VIDEO: Senator Tom Coburn on the “Debt Bomb”
Brandon Stewart / Lachlan Markay /
“The problem isn’t that we haven’t agreed, the problem is that we’ve agreed way too much,” explained Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) in a recent interview with The Heritage Foundation. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have trillion dollar deficits, $16 trillion in debt, and unfunded liabiltiies of $113-131 trillion.”
Senator Coburn visited The Heritage Foundation this week to discuss his new book, The Debt Bomb: A Bold Plan to Stop Washington from Bankrupting America which makes the case that the biggest threat America faces is “Washington politicians who refuse to relinquish the intoxicating power to borrow and spend.”
When asked about his infamous nickname (“Dr. No”), Coburn had a quick response:
“The reason I’m known as ‘Dr. No’ is because I actually believe in the Constitution. I believe in the enumerated powers in Article I, Section 8. I believe the Constitution was filled with nos for us in Washington and yesses for everybody else in America.”
During the interview, Coburn discussed his ideal replacement for Obamacare should it be repealed or struck down by the Court this summer. He also spoke at length about the urgent need to reform our entitlements system and the disappointing lack of results towards this goal by Congress and the President.
A strong believer in term limits, Coburn announced in 2010 that he will retire in 2016 when his term expires.
“Long term service tends to distort why you came here in the first place,” he explained. “Changing of the guard in Washington is healthy for America. It’s healthy for the country and for us financially.”