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Former Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, a doctor-turned-lawmaker who annoyed Republican leadership in both chambers of Congress with his adherence to fiscal conservatism and opposition to politicians' pet spending projects, has died at 72.

Coburn's death was announced on Twitter by former Republican Rep. Zach Wamp of Tennessee, a House colleague in the class of 1994, whose rise to power on promises to slash federal spending and enact socially conservative policies ended Democrats' 40-year majority in the chamber. Coburn died Friday due to complications with cancer, according to the Oklahoman .

Coburn stood out in the House during his 1995-2001 tenure for his adherence to fiscal conservatism even while the Republican majority in which he served, led by House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, passed a series of big-spending budget bills. Coburn, in a 2005 C-SPAN interview, said his greatest regret in government was a House vote to reopen the federal government in early 1996 as part of a budget agreement with Democratic President Bill Clinton.

Like many Republican congressional candidates in 1994, Coburn ran on a term-limits pledge. But he actually meant it, stepping down after six years to return to the practice of medicine as an obstetrician.

Coburn joined the political fray again in 2004, running for an open Senate seat and beating an establishment-favored rival in the Republican primary. In the general election, he faced negative headlines over charges that 14 years earlier, he had sterilized a young woman without her permission. But the matter didn't stick politically, and Coburn won easily.

During an orientation for freshmen senators, Coburn struck up an unlikely friendship with an incoming Democratic colleague, Barack Obama of Illinois. The pair bonded over their distaste for some of the sillier political rituals needed to win high office. Coburn told reporters in 2004 that he had "a wonderful time with Obama during the orientation.

"I think I can work with him, Coburn said then.

Once in office, despite being ideological opposites, Coburn and Obama worked together when they could. They co-sponsored bills to ensure strict oversight of government aid for Hurricane Katrina victims and to require all government grants and contracts to be posted on the internet in a database. After Obama won the presidency in 2008, they maintained an open line of communication, frequently talking by phone.

And as he had in the House, Coburn proved a thorn in the side of Senate Republican leaders. In October 2005, he tried to block $453 million for two Alaska bridges that had been tucked into a recent highway spending bill, pushed by then-Sen. Ted Stevens, a Republican from the state who had served in the chamber since December 1968. Coburn wanted to redirect the money to the Interstate 10 bridge across Lake Pontchartrain, a major thoroughfare that was severely damaged during Hurricane Katrina less than two months earlier.

The gambit failed by a wide margin but set the tone for Coburn's fiscally conservative approach during his 10-year Senate career.

Coburn left the Senate on Jan. 3, 2015, after a recurrence of prostate cancer, with nearly two years left in his term.

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Ex-Sen. Tom Coburn, who pressed Republicans to keep budget-cutting promises, dies at 72 - Washington Examiner

Obviously, we are a very badly divided nation: so divided we agree on virtually nothing; so divided we cant even talk to one another anymore; so divided one side doesnt believe in anything the other side says; so divided California, New York and Illinois might as well be on a different planet than Texas.

We cant even agree on how to respond to the novel coronavirus, and when to get back to business.

Check out the latest Rasmussen poll. Sixty-one percent of Republicans believe America will rise from the dead by Easter. Count me among them.

But only 41% of all likely voters somewhat believe the USA can get back to work by Easter. Among Democrats, the number must be in the teens.

In the past few days, President Donald Trump made it abundantly clear that Americans need to get back to work.

I have said repeatedly on my nationally syndicated radio show: The business of America is business. Its time to get back to work because the deadly virus is temporary, but the economic disaster were causing could last a lifetime and prove far more deadly in the long run.

Many conservatives such as myself have also pointed out that the mortality rates of the coronavirus have been greatly exaggerated. On Thursday, Dr. Deborah Birx, Americas Doctor, said the same thing in a press conference: There will not be millions dead in the USA. The math doesnt add up.

She reported how computer models predicting 500,000 dead in the U.K. have been downgraded to 20,000. She reported how the terrible death count in Italy just doesnt add up to millions of Americans dead, not even close.

President Trump and Republican businessmen like me remain steadfast and optimistic that we can start bringing this terrible pandemic to a close and be back to business (or at least a limited business rollout) by Easter.

Its not because we dont take this pandemic seriously but because we believe in our hearts that we cant allow the U.S. economy to die. We cant allow another Great Depression. We cant honor the sick or dying by losing our job, income and life savings.

