Students of parliamentary procedure got a little gift on Thursday as Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) unleashed a "clay pigeon" on the Senate floor as part of the debate on a bill to extend jobless benefits.

For those of you who don't sit around and read the Senate Rules Manual while you are eating lunch, the clay pigeon divides an amendment into numerous pieces, requiring votes on each individual division of that amendment.

Coburn's parliamentary gambit is part of his effort to put Democrats on the record on plans to save money in the federal budget.  His plans include:

cutting $100 million from the budget for Congress
5% cut in government spending proposed by the White House to save $22 billion
reducing unnecessary printing costs of government documents to save $4.4 billion
eliminating non-essential government travel to save $10 billion
* disposing of unneeded government property for $15 billion in savings

And there are 15 more items that you can see at http://is.gd/cTths .

"Borrowing money that we don't have to spend on things that we don't absolutely need is not the answer to solve the problems with our economy," Coburn said on the Senate floor.  

"The answer is for us to live within our means," as Republicans press Democrats to pay for this spending with offsetting budget cuts, something Democrats continue to resist when it comes to the jobless benefits issue.

Whether Coburn actually gets votes on all of his "clay pigeon" amendments is still to be seen.  

But there's still nothing like a clay pigeon.