Senatorial Smackdown

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., has a simple creed: He doesn't think the government should start new programs -- even good ones -- without checking first to make sure that similar programs don't already exist. And if they do, he says, lawmakers shouldn't start new ones without getting rid of the old ones.

Rather than just make speeches about the issue, or try to gently persuade his colleagues to see things his way, Coburn has taken a far more combative approach: Tying the Senate in knots with holds on legislation and procedural efforts to block bills that he thinks violate his philosophy. In the ever-collegial Senate, that's just not cricket.

Now Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is taking on Coburn head-on. He's created the "Tomnibus," a $10 billion amalgamation of a series of bills Coburn has blocked, covering everything from a measure to commemorate “The Star-Spangled Banner” to an effort to curb child pornography.

Reid may be pleased that his counterattack has made the front pages of both the Washington Post and the New York Times today. But I have a feeling that all the exposure is just going to embolden Coburn to continue his crusade.