Michael Lynn Synar (October 17, 1950 – January 9, 1996) was an American Democratic politician who represented Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district in Congress for eight terms. Early life and career Synar was born in Vinita, Oklahoma, His father, Ed Synar, was a World War II B-24 tailgunner in Europe. His father's family line was Polish Catholics. Mike Synar was graduated from Muskogee High School in 1968. He attended the University of Oklahoma (OU) and graduated in 1972 with a B.S.; later Synar also earned his J.D. degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1977. Synar was also a Rotary International Scholar and attended the Graduate School of Economics at the University of Edinburgh (in Scotland) in 1973, and earned an M.A. from Northwestern University in 1974. While Synar's primary profession was the practice of law, he also worked as a rancher and a real estate broker/agent in the Muskogee area. Election and service in Congress He was first elected to Congress in 1978 at the age of 28, by defeating incumbent Ted Risenhoover. Synar's campaign pulled off an upset victory as they circulated copies of a Washington D.C. media report that said Risenhoover slept on a "heart-shaped waterbed," which did not play well with the voters back home in Oklahoma. Unlike most Oklahoma Democrats, Synar held liberal views politically. In the Congress, he may be best known for his successful constitutional challenge to the Gramm–Rudman Act. In the 1986 Supreme Court decision Bowsher v. Synar, the Court struck down the law stating, in part, that the provision granting executive power to Comptroller General Charles Arthur Bowsher, a legislative branch officer, did "violate the Constitution's command that Congress play no direct role in the execution of the laws." Synar was also an ardent and persistent foe of the tobacco industry. A major issue for Synar involved low fees charged ranchers who grazed cattle on public lands. The "animal unit month" (AUM) fee was only $1.35 and was far below the 1983 market value. The argument was that the federal government in effect was subsidizing ranchers, with a few major corporations controlling millions of acres of grazing land. Working with Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, Synar tried to rally environmentalists and raise fees, but senators from Western states successfully blocked their proposals. Despite having no criminal prosecution experience, in 1989 Synar served as the lead House manager as Congress conducted