Tom Coburn: “I honestly believe we are never going to have the problems fixed in Washington until we have absolute and complete…”

“I honestly believe we are never going to have the problems fixed in Washington until we have absolute and complete transparency on earmarks. Senator DeMint and I have both, numerous times, asked for unanimous consent that what we voted on 96 to 0 in the Senate be the order of the day when it comes to transparency on earmarks. That was rejected. We had a Democratic conference, and what we actually did--and I am not saying this partisanly at all; this is not a partisan issue-- but what we did is gutted the transparency portion of the earmark reform. If you think the problems are going to stop with the ethics bill that is going to be coming up, we have another thought coming. What the leadership has done, the majority leader along with those in the other body, they have cleaned the outside of the cup to what looks like is a good deal for the American public, but when you look over the edge of the cup, what you see is filth, what you see is a lack of integrity, what you see is a planned method to skirt transparency. The only thing Americans should believe is the only way they are going to know everything is on the up and up in this body is with 100 percent transparency. Anything less than that will not get you the accountability, will not solve the ethical problems that are out there.”