Former Sen. Tom Coburn dies, Washington's top waste-watcher

Tom Coburn’s reputation preceded him throughout the Capitol — a cantankerous trouble-maker who was tough to work with, and more interested in blowing things up than getting things done. And that reputation was completely wrong, just about everyone who ended up working with him came to quickly realize.

Mr. Coburn, a medical doctor turned politician died overnight at age 72 after a long fight with cancer, according to former staff and colleagues, leaving one of the most substantial legacies in recent congressional history.

With a single amendment to a bill in 2010, he saved the government $262 billion, and counting. He made a cottage industry out of spotting ridiculous-sounding spending items, such as the so-called “Bridge to Nowhere” project in Alaska. His investigative work brought down the largest Social Security disability fraud ring in history.

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