Stevens, Byrd Supposedly Lift Holds; But There's Another Secret Hold -- By A Democrat

At least the GOP says the hold does not come from its side:

Another Democratic senator appears to have placed a “secret hold� on legislation that would pry open the murky world of federal contracting to public scrutiny.

That’s the word that Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn received Tuesday from the Republican cloakroom, the place that tracks who is blocking legislation using the parliamentary maneuver.

The news came soon after Coburn learned that Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, had finally lifted his hold on the measure that Coburn and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., introduced in April. The measure would create a searchable database of some $2.5 trillion in federal contracts, grants, loans, insurance and federal assistance each year.

Stevens and Sen. Robert Byrd, D-West. Va., both indisputable masters at bringing home the bacon, placed the holds during the August recess. Both lifted them after prominent bloggers began calling senate offices to “smoke out� the senator responsible for holding up the open government bill.

If a Democrat does have a hold then they may have misled the blogger community which ruled out every Democrat except for Byrd last week.

A Democrat lying? Never.

posted by Ace at 05:02 PM

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