Someone has to mind the store, keep the economy going, pay the bills and pay the taxes so that after we win this war and we will win there is something for the older, the weak and the vulnerable to come back to.

We believe in our hearts and souls there is a way to restart this economy, and to do it carefully, reasonably and responsibly while protecting the oldest, weakest and most vulnerable.

Meanwhile, Democratic politicians and liberal Hollywood activists scream about millions dying and about keeping the nation locked down for months. And they call Trump and Republicans all kinds of terrible names.

What accounts for this difference? I believe Ive figured it out. Its all about personality.

Most every Republican I know is positive, outgoing and relentless, wont take no for an answer and has can-do spirit. Thats why so many Republicans are successful in the business world. Thats why were proud to create the jobs and pay the taxes. We are the workers, makers and producers of America. We turn lemons into lemonade. We see the glass as half full, not half empty. We love working. We see it as our American way of life. We desperately want and need to get back to work.

Democrats are the polar opposite. They are cynical, negative and always finding fault with America, capitalism and business. Thats why conservative talk radio is so successful whereas there is virtually no liberal talk radio. Its just too negative, too dark, too depressing. Liberals are always complaining, offering no solutions other than bigger government.

That explains the differences in how we see the coronavirus. Republicans have everything to lose if they dont get back to work. We see our business, career, job as our calling in life, our baby. It is who we are. Taking that away from us is like death.

Democrats are made up of groups who dont see anything to gain by rushing back to work. Some of them didnt work before this crisis. Some are protected by union contracts and union pensions. Some work for government and they have jobs for life. Some have lived on a welfare check for much of their life. Some want to be paid bigger checks for being unemployed than for working. In the end, they feel they can stay home, take no risk and have the government pay them.

Its a completely different mindset. Democrats depend on government. Republicans depend on God, prayer, self-reliance and personal responsibility. Our lives are wrapped up in our work. Were risk takers. We must get back to work or risk losing everything weve worked our whole lives to build. Its what makes us who we are.

Yes, were a divided nation. Its like were from different planets. Im proud to be from the planet where the glass is always half full, where America, with the greatest health care system in the world and the strongest economy in the world, will always prove victorious.

Yes, its true that the business of America is business. Let the people who want to get back to it get back to it.

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Why are Republicans and Democrats so divided over the coronavirus? - The Star Democrat

Republicans have spent decades telling us that the government is the cause of most of our problems here in the United States. Theyve spent billions of dollars crafting this message and electing politicians who will put these words into action. And in a time of crisis, the government becomes crippled because of the kneecapping weve witnessed from the Republican Party. They are responsible for whats happening today, as Ring of Fires Farron Cousins explains.

Transcript:

*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

You know, its really easy to go ahead and just blame Donald Trump for the, you know, pandemic spreading across the United States right now. The fact that we are now the world leader in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, and to be honest, Donald Trump does deserve most of the credit. He is the president. He has failed to take action. But I think giving him all of the credit for the spread of this disease is misguided because I think the real blame lies with the Republican party itself. For decades upon decades upon decades, if not even longer the Republican party has been telling us the government is the problem. You know, that right wing ideologue Grover Norquist once famously said, lets make government so small, you can drown it in a bathtub.

And Republicans have succeeded in doing that. Just in the last three years that Donald Trump has been in office, what have they done? Theyve cut government agencies, they fired federal workers. Theyve reduced the budgets for the very agencies, including in this years proposed budget, that hasnt been changed by the way that would be responding to this pandemic. They set themselves up for failure because they hate the government so much. The Koch brothers now Koch brother have been railing against the government for decades. Funding candidates who they know are going to go to Washington DC and try to cut the government down to size just like Grover Norquist wants them to do.

And now look whats happened. Were in that worst case scenario of what happens when you have a dysfunctional federal government. This is the Republicans dream. It may not have the outcome that they wanted, but thats because not a single one of them was intelligent enough to understand that we need a strong federal government. And if youre still out there today arguing that, no, we dont, we need states rights. Youre an idiot. This we, the proof, the proof is around you right now. All around you of why we need a strong federal government. Need more proof, why dont you look at my state of Florida here.

