would be better for the Democratic majority to focus on government waste than “witch hunts,” in Coburn’s view. Says Hart:
“Recall that Dr. Coburn is perhaps the only Senator who called for Gonzales’ resignation to his face so he can’t be dismissed as an administration apologist. He would rather see the Majority engage in waste hunts rather than witch hunts. If Congress spent a fraction of the time it spends on political oversight on real, objective oversight of agencies we could save the taxpayers billions of dollars every year. Also, if the Majority wants to set the standard for openness and transparency they should follow Senator Obama’s lead and disclose their special interest pork-barrel requests.
He continued:
“Democrats shouldn’t make the mistake Republicans made during the Clinton years when our party obsessed about the White House while spending exploded, waste went unchecked and conflicts of interest developed that eventually landed members in jail. The Democrats’ feigned outrage about this subpoena is more of the same short-term approach to ‘oversight’ that has far more to do with fundraising than improving government.”
As it stands so far, no Democratic member of the House or Senate judiciary committee has yet sold his or her house at way above market value to a defense contractor, or has been indicted for laundering money in an election scheme, but it’s food for thought nonetheless.
