Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is questioned by reporters on Capitol Hill.
What do you make of all the spending on the war in Iraq?
We should be paying for it.... But the politicians here are not willing to cut expenses here in the country or raise taxes. I don't want us to raise taxes because I know how much waste we've got. But politicians here won't make the hard choices of cutting waste in this government to be able to pay for this war. What they do is just charge it to our grandkids. And that's what we're doing.
You're still a practicing physician?
I delivered a baby last weekend. A 9-pound, 13-ounce girl. I've delivered over 4,000 babies.
Is being a physician at all similar to being a senator?
It's a real advantage to being a physician up here because you're taught about how to read people through their body language. You read all the signs instead of what they say.
I've heard you prefer being called Doctor Coburn to Senator Coburn.
Oh, it doesn't matter to me. You call me to dinner and I'll come.
