Tom Coburn’s Legacy – Politics, Policy, and Personal
Jonathan Bydlak – Director of the R Street Institute’s Fiscal & Budget Policy Project, and the one person on this list who did not know Coburn personally
Dr. Coburn was truly a giant of the legislature. In the policy community, he’ll probably be remembered best for his “Wastebooks,” which became a fixture in Washington, highlighting the most egregious examples of things government does that it shouldn’t. But I’ll remember him most for his political legacy, which is largely as someone who illustrated every day that you can stick to your principles and still be friends with those you disagree with. For someone who voted “no” so many times on his colleagues’ priorities, he sure was well-liked. That’s an example we all should follow.
