Reprinted from Today's News-Herald . The Oklahoman believes the federal government is too large and complains that Congress is cynically reneging on a promise made two years ago to restrain spending. And, as a physician, he argues that something must be done to restrain health maintenance organizations' power over medical decisions. In his zeal, he has earned the enmity of Democrats and Republicans alike. He has caused particular heartburn for his party's leadership and the appropriators with whom he has been skirmishing for much of his tenure on Capitol Hill.
Somebody has to be the villain.
I don't think I'm as much disliked as I'm kind of a pain in the rear. Coburn is a hero to the term limits movement. As a physician, Coburn in 1999 was asked by Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois to lead in drafting legislation to counter a largely Democrat-backed bill to give patients more clout in dealing with managed health care plans. Coburn and John Shadegg, R-Ariz., came up with a bill, but when it failed to win the GOP leadership's endorsement, they vowed to press forward. Even in the GOP Class of 1994, widely noted for its ideological zeal, Coburn stands out as a vehement defender of spending restraint.