Senator Coburn Dissatisfied With Stimulus Bill

News On 6

UNDATED -- A $787 billion plan to rescue our economy in crisis is waiting for the President's signature. The bill scraped through the Senate, passing by one vote. That final vote didn't come until nearly 10:00 Friday night.

Democratic leaders couldn't pass the stimulus without Ohio senator Sherrod Brown, who flew back after his mother's wake on the president's plane.

"Our recovery will likely be measured in years, not months," said President Obama.

"We are committing what some of us have called generational theft because we are laying this debt on our children and our grandchildren," said Sen. John McCain, (R) Arizona.

"It's sure a lot better than sitting here, arguing and doing nothing," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, (D) New York.

President Obama lobbied hard for the legislation, but fell short of one of his major goals: getting a large number of Republicans on board.

The plan is 11,000 pages long, but Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn says it's missing some important provisions.

"The fact is, my oath as a US senator should disallow me from ever voting for this bill. Anybody that votes for this bill will be violating their oath to this Constitution," said Sen. Tom Coburn, (R) Oklahoma.

Coburn wanted all stimulus projects to go through the competitive bidding process and didn't want the money spent on museums, parks or theaters, but those restrictions were taken off the final bill.

Coburn says he was able to eliminate a quarter-billion dollar handout to Hollywood movie producers.

2/13/2009 Related Story: What Is In The Stimulus Bill For Tulsa County?