We had a governor, he shut down the schools, you know, superintendents shut down schools. Thats good, right? Keep the kids away so they dont get contaminated. Thats great. But what they didnt do is they didnt shut down all the beaches. They let all the spring breakers come down here. And then after about a week or so of spring breakers, not only getting infected and spreading infections according to recent reports, they also took a lot of our supplies. You know, our, our groceries, the things everybodys running out of. The toilet papers, hand sanitizers, yeah, they took that back home with them. So were just kind of screwed down here. Theyve spread the virus, theyve taken our supplies, and then, oops, here we are and thats because the government didnt do anything. They didnt want to lose any money. A strong federal government could have stepped in and shut that down immediately, but they didnt.

The centers for disease control could have done something, health and human services. But oops, we like to cut those. We dont like them working on public health initiatives. Folks, heres the bottom line. This story could be about more than just the pandemic, just how small government has screwed us over in response to the pandemic. Small government has screwed us over in response to climate change. Small government has screwed us over in terms of expanding social security, expanding Medicaid and Medicare. Funding public schools, increasing the budgets for police offices, fire departments. Right? Republicans are to blame for all of that folks. This is them. This is part of their party platform. It is part of their ideology and if you want to see us avoid catastrophes like this in the future or catastrophes like the other ones I just mentioned, then I suggest you stop voting for Republicans because this is what they want to do every single time they get power.

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You Can Thank Government Bashing Republicans For Pandemic - The Ring of Fire Network - The Ring of Fire Network

Todd McMurtry is a seasoned trial attorney who first received national exposure after representing a student filmed in a confrontation with protesters after last years March for Life in Washington, D.C. The lawsuit, filed against media organizations for their coverage of the incident, drew national headlines. But it was President Donald Trumps tweets on Friday against libertarian Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) that put the spotlight on McMurtry, who is challenging the four-term incumbent for his seat in Congress.

Details: McMurtry, who launched his campaign in January, is challenging Massie in the June 23 Republican primary for Kentuckys 4th congressional district. In 2018, Massie won re-election with 62% of the vote.

Background: McMurtry, 57, grew up in Covington, Kentucky. After graduating from Covington Latin School and Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, he studied law at Salmon P. Chase College of Law, affiliated with Northern Kentucky University. He now works as an attorney focusing on mediating commercial disputes. In 2019, after 28 years of practicing law, McMurtry was selected among the top 50 Kentucky super lawyers. He also spent several years in Washington D.C. as a fundraiser for the Republican National Committee.

Stepping up: In a phone interview with Jewish Insider on Sunday, McMurtry said he was in Dallas, Texas, last fall visiting his daughter and grandchildren when the entire family caught a cold. So I spent too much time on social media and I saw things that Thomas Massie had posted that were, I thought, pretty upsetting, he recounted. I followed him for a long time and saw his questionable votes. And I said weve really had enough of this guy and his crazy votes we have to do something about it. I posted something on Facebook and people started to contact me to run for office. So I did some inquiries and polling and all that stuff and decided that we had a shot and I was going to try it.

Massies move: It was Massies push last Thursday for a recorded vote a move that forced a number of lawmakers to return to Washington amid the coronavirus crisis that upended the course of McMurtrys campaign. [Massie] seems to be generally an attention seeker on libertarian issues, and so we werent surprised to learn that he planned another stunt, McMurtry noted. But to be honest, the way he self-destructed was surprising I think to everyone. It doesnt seem to have any logic or reason other than just a pure adherence to libertarian principles, which are not the principles of the 4h district in Kentucky.

Trump factor: McMurtry told JI that Massies recent actions will push away the presidents supporters, estimating that Republicans in the district are over 90% pro-President Trump. They dont like to see what [Massie] did. And I think he shot himself in the foot. As for Trump, of course, we would welcome his endorsement, McMurtry said. In an attempt to get the presidents ear when he visited his Mar-a-Lago resort last month, Massie ran a TV ad airing on Fox News in South Florida branding McMurtry a Trump hater.

RJC boost: The Republican Jewish Coalition announced on Friday that it is backing McMurtry and will actively fundraise for his campaign, describing Massie as the only anti-Israel member of the House GOP caucus. This marks the first time the RJC is supporting a primary challenger to an incumbent. In January, the groups executive director, Matt Brooks, told Jewish Insider that the RJC will not support Massie along with three other Republican House members after they voted against the bipartisan Never Again Education Act, legislation to authorize new funding to help schools teach students about the Holocaust and antisemitism. McMurtry told JI he was thrilled and feels very honored to get the RJC endorsement, and we intend to make that endorsement pay off for the RJC by winning this race.

