Senate Ethics Committee Wants To Censure Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-Okla.) Because He Delivered Babies For FREE!!!
No, you didn’t read that wrong, nor did I write it wrong, for that is what the Senate Ethics Committee wants to do:
Coburn has come under new pressure from the Ethics panel for delivering babies at the Muskogee Regional Medical Center, which changed from a public to a private institution in April last year:.
In May, Coburn received a strongly worded “final determination” memo threatening him with a Senate censure if he did not stop delivering babies for free:.
Coburn spokesman John Hart: called the Ethics panel’s logic “absurd” and its argument “inane.”
“Just as parents don’t choose him hoping to sway his vote, parents don’t choose to receive his services at a particular hospital because Dr. Coburn has somehow endorsed that hospital because he is a senator,” Hart said in a statement:. “The committee has shown us zero empirical evidence to back up its flimsy claim.
“Has Sen. Leahy provided an improper endorsement to Warner Brothers for appearing in Batman?” Hart asked. “Will millions of Americans now see Batman not because it features stars like Christian Bale or the late Heath Ledger, but because Patrick Leahy, a distinguished U.S. senator, has offered his illustrious endorsement to this motion picture?
“If Sen. Coburn can only deliver babies for free at a public hospital, shouldn’t Sen. Leahy only be allowed to donate his notable thespian skills to a public entity like PBS?”
:Hart estimates that Coburn has delivered dozens of babies since last receiving an ultimatum from the Ethics panel in 2005. Coburn has received no compensation for his work and paid “tens of thousands of dollars” out of his own pocket for medical malpractice insurance and other costs related to his medical practice, Hart said.
Other physicians in the Senate, such as former Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), a heart surgeon, voluntarily gave up their medical practices when they joined the Senate.
Coburn, however, wants to remain a true citizen-legislator and has long argued that the Senate should allow him to keep serving his patients because he plans to return to the practice when he leaves the Senate in 2016, consistent with his pledge to serve only two terms. He would like to keep up his medical skills if he is going to continue being able to earn a living in his chosen profession.
Frist, by contrast, had no plans to return to his practice when he retired from the Senate.
Asked about the recent Ethics Committee action, Coburn said he doesn’t believe he is in violation and will continue to fight any action taken against him.
“All I’m going to say is that’s a fight I would relish,” he said.
Hart said Coburn has no intention of abandoning his medical oath to his patients under threat of censure.
MM reminds us that Coburn has been a thorn in Harry Reid’s eye and this may well be payback! In the mean time:
Contact info for the Senate Ethics Committee:
The Select Committee on Ethics can be contacted at 220 Hart Building, United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510. Telephone: (202) 224 – 2981. Fax: (202) 224 – 7416.
July 30, 2008 - 11:22 AM on July 30th, 2008
I have a lot of respect for Coburn and his tenacity on maintaining a fiscal government. That said, besides wanting to maintain his “delivery capablity”, why would he want to continue doing this. Not for anything, but he is paid to be doing a job. Why should he want to pursue another profession on the public dime, even if he’s not making any money at it.
If I started working during the day doing charity work, I’d be fired.
NYD
July 30, 2008 - 04:59 PM on July 30th, 2008
NY-David- The broad answer to that lies right in the post. As soon as his term is up, he is going back to his medical practice. He is a doctor that happens to have a Senate seat. He was elected to the Senate as he was practicing medicine. He isn’t planning to be a career politician, but he is planning to be a doctor. We are also talking about a vital service that he is providing for free to people that do not have the means to reimburse him. Obviously he has the means to do this. Is he doing this as the Senate is in session, or is it occurring when they are on recess?
Yes you would be fired if you didn’t show up at your job because of your charity work, but that isn’t what is happening here.
July 30, 2008 - 06:14 PM on July 30th, 2008
Democrats are pinheads, and this “ethics” ruling proves it.
Where is the investigation and ruling on Harry Reid’s Nevada land deals????
July 31, 2008 - 01:29 PM on July 31st, 2008
Pam,
I read through the article again to be clear. I think it seems to be a long standing issue with him and now that Republicans are in the minority, he’s losing the battle. It happens on both sides, to be fair. I don’t see if he’s doing it to be charitable, and to honestly keep up on his skills to pursue a career that he intends to do in 8 years. I’d like to not care actually, but a senator in
Alaska is now getting indicted under ethics charges. I hate to see well-intended charity work get done in because of politics. He also seems to be taking on keeping his medical insurance current, which can’t be cheap.
The few bad apples ruin it for the masses.
NY-David
July 31, 2008 - 06:12 PM on July 31st, 2008
NYDavid,
How about an ethics complaint against Rep. Wexler, who is a Rep for Florida, but lives in MD! Hmmmm!
August 1, 2008 - 09:32 AM on August 1st, 2008
PCD – What’s making Coburn’s issue more challenging is the charity issue of his work. Wexler’s issue isn’t even comparable.
NY-David