The online whodunit narrows in on a suspect

August 30, 2006

Yesterday, I thought Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) was a leading suspect. In the search for the senator who put a secret hold on a bill to create a searchable [tag]database[/tag] of government contracts, Chambliss’ office refused to discuss the matter, which naturally spurred suspicions. Many of you, at least in the comments section, had your eyes on Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).

It looks like you guys were onto something.

Twelve days ago, at a town meeting in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) accused Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) of obstructing his porkbuster-database bill with an anonymous hold.

That’s according to an Aug. 18 article in the Fort Smith (Ark.) Times Record:

One of the senators most criticized for his personal projects, Sen. [tag]Ted Stevens[/tag], 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.

Coburn could be wrong, but as Justin Rood explained that Stevens certainly had motive — he’s not only a notorious pork-lover, he’s also nursing a grudge against Coburn for opposing his “bridge to nowhere” project a few months ago.

For what it’s worth, 95 senators are now on record as not being responsible for the [tag]secret hold[/tag]. The remaining five are Sens. Byrd (D-W.Va.), Crapo (R-Idaho), Gregg (R-N.H.), Hatch (R-Utah), and Stevens.

Update: It’s official; Stevens fessed up.

A Republican’t Senator named Crapo……
Insert punchline (or limerick) here.

  • There once was a Senator Crappo
    In the fall he would wear an orange chappeau
    It t’was not just for fashion
    but survival, his passion
    ‘Cause Dick Cheney is armed and a whacko!

    anon.

  • Crapo….Actually it’s kind of a funny story. There was this street in Milford, Michigan named “Crapo”, intersecting with a main road.

    About a year ago I saw on the internet an article about the street name being changed to “Governor Crapo” because of people driving by and teasing the old name. I drove by the street and there it was…the new name “Governor Crapo”….haha

  • While Stevens certainly is a symbol of Republican scorn for proper use of taxpayer dollars, Byrd is the senator most noted for his deep understanding of the ins and outs of legislative and debate protocols. A secret hold would be something he would have in his quiver of tools. I hope Sen. Byrd removes all doubt by comng clean.

  • Well, if I understand this correctly, only one Senator need have placed the hold. So if Stevens did it–and that seems more than plausible–that doesn’t mean that Byrd or Crapo wouldn’t have done it, or opposed it.

    Stevens and Byrd are unquestionably the two biggest porkers in the Senate. Byrd has been good on other issues, certainly, but he’s always seen government as a feeding trough, and we can’t afford that anymore.

  • I’m only mildly interested in this “whodunit,” but any opportunity to get Senator Stevens in front of the cameras and microphones, quivering with anger, barking like an old uncle that the family steers clear of, boldly showing the vanity and ego that other Senators are able to mask, is an opportunity to be embraced, and a thing to be encouraged.

  • I said it before and will say it again – it’s Stevens (R-Porkland) or Byrd, and my doubt about Byrd is I think he’d say he did it and why (tradition and prerogatives uber alles). The others are merely idiots too stupid to say “no.”

  • If Byrd is not the culprit, the Dem leadership should pressure him to say so. That way only Republican’ts are under suspicion. That would help Tester in MT and the Dem candidate for Ney’s spot in Ohio. C’mon team, think like a TEAM!

  • People, I know we are the party of gullibility, but seriously this is getting pointless. So what happens when all 100 deny it. I don’t know anything about this rule, but let’s do a little sleuthing.

    Some jackass pulls some obscure rule out to block governmental spending transparency. I would assume it’s because one of his donors is more then a little nervous about it. Meaning the most obvious reason behind the block is money.

    Would it surprise anyone to find out a Senator lied about something for money.

    My point, just because they deny it doesn’t mean they didn’t do it, all this Dick Tracey business means nothing, unless of course the guilty party has some self respect and fact that he/she is hiding their identity leads me to believe they don’t.

    Therefore, I would expect the total denials to hit 100.

  • ScottW,

    your logic is sound, but reality doesn’t conform. Why haven’t all 100 senators denied it already?

  • Edo,
    They started asking yesterday, I am shocked that they already have 95 na’s.

    I think my point was missed. They only way we will ever know is if someone comes clean, and I just don’t feel like that is going to happen.

    I think they will all eventually answer, and I just don’t see anyone owning up to it, the longer it goes, the bigger the hype. My feeling is the guilty party has probably already denied it.

    And if by some miracle, which would have to be some sort of written proof we do find out who it is, they will probably claim that it was never mentioned to their public relations people because it was ‘secret’. It’s a lie that is worth keeping, because even if it is exposed, it’s easily spun because of it’s ‘secret’ implications. Plus of course none of this will come to light until after November.

    What is truly astonishing is that it takes a 2/3 vote of both houses to override a Veto, yet a single senator can stop legislation in it’s tracks w/o disclosure. Why didn’t we do this with Medicare/Tax Breaks/Patriot Act/ and a bunch of other BS legislation ? I am getting a little tired of republican’s ( and we all know this is a republican shenanigan) gaming the system and democrats having no clue as to this or that obscure rule. I want my politicians/lawyers/employees to know all the rules of their business, and man, we totally suck at it. We don’t have to play dirty, but we have to know how neutralize dirty play, the republicans do.

  • Lame Man – I saw that – can’t say I am surprised. I must say it will be “interesting” to hear how he defends this – it should be good for some mocking and snarky comments.

  • I was wrong about the secret hold, totally wrong.
    Maybe this is a trend. I would love to be wrong about everything I have said about politics this year.

  • Stevens was the first guy who came to mind when I heard about this thing. My only reservation was that he almost sounded too obvious. But the only thing I have ever heard of him backing down on was a threat to resign if he didn’t get his way on something. So I wouldn’t be holding my breath waiting for him to do the right thing on this or anything else, ever, for any reason. The man truly has no redeeming qualities.

  • ScottW,

    no worries on the prediction. I, too, hope you are wrong about all your pessmistic prognostications regarding Dems in November. Don’t worry, I’m not holding my breath. ;->

    more imporantly, you stated:

    …yet a single senator can stop legislation in it’s tracks w/o disclosure. Why didn’t we do this with Medicare/Tax Breaks/Patriot Act/ and a bunch of other BS legislation ?

    And I totally agree. Why haven’t we used this tactic a *lot* more? I don’t get it.

  • Together, Byrd and Stevens are damn near as old as the War of 1812 and they still continue to drink from the public trough. They’ve been feeding off the federal taxpayers for a combined 85 years!! Just think how many millions (more likely billions) of dollars they have taken from our paychecks to fund their little pet projects. These guys are the reason term limits were invented. I wish the citizens of WV and AK would wise up and vote these 2 old coots out of office.

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