Coburn Serious on Sequestration
Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn invited to dinner with President Barack Obama
Sen. Tom Coburn, among a group of Republican senators invited to dine with the president at a Washington hotel, says Obama is reaching out to them because he “overplayed his hand” on the automatic spending cuts that went into effect last week.
By Chris Casteel | Published: March 7, 2013
WASHINGTON — Sen. Tom Coburn, one of several Republican senators invited to have dinner with President Barack Obama on Wednesday, said the president was trying to divert attention from across-the-board spending cuts “because he totally overplayed his hand.”
Coburn, R-Muskogee, said Obama was still hoping to reach a “grand bargain” with lawmakers on deficit reduction, “but he still wants to keep his boot on the neck of Republicans.”
In an interview before the scheduled dinner, Coburn also said he would not agree to legislation mandating universal background checks for gun purchases because he didn’t want any records kept of the checks.