Tom Coburn (R-Okla.)

But Coburn's conservative politics have prompted him to take some unusual stands. He opposed a resolution to honor environmentalist Rachel Carson on her 100th birthday and has called climate change "crap."

The Economy

Given Coburn's reputation as a fiscal conservative, it may come as a surprise that he voted for the government's $700 billion bailout of the financial industry. But he explained the vote in medical terms. "I voted for the rescue package because I believed it was more important to prevent a potentially fatal heart attack or stroke than to teach the patient a lesson…I believe this was a necessary step," he wrote. Coburn blamed the financial crisis not on Wall Street but on Congress' failure to closely monitor the devastating activities of home lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Some six weeks after voting for the bailout, Coburn began to have reservations about the way Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was using the bailout money. He wrote a letter expressing his concerns about the program's evolving mission since the law was signed. Congress never intended the program "to be a blank check that could be spent with unlimited discretion," the letter said.

Earmarks

Coburn's opposition to wasteful government spending hasn't won him many friends in Washington. He's annoyed many senators, Republicans and Democrats, because of his preferred tactics of filibustering and stalling bills if he thinks they're too wasteful.

The senator is one of seven to sit on the Fiscal Watch Team, a group led by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that aims to combat excessive spending.

He has a long history of fighting earmarks, even those favored by fellow Republicans. The senator is the man responsible for the fame of Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere." He tried to reallocate the money to fix a bridge that had been damaged in Hurricane Katrina. But when then-Sen. Stevens threatened to quit the Senate if the money was diverted from Alaska, Coburn's amendment was defeated. "I don't care about the next election. I don't care about getting reelected. We have to change the process," he says of earmarks.

In late 2006, Coburn teamed up with fellow Sen. Barack Obama to pass a law creating USASpending.gov, a searchable online database that allows voters to track government spending. The goal was to hold the government accountable for its spending. The website went live on Dec. 13, 2007.

Health Care

As a doctor, health care is an issue that hits close to home for Coburn. While in the House, he wrote and passed legislation expanding access to health care for seniors and allowing Americans access to cheaper prescription drugs from Canada.

Coburn also focused intently on AIDS prevention, writing laws that required AIDS counseling for pregnant woman and HIV tests for children born to mothers who hadn't undergone the test.

Most recently, Coburn held up increased funding to President Bush's programs fighting HIV/AIDS. His argument was that most of the money should be put toward treatment, not prevention. "[Treatment is] the No. 1 prevention protocol we have," he said.

But he opposed President Barack Obama's March 2010 health-va

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