Senator Coburn Goes After Pet Project Add-ons

Tuesday, March 27th 2007, 9:48 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) -- US Senate conservatives, including Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, are taking aim at billions of dollars of non-war spending added to President Bush's $100 billion funding request for Afghanistan and Iraq. Among the add-ons are $100 million for state and local law enforcement agencies in Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul to provide security for next year's presidential nominating conventions.

Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont won renewal of an income subsidy program for small-operation dairy farmers that will cost taxpayers $1.2 billion over the next five years.

There's also $20 million obtained by Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, to combat Mormon crickets.

Coburn wants to kill the $100 million for convention security. He says the money is for security costs due more than a year from now and has no place in a bill funding US troop activities through the end of this September.

Coburn has taken on spending add-ons before, only to run into a coalition of Democrats and old-school Republicans that invariably defeat his attempts.