Massie stands alone on Israel: Massie was the only Republican to vote no on a House resolution (H.R. 246) last year condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. In 2014, he was the only member of Congress from either party to oppose the U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Act. Later that year, Massie voted against sending emergency aid to Israel to boost the Iron Dome program during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. In 2016, Massie was again the only House member to oppose extending sanctions against Iran and was the only lawmaker to vote present on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

McMurtrys case: The Republican candidate stressed that support for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship actually plays very well here in Kentucky and is of primary importance for voters. I know that the people here want their elected representatives to be strong supporters of Israel, McMurtry said. I share that support both personally and politically. McMurtry called Massies vote against the anti-BDS resolution pretty crazy and odd. He said he would have voted in favor of a resolution opposing and condemning the BDS movement, as well as in favor of a House resolution reaffirming U.S. support for the two-state solution.

Working across the aisle: I think what would be great if I got elected, especially for Israel, is that Ive negotiated so many deals among conflicted parties, McMurtry said, pointing to his mediation experience. I have handled cases as an attorney where Ive been an advocate and then a negotiator. So I do believe that I will be a very effective voice for Israel because of those skill sets. And that would include working with the Democrats to find compromise and mutuality on important issues.

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Aiming for KO in KY The only Republican primary challenger with the backing of the RJC - Jewish Insider

The Senate passed the bill last night, but at least Lindsey Graham, Rick Scott, Tom Scott and Ben Sasse had a chance to make-believe they are dutiful limited-government conservatives forced into compromising their principles by circumstance beyond their control. Never mind that they voted yes. Never mind that they could have voted no without jeopardizing the bills passage. Never mind, because the plays the thing.

Still, if we understand their complaint as one of incentives, its worth dwelling on. Incentives are central to the economic ideology that has animated the Republicans since forever. That ideology holds that markets are efficient and know better than government how to allocate labor and resources for the benefit of the greater good. Government interference, even in its blandest form, is akin to Communism or sacrilege, depending on how much Heavenly import you imbues markets with.

Its always been debatable whether the Republicans really believe what they say they really believe about the markets. (Leftists call it neoliberalism and blame both parties equally for its global economic dominance.) Whats not debatable is that the Republicans find ways around their principles when a Republican sits in the White House while rediscovering the zeal of the freshly converted when its a Democrat.

Deficits were no big deal during Reagans time. Deficits were the end of the world during Bill Clintons time. Deficits were nothing to worry about when George W. Bush was president. Deficits were so dangerous the Republicans could not in good conscience help Barack Obama lead the country out of the Great Recession. Now, deficits are trivial again. Theyll be apocalyptic with the next Democratic president.

Whether in good faith or bad, however, markets were still more credible than an activist government. Most people most of the time still thought equal opportunity for businesses was the same as equal opportunity for their fellow Americans. Belief in market ideology was so strong it shaped how people engaged the debate over welfare.

Some said the rich were greedy and held workaday Americans in contempt. Thats why they hated social insurance programs like food stamps, Medicaid and jobless benefits. That couldnt be right, said the market faithful, who have made up a majority of Americans for half a century. The welfare debate wasnt about the bigotry of the aristocracy against the plebes. It was about efficiency. It was about incentives. To think otherwise was to think the unthinkable: class war in a classless society.

Like I said, Graham and his cohort were plainly incoherent last night. I still dont know what they were talking about. But there is one interpretation that makes sense to me as Americans enter into a period of mass death and astronomic unemployment. (Below is todays jobless claims report in graph form courtesy ofBloomberg News.)

That interpretation is this: The rich can be trusted with public money, but not so everyone else. Its OK to give Boeing tens of billions of dollars in relief aid. Its OK to give corporations access to unlimited and cheap money from the Federal Reserve. But its not OK to give normal people an extra $600 a week, people who are at the same time being coaxed by billionaires into going back to work even at the risk of death.

When most people most of the time had ample faith in markets, and when the ideology of markets was credible, it was difficult to see the rank bigotry the very rich often express toward the not very rich. (Not being very rich means you obviously dont deserving being very rich, which means you are richly deserving of your suffering.)

But I think that faith is waning. Unemployment rose to more than 3.3 millionin a week. Deaths from the coronavirus pandemic hit 1,000today. Markets are not going to save us. Indeed, the billionaires who control markets could make things so much worse. (They could literally kill people.) In a way, its fitting that Graham and others were incoherent. Their incoherence reflects a once-powerful ideology in deep decay.

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Republicans cant suppress their contempt for working Americans amid the coronavirus pandemic - AlterNet