Ted Stevens, R-AK, identified as senator who placed "secret hold"

[babylonsister]

http://www.alaskareport.com/news11007.htm

Alaska Senator Ted Stevens has been exposed, by the process of elimination, as the one who blocked a bill to make public the spending patterns of the government.
Ted Stevens

Twelve days ago, an unidentified senator placed a "secret hold" on legislation introduced by Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., that would create a searchable database of government contracts, grants, insurance, loans and financial assistance, worth $2.5 trillion last year. The database would bring transparency to federal spending and be as simple to use as conducting a Google search.

The measure had been unanimously passed in a voice vote last month by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. It was on the fast track for floor action before Congress recessed Aug. 4 when Stevens put a hold on the measure.

more...

Edit to add this link:

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001446.php

[jimshoes]

1. Ted "Tubes" Stevens

What nefarious reasons did he have I wonder.

[babylonsister]

2. Price: here's a link

that explains his reasoning.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001446.php

[jimshoes]

4. Stevens seems like the kind of guy

who would spend $30 million dollars on a cost/benefit analysis to find out if the program costing $15 million dollars is worth it. And then tell you it's not.

[DirtyJersey]

18. Also, according to Coburn...

Stevens didn't bother to show up to the committee hearings where his "concerns" were already addressed.

[high density]

7. He was worried about $15 million???

Aren't we spending $200 million a day in Iraq?

[babylonsister]

8. I know-it makes no sense at all. But what's new? nt

[zbdent]

6. The "tubes" reference ... I get the feeling that someone with a brain

was trying to explain a tiny bit of programming to him, and he seized upon something that he misunderstood ... see, the reference that programmers use is "pipes" ... so his addled brain thinks it was "tubes" ...

[Bjorn Against]

3. Don't want anyone searching those tubes

Lets send him an internet to let him know what we think.

[cboy4]

5. He's a genius!!

:spray: :spray: :spray:

[texpatriot2004]

9. idiot, Stevens I mean not you nm

[katinmn]

11. That doesn't look like Stevens.He's smiling. Here's Stevens

[cboy4]

13. NO! No I won't!!!

He cracks me up. :spray:

[No Exit]

10. Wouldn't you just know it'd be The Brain To Nowhere?

[bigtree]

12. heh

preserving Alaska pork

[progressoid]

14. Yep - I heard this on CNN.........NOT!

[eccles12]

15. What a S.O.B. I can't believe that Alaskans really like this guy.

If they do, they deserve him.

[roguevalley]

16. we don't like him, we don't deserve him. give us a break. we have

to live with this pud.

[Blue_In_AK]

22. Indeed...

AND that asshole Don Young. :mad:

[fat dad]

17. Another perfect example of Republican governance

Robs the taxpayer of billions for crony capitalism, then kills any bill that makes sense with cries of big government.

Republicans are self-satirizing.

[DirtyJersey]

19. To be fair

This isn't really a partisan issue. There are pork hawks on both side of the aisle, the biggest of whom are probably Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) (the sponsor of this bill). There are also bigtime porkers, the most infamous of which are Robert Byrd (D-WV) and Ted Stevens (R-AK) (the blocker of this bill). If you looked around the net, both liberal and conservative bloggers alike were POed about this. You know why that is? Because anybody who actually pays attention and cares about the issues thinks this is bullshit. Many of us here love Feingold, myself included, and many conservative like Coburn. And, no matter what we think of some of Coburn's nutjob views, he is honest. Some conservatives have said the same about Feingold. Guys like Stevens and Byrd pride themselves on being able to flex their muscle and waste our money and name crap after themselves. They've both been in the Senate forever (Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) recently pointed out that Byrd has been in in the Senate longer than he's been alive), so they can get away with just about whatever they want.

[fat dad]

21. Difference being that

Stevens wants to block a bill that allows the taxpayer, his boss, to see where he (they) are spending our money.

And he does so by invoking the tired, ludicrous, hypocritical Republican complaint of Big Government.


"This isn't really a partisan issue. There are pork hawks on both side of the aisle, the biggest of whom are probably Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) (the sponsor of this bill)."

[IronLionZion]

20. This should tell you all you need to know about that porker Ted Stevens

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/7112853p-7020074c.html

I wish the amendment would have passed and Stevens would have resigned. That's like a 2 for 1 deal. You know where his priorities lie. What a corrupt bastard.