TOM COBURN (pictured), a Republican senator from Oklahoma, is best known for his one-man anti-pork crusade. He's used a procedural move known as a "hold" to block 80 pieces of legislation in the past year and a half, and he's made an enemy of Harry Reid in the process:



So in one corner, the majority leader of a deeply unpopular Congress who wants to spend a week fighting for his right to spend more taxpayer money. In the other, the curmudgeonly yet consistent citizen legislator who has no aspirations to higher office and just wants the government to be more frugal. This seems like it could backfire, Mr Reid.