A government waste fighter in Congress has died.

Oklahoma U.S. Senator Thomas Coburn was know locally for blowing a national whistle on the McHenry County Board’s Federal stimulus loan to Lakewood’s proposed SportsPlex.

In 2009, he also spoke at my favorite political fundraiser, Paul Caprio’s Family PAC Cruise on Lake Michigan and the Chicago River.

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Adam Andrzejewski observes the following in Forbes:

“Coburn was a tireless public servant and citizen legislator who brought decades of real-world experience to our nation’s toughest challenges. At his core, he was an entrepreneur and private sector physician who delivered 4,000 babies in his hometown. We always called him ‘Dr. Coburn’ – not Senator – because of his first calling.

“In the U.S. Senate and afterwards, Dr. Coburn advocated for healthcare price discovery. Last fall, even after Coburn had stopped doing all media because of the advancing cancer, he didn’t stop writing. Coburn’s editorial published at FOX News is a tour-de-force argument on the issue.

“Last May, Dr. Coburn urged an oversight report on the top “non-profit” charitable hospitals across the country who were making big profits. Within 30 days, at Coburn’s direction, we quantified a 23 percent annual increase in non-profit hospital net assets while, separately, some CEO’s made up to $59.4 million during a four-year period.”