Letters to The Editor -- The Le Flore County Guardian

Letters to the Editor for The Guardian can be submitted through e-mail at letters@leflorecountyguardian.com .

Please remember that brevity is not just the soul of wit, but of wisdom. The Guardian reserves the right to edit letters in whole or in part for spelling, grammar or punctuation, and if necessary, length. While we encourage robust debate on public issues, letters that libel or are excessively profane or obscene will be summarily marched to the digital garbage can, and we won't lose a moment's sleep over it.

If you can give a convincing reason we may agree to publish an "anonymous" letter -- but we still have to know who you are.

To the Editor:

Doctor Tom Coburn was elected to the United States Senate in 2004 promising to bring some fiscal sanity and responsibility to the United States Government. It is scary to imagine what our budget deficit and national debt would look like without him there. He has saved the taxpayers over $2 Trillion dollars so far and this year alone the majority in the Senate has rejected more than $365 billion in his savings proposals.

Senator Coburn was asked to explain “hotlines” and “holds” during his Town Hall visit to Poteau on August 19. He told us that 75% of the bills that are passed in the United States Senate are never voted on. (Key word here is “passed”, and does not mean bills that are introduced.)

An author will often ask for “unanimous consent” when they introduce a bill. Unless a Senator objects, (places a “hold” on it) the bill passes as written without ever coming to the floor. When a bill is passed in the United States Senate by unanimous consent, without being read, debated and voted on, it is said to be “hot lined”.

Senator Coburn currently has holds on 102 bills waiting to be heard on the Senate floor.

He places holds on bills for two reasons; (1) he believes them to be unconstitutional and wants the bill to be debated before a vote, and (2) if the bill contains additional spending without cutting spending somewhere else to pay for it. Remember, part of the Pelosi/Reid promise to reform Washington was to be sure every bill was paid for before it was presented for a vote. They called it PayGo, pay as we go.

We are spending $4.1 billion a day just to run government and our nation currently borrows 42 cents of every dollar it spends. How can we ever balance a budget or pay off our national debt if that keeps happening?

Senator Coburn is asking for our support in his campaign to be elected to a second term in the United States Senate this November. Six years ago he told us he would only serve two terms. Let’s make sure he has a chance to finish the job he went there to do.

Bobbie McAuliffe