Coburn Omnibus Lives

And so the Senate session, apparently, will go on, even if this bailout deal is reached. From Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), on the floor just now: "We have another bunch of bills that a Republican Senator has held up and we have to file cloture on those before we leave here."

He's referring, of course, to the Tomnibus, or the Coburn Omnibus, a package of largely non-controversial bills being blocked by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Olka.), mostly for spending reasons.

Background here and here. 

John Hart, chief of staff to Coburn, calls this round five in the battle to pass this package. Truthfully, the Crypt has lost count. He sends this comment: “The American people are looking for statesmanship, not the Majority Leader’s partisan theatrics and demagoguery. Had the Majority Leader spent less time hyping his omnibus battle and more time legislating, our economy would be in better shape. No [one] in America outside of a handful of politicians in Washington believes Congress should spend a week debating an omnibus bill concerning chimps, greenhouses and other pet projects while our economy teeters on a precipice.”