WHO WILL REPLACE SENATOR COBURN?

Senator Coburn is stepping down, presumable because of his bout with cancer.   The big question now is “who will replace him”.
The other day, Congressman James Lankford announced his candidacy to replace Senator Coburn.  When Lankford first took office as my representative, I was delighted because I honestly believed he was a true conservative.  I was wrong.  He is a moderate at best.

Lankford has gone along with the establishment leadership in the House on a number of critical votes and I have come to believe he would do the same in the Senate.   I think we should all take a good long look at Congressman Jim Bridenstine fill Coburn’s Senate seat.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Bridenstine

Here is what Lankford told a reporter from “The Hill”.  http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/195934-lankford-slams-conservative-groups-as-part-of-the-problem

It is very frustrating to me when Republicans who want to project the image of a conservative at home right before a campaign, but throw in with the status quo establishment in Washington the rest of their term.

But Lankford’s defense of his budget deal vote is just bizarre.  He defends his support for the December Ryan-Murray deal as a vote “in favor of strong national defense.”  Presumably, he means that the deal reinstated some of the defense spending by partially repealing the sequester.   Here’s the problem: all the spending offsets in the deal were notional or intangible – except for the cuts to military pensions for those already serving!  So he defends a vote for increased spending and funding Obamacare as a vote for national defense when the only real spending cut in the bill hurt veterans.

Fast-forward to last week and Lankford voted against the omnibus bill.  The omnibus was merely the long-form budget laid out under the blueprint of Ryan-Murray, which he supported.  You can’t complain about some of the spending increases which busted the budget caps because that was already set in motion by the December agreement, which, again, Lankford deemed worthy because of the sequester repeal.

Moreover, on some level, at least the omnibus repealed some of the military pension cuts.  That’s why some members who opposed Ryan-Murray felt compelled to support the bill.  Most other conservatives didn’t fall for the trap and voted no on both.  But Lankford voted for Ryan-Murray, supposedly because of better defense spending, yet voted against its blood child bill, which reinstated some of the military pension cuts in the original bill.

If this was such a wondrous bipartisan budget deal opposed only by the “absolutist” conservative groups why did Lankford vote against the omnibus – especially after he supported the FY 2012 omnibus?

The only coherent reason that can be offered is that he wasn’t about to saddle himself with a bad vote a week before his planned Senate announcement.

Yes, my friends, that’s “the Washington, D.C. game.”  And despite only being in politics for three years, he has learned to play quite naturally.

When Coburn ran for the Senate in 2004, the establishment rallied behind his opponent in the primary.  Coburn was the outsider.  But conservatives united behind him, rallied, and won. I think we should do the same for Jim Bridenstine.

I have not met Mr. Bridenstine, but I know he’s a veteran and a solid conservative whom I believe would continue Senator Coburn’s commitment to rooting out government waste, fraud, and abuse.  I also believe he will stand with Senators Cruz and Lee to fight the fight that must be fought even against his own side over the size and scope of the federal government.

I haven’t been pleased with EVERY vote made by Senator Coburn, but overall he has done a very good job.  I was pleased to hear the he is endorsing Jim Bridenstine./
Here is the video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-_ovjgSLKk&feature=youtu.be

That’s my thoughts.  What do you think?

HERE's a last minute update;

Though only in his first term, Bridenstine has established himself as a principled legislator. He was among the group of House conservatives who fought to defund Obamacare last fall, joining with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who had encourage them to stand their ground on the issue.

 

The Oklahoma Republican has introduced legislation to repeal the 16th Amendment. He has also been a strong critic President Barack Obama’s abuse of executive power.

 

Bridenstine’s fiscal conservative credentials are bolstered by his 95% rating from FreedomWorks and 90% score from Americans for Prosperity. He also has a 90% score on The New American’s Freedom Index, which measures votes based on the Constitution.

 

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