Bloggers 1, Stevens 0

August 31, 2006

Just to put a period on this week’s entertaining online whodunit, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) finally acknowledged publicly yesterday that he put a hold on a bill to create a searchable database of government contracts. Bloggers, from both sides of the aisle, had narrowed the list of suspects to three, prompting the pork-loving Alaskan to fess up.

So, what’s the explanation behind the secret hold? I couldn’t make this up if I tried.

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) held up a bill that would create a free, searchable database of government contracts and grants because he was worried about the proposal’s price tag, his spokesman told me this afternoon. Its cost has been estimated at $15 million.

Stevens’ office has asked Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), the sponsor of the bill, for “a cost-benefit analysis to make sure this does not create an extra layer of unnecessary bureaucracy,” spokesman Aaron Saunders said. The Senator “wanted to make sure that this wasn’t going to be a huge cost to the taxpayer and that it achieves the goal which the bill is meant to achieve.”

Get that? Stevens is allegedly worried that creating a system of transparency and accountability to federal government spending might cost too much. The same senator who demanded a $200 million earmark for a “bridge to nowhere” — benefiting an Alaskan island populated by just 50 people — believes a $15 million project (spread out over four years) about government spending may be too expensive. Classic.

Also keep in mind, as Paul Kiel noted, that there were hearings on this project, which explored the costs of the database in some detail, but Stevens decided not to show up for the discussions. “If he had concerns, he should have addressed them in regular order rather than blocking something that will benefit millions of taxpayers,” Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-Okla.) office said.

Then there’s the small issue of giving credit where credit is due.

About two hours after Paul Kiel and TPM Muckraker had received official confirmation from Stevens’ office, CNN claimed that it had the scoop. Fortunately, several outlets, including the LAT, McClatchy newspapers, and ABC all credited the right source.

Nevertheless, what about the bill itself? Any chance the database can still get created before the end of the session?

Congress returns from summer recess in less than a week at which time Sen. Coburn and other senators plan to push the bill by petitioning Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) for a roll call vote in order to override Stevens’ hold.

Stay tuned.

Tell Bill Frist to tell Stevens to stuff it, and just hold a vote on the damn bill. 99 to 1 sounds good to me.

Congradulations to TPM and all their bloggers and commenters by the way.

  • Other acceptable headlines:

    Bloggers 1, MSM 0

    Way to ask the right questions and push the right buttons to TPM and everyone involved!

  • I can imagine what Stevens was yelling when he was tagged.

    “Nooooooo! Noooooo!”
    “Them damn pipes of the Internets screwed me again!”

    The King of Pork is worried about the cost? Hahahaha.

    From what I read, the left and right united (?) to find out who–I’m sure that the right was hoping for Byrd.

    Strange things always happen when Jon Stewart goes on Vacation.

  • What a tool. Why a secret hold on the bill if the motivation for stopping it was so Republifriendly? All Republicans love fiscal responsibility right? Excuse me while I drive my dumptruck through a series of tubes.

  • This whodunit may be a watershed moment. The senators’ staffs had no inkling that the calls they were receiving were a coordinated (well as coordinated as the web ever gets) effort to pin down the one who put on the secret hold. They just assumed the callers were interested citizens or activists. But now, probably, the politicians will be aware that Internet thing could be dangerous to their larcenous health.

    Perhaps this is a disproportionate analogy, but just as passengers will never sit passively during a hijacking again, senators will never assume that all those people calling about an issue aren’t actually “pollsters” from blogs

    Now we need a database that shows who adds those anonymous addendums to bills when they go from House to Senate..

  • And if Frist balks on the vote, let’s remind him of all the “up or down vote” rhetoric that the Republican’ts have used over the years.

  • I think this post may be confusing cost with price. Stevens could give a damn what the price of this database is (for Christ’s sake it’s only tax dollars) … he’s concerned that such transparency would put an end to his pork barrel ways and COST him an election.

  • Seems like the real question is why Frist released GOP Senators to talk to reporters and others about the hold. They weren’t saying one way or another until he gave them the nod. Makes me wonder if this is a repeatable success, especially if there aren’t 99 supporters.

    Also, is there any info out there about this bill being supported in the house or by the WH?

  • Stevens has to be one of the most embarrassing senators and that is saying something. From the bridge, to the tubes, to the secret hold.

    Is their an age limit on any federal elected positions ?

    In a time when most of our representatives are out to lunch, this guy seems like he is on vacation.

  • The way this played out was almost like a plot from a Scooby Doo cartoon (yeah, I’m five!)

    Coot Stephens (after the Ann Coulter mask was pulled away)
    “I would have gotten away with this hold if not for you meddling bloggers and your internets pipes…”

  • What we need in the Senate is a special “BULLSHIT” award that removes the recipient from the official debate for the duration of a bill. After a senator has jammed his foot so far down his throat that both feet are back on the ground again, his microphone should simply be turned off until debate is concluded and the voting starts. We could name it the “Stevens” protocol, in his honor.

  • Another interesting tidbit I heard was that this hold was payback to Coburn because he was responsible for stirring up the “bridge to nowhere” controversy. How about that? Two Republican senators from the great state of Alaska…and apparently they hate each other.

  • The same senator who demanded a $200 million earmark for a “bridge to nowhere” — benefiting an Alaskan island populated by just 50 people…

    The Gravina Island bridge would also benefit the entire population of Ketchikan by connecting the city to its airport; the “population of 50” is a canard.

    Also at issue was a similarly-scaled project in Anchorage — which apparently must have a significant enough population, since nobody finds that egregious enough to mention.

    Furthermore, Stevens didn’t “demand” the money; it was AK Congressman Don Young’s idea. Stevens defended the bridge money when Coburn tried to eliminate it — and nobody else’s. As Stevens puts it, it was a fairness issue: take money from every state to rebuild the Gulf Coast, nut just from Alaska.

  • At the same time the “net” was closing in on bridge builder, Stevens, it was flushing out his Byrd of a feather, our own Dem asshole, Robert Byrd who was also holding the bill secretly so he could “study it further”. What crap. This type of privilege abuse is B.S. whichever side of the aisle it comes from. They should be both be chastised equally. Hell, Byrd more so. That kind of cheesy conduct gives cover to RepubCo and they use it to very effectively deflect criticism. It sucks the air out of corning Stevens.

    Addison, FWIW, Coburn’s from OK.

    Alaska = Murkowski & Stevens. Just one I happen to know. There’s plenty of others I’d get mixed up for sure.

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