U.S. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) is not running for reelection.  If anything Coburn is looking forward to returning to his private life as a physician, business and family man.  Most important for you to know, he said in Tulsa, “There is not a problem in the country that we cannot solve.”

Coburn spoke in a series of Town Halls and, at the University of Tulsa’s Lorton Preforming Arts Center, Monday August 6 to a capacity crowd of 700 saying the greatest problem in the country is that we have “learned dependence rather than earned success.”

Coburn’s faith guides his service and if you love America you will be inspired by his message.

Three points Coburn says that Washington fails to understand are; 1.) Average Americans recognize that we as a people can do the hard things it takes to fix our nation, 2.) We must utilize our country’s own natural resources, and 3.) We must reform the tax code.

“We can get our mojo back; we just don’t have the leadership,” Coburn said.  “We don’t have a hundred people in Congress that have been successful as business people.”

Coburn skipped his usual preliminaries to immediately take questions from the audience.  Several were issue specific and those issues he knew were answered immediately and some he promised to research and later respond directly to the constituent.  On several topics Coburn provided background information not generally known.  Coburn said there were “many issues with specific government programs.”

Chuckles rippled through the crowd as Coburn explained his latest comments on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s leadership.  He said he used “Oklahoma Speak” which was not consistent with his faith (for the nonreligious, that means he said the truth, but brutally without grace).  The crowd appreciated the difference, but seemed more supportive of brutal truth.  

Coburn had said Reid was “incompetent and incapable” then later apologized to Reid which one audience member did not appreciate.  Coburn said Monday night, “What I should have said is that his leadership has been ineffective and bad for the country.”

Coburn said, he is able to be outspoken in Washington because Oklahomans understand and support if not help propel his positions on many issues.  He reads his email every day – about three hours per day.

Coburn said he was a big believer in a national sales tax and no income tax.  Coburn attributes the current economic disaster to taxes and regulations that, because of their uncertain impact on individual business, keeps more than $2 trillion on the sidelines of investment and employment generation.

The problem with the Federal Reserve Coburn said is the dual mandate (low inflation and low unemployment).  Coburn recommends the book "Currency Wars, The Making of the Next Global Crisis" by James Richards saying, “We are in one now.”

As a physician, Coburn has often pointed to problems in healthcare and said Monday night, “One in every three dollars spent on healthcare are wasted.” He said the basic problem is “We have not connected the patient to their own healthcare” and that “The latest [CBO] score is that Medicare is being reduced to fund state exchanges.”

“I’m the number one “gear clogger” in Washington,” Coburn said which caused laughter and scattered applause from throughout the room.

“I have never in my adult life seen a greater disrespect for the Rule of Law than in this administration,” Coburn said in a blistering analysis of Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama.

“Respect for the law is what holds this country together.  This administration has set about to destroy that – that’s how anarchy starts,” Coburn said.  Specifically, Holder is an “inappropriate person” and would prove to be “one of the worst U.S. Attorney Generals in our nation’s history.”

“You cannot be young and have the experience you need to run this country,” Coburn said adding, “The president has not provided solutions.”

Throughout the town hall, Coburn spoke directly without notes, but with passion and conviction.  “We all know something is not right,” he said.  “I didn’t run to be a senator, I ran to fix stuff.”

For more of Senator Coburn in action, click on the links below:

August 2, Sen. Tom Coburn appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and blasted the show’s panel for misrepresenting the principles of the Tea Party, saying they just don’t “get it.” He also gave the panel a solid history lesson on the Constitution after at least one panelist admitted he was unsure in which section the enumerated powers were located.  Click here for the video from The Blaze.

July 17, in an interview with Reason.TV Sen. Coburn said, "Both parties have equally participated in abandoning the limited role of the federal government." Click here to see the interview on Reason.TV.

Click here for Coburn’s new book, "The Debt Bomb: A Bold Plan to Stop Washington from Bankrupting Our Economy," which argues that Republicans and Democrats together have brought the U.S. to the brink of fiscal calamity.