A huge victory for blogtopia may be on the horizon. Many of you/us have been following the mystery of the secret senator blocking the
Obama/Coburn sunshine bill on government contracts.
You can find a good summary of this "secret hold" practice here.
Readers of TalkingPointsMemo and Porkbusters have been working their computers and phones getting their representatives on the record denying being "the one". And the winner is...
Well,
lets hear from Sen. Coburn: (with my emphasis)
One of the senators most criticized for his personal projects, Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, has a hold of his own on Coburn's bill to make public the spending patterns of the government. Called the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, the legislation calls for the creation of a database open to the public where citizens can track government spending.
"He's the only senator blocking it," Coburn said of Stevens.
Say it ain't so, Ted. TPMMuckraker weighs in:
But did he really do it? Well, he had a motive: As the paper and others have noted, Stevens and Coburn have clashed before -- in particular over Stevens' now-legendary "bridge to nowhere." Coburn attempted (and failed) to block the $233 million boondoggle. And revenge certainly fits the senior Alaskan's m.o. "Stevens can play rough," the Seattle Times noted in June. "Despite denials from his staff, he retaliates - and doesn't mind waiting years to do so."
Stevens' office has so far refused to comment on the hold. Ninety-five other senators have confirmed they were not responsible.
Senator Tubes is such a tool. What, exactly, is the purpose of being a public servant if you are going to pull this crap?
Update [2006-8-30 14:40:17 by MLDB]: STEVENS CONFIRMS:
A spokesman for Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) just confirmed his boss was the man behind the secret hold on the Coburn/Obama spending database bill, which has captivated a segment of the political blogging community in recent days.
"Sen. Stevens does have a hold on the bill," said the spokesman, who would only speak on the condition he not be named. He added that Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-OK) office was notified of the hold after it was placed. So Coburn's comments two weeks ago may have been duly informed.
So why does Stevens say he placed the hold? Why did it take this long for him to say so? And will he lift it?