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Jewish World Review Sept. 20, 2005 / 16 Elul, 5765 Censuring Coburn just bad Rx By Kathryn Lopez
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
"When I ponder our country and its greatness, its weaknesses, and
its potential, my heart aches for less divisiveness."
That's not just Joe Citizen expressing his frustration with the
partisanship of the U.S. Senate. That's Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla,
expressing his frustration during the first day of confirmation
hearings for President Bush's nominee for chief justice of the
Supreme Court, John Roberts. And although Coburn expressed a little
more emotion than a senator probably should — he was breaking down.
Coburn probably expressed something a lot of people were thinking —
as liberal interest groups pushed Democratic senators to insist that
Roberts was some kind of threat to "progress" and "freedom" in
America (in this case, usually code words for "abortion").
But the Senate is currently slated to clamp down on the Joe
Citizenry of Coburn. Senate rules currently allow those who practice
medicine, such as U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, to
continue to do so free of charge to their patients. Coburn wants
just enough to cover overhead and continue to serve his patients.
A Senate Ethics Committee ruling would have Coburn shut down his
medical practice by the end of September — citing a potential
conflict of interest in his profession as an obstetrician — or risk
censure by the Senate.
But censuring him is simply a bad prescription.
Coburn won't be shut down, however. He has insisted: "I'm going to
continue to practice medicine either way, one way or the other."
An obstetrician, Dr. Coburn ran for office last year, pledging that
he would continue to see patients — as I mentioned above, not to
make money (though wanting to collect enough to break even — handle
insurance, equipment costs, etc.), but to better serve his
constituents. In a recent letter published on his Web site,
www.coburn.senate.gov), Coburn wrote, "I made this pledge at nearly
every campaign stop not merely because I wanted to keep practicing
medicine, but because I believed maintaining my connection with the
real-life needs and concerns of my patients and neighbors would make
me a better senator."
As Coburn argues, his model of citizen legislator is something the
Founding Fathers would endorse. He believes that his "unique
relationship with (his) patients is exactly what our founders had in
mind when they envisioned a government of the people." For an
obstetrician to completely surrender his practice for the duration
of his Senate term would put him at a severe disadvantage — making
going back to doctor after his time in D.C. all the more arduous.
This is not something the founders would approve of, Coburn argues.
Further, besides letting down his constituents, who elected him as a
citizen legislator knowing he intended to practice medicine, he
would be letting down his patients — for no good reason. As Coburn
told the Ethics Committee, "I am currently caring for many high-risk
patients including some who have multiple sclerosis and other
debilitating conditions." Coburn wrote, "I simply cannot abandon
those patients. I trust that the committee can imagine how abruptly
terminating my practice would violate my medical ethics."
Coburn being a doctor really shouldn't be a problem. Others have
done double-duty, including a New York senator early in the 20th
century (Royal Copeland), who played a key role in founding what
would become the Food and Drug Administration. And is whether Coburn
delivers some babies really something the Senate needs to concern
itself with? Coburn served in the House of Representatives from
1995-2001 and remained Dr. Coburn all the while. (He did right by
his term limits pledge, by the way, leaving when he did.) As
senator, he pledges to spend 60-70 hours a week on Senate work.
In a Senate where the Majority Leader himself is a doctor — a heart
surgeon — the Ethics Committee crusade to shut down Coburn's
practice is particularly odd.
And in a Washington where the president's first Supreme Court
nominee has been criticized for supposedly not having enough "real
world" experience, isn't Dr. Coburn exactly what the doctor ordered?
But Coburn is considered in some circles to be a troublemaker, a
maverick freshman. He doesn't always play by the party rules.
Between serving in the House of Representatives and running for the
Senate, Coburn did a very impolite thing for Washington, D.C.: He
wrote a book expressing his disdain for the way the city works
("Breach of Trust").
Books or no books, however, Lott and Majority Leader Frist should
put the kibosh on the unnecessary, unhealthy Ethics Committee fight
against Coburn.
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