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August 30, 2006
A Victory for Open Government
When the Senate brought up a bill that would have created a searchable online database of Federal contracts, grants, loans, insurance and financial assistance — in other words, a system that would allow ordinary citizens to watch for corruption and waste in government spending — it seemed assured of passing with overwhelming bipartisan support. But due to an obscure and somewhat recent (since the 1960s) Senate tradition, one Senator was able to stop the bill dead in its tracks, without revealing their identity except to their party leader in the Senate. Outraged bloggers — conservatives and liberals, Democrats and Republicans and others, whose only commonality is that they are US citizens — came together to track down the Senator who placed the "secret hold" that stopped this worthwhile legislation. And they found him: Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), whose other sins include perpetuating the very pork this bill would make easier to stop, including the infamous "bridge to nowhere".
I am not ready to say that the "secret hold" is necessarily bad in all circumstances. Certainly, it gives a Senator time and space to quietly argue differences or get further information, before dragging any issues out in open session, and possibly causing political damage to himself or others. But it also, if abused, is a very powerful tool to allow a single Senator's preferences to override the will of the overwhelming majority of the chamber while suffering no personal repurcussions for doing so. This appears to have been such a case, the carping of Stevens' staffers notwithstanding. Bully for those who participated in this citizen action